snail problem ?

I have been monitoring my tank for a couple weeks and i just notice yesterday that there is a snail on my java fern. I checked my tank today and now i have 3, should i keep these or get rid of them i think they came from my java fern. Any help would be great.
thank you :-)

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Comment by Peter on October 3, 2012 at 11:23am: welli can tellu that in a month ur tnak will be over run w/ snails.... best to get rid of them now b4 its 2 late. if they are the tiny tiny snails ur screwed and wont be able to get rid of them all, but if they are just the dwarf snails a loach will take care of them all in 1 or 2 days. But remember w/ snails u cant just say u want a couple because u'll have ur tank over run in a mater of weeks

Comment by Anthony Piti on October 3, 2012 at 10:48pm: Peter is absolutely right. I found 2 snails in my 20 long and three weeks later my tank is filled with week old snails. I am putting some into my 40 gallon once they are bigger, keeping some in the 20 and the rest will become food for my tiger barbs. They wont eat the bigger ones but drop some small ones in the water and they're gone.

Comment by Robert Jango on October 4, 2012 at 2:33am: Unless they're eating the plants, which I doubt, snails are good for the aquarium. But if you find them unattractive take Peter's advice. Did you read his post about getting loaches to eat your snails and then returning them to the store when the job is done. Isn't that pathetic?

PS. Return them within a week and keep the receipt.

Comment by Andrew Koehler on October 4, 2012 at 3:31am: I will try and contain this problem, thank you Peter, Anthony, and Robert for the comments. :-) I really aprechiate the help, i will let you guys know how everything turns out in the next couple of weeks. Actually just one more quick question, would cherry shrimp be a good idea to clear out some of my algey off the substrate and driftwood?

Comment by Robert Jango on October 4, 2012 at 8:11am: Some people on this site swear Red Cherry Shrimp keep their tanks clear of algae. While its true that they do eat algae, I find the idea ridiculous. But who am I to say if the claims are false, especially if the algae outbreak is limited or you have tons of shrimp. Its not like I can watch everyone's tank.

Algae is controlled by lowering the amount of minerals and nitrogenous waste in the water. Nitrogenous waste is uneaten food and fish mulm (poop). Siphon off the mulm when you change the water and don't overfeed the fish. Any mulm you miss will be absorbed by your regular plants' roots. Minerals are minimized by using RO (reverse osmosis) water or rainwater. When I started using rainwater my algae disappeared overnight - and so didn't the snails. Snails draw calcium from the water for their shells. No calcium - no snails.

Of course your particular fish may not like soft water and, lets face it, if you're a normal person you probably don't want to shell out big bucks for an RO unit or rain water collection system. So the best way to get rid of the minerals in your water is to add floating plants. Ever notice how all of Dustin's tanks contain Duckweed? I prefer Water Lettuce to Duckweed but the point is that floating plants are an aquarist's best friend. They grow like crazy and suck all the minerals out of the water column depriving the algae of its lifeline. Of course the driftwood might still have some algae left on it because of the minerals in the wood but isn't a small, patchy green coating on some things attractive? Like snails, algae can be a healthy and attractive part of the aquarium - and snails probably do a better job eating the algae than RCS.

Comment by Andrew Koehler on October 4, 2012 at 11:23am: thank you Robert for the very detailed comment. This will dedinatly help, i actually noticed that when Bought my plants there must have been some sort offloatngplant in the mix, because inotice a little piecefloating in my tank and now it has grown to almost 1/4 of my tank.I cant remember what this plant is, i think it starts with an (H) but if you could let me know what it is and if it will work that would be great :-) I will post a picture

Comment by TONY K on October 4, 2012 at 3:54pm: IF THEY ARE TRUMPET SNAILS OR RAMS HORN SNAILS THEY ARE VERY BENEFICIAL TO A PLANTED TANK THEY AIRATE THE GRAVEL AND EAT ALGEA.

Comment by Robert Jango on October 4, 2012 at 4:25pm: Its probably Duckweed. It'll definitely suck minerals (like iron) out of the water column. I've even heard that it consumes chlorine but I'm not 100% sure how that works.

Comment by Andrew Koehler on October 4, 2012 at 5:07pm: Thank you Tony im not sure what kind od snails they are, but will put up some picks and maybe you could identify them. Thank you Robert for letting me know what that plant is, i kinda thought it was duckweed but i wasnt for sure.

Comment by TONY K on October 4, 2012 at 10:12pm: I HAVE PROBABLY CLOSE TO 200 TRUMPET SNAILS IN MY TEN gallon the biggest ones about 1/4 long they are very busy cleaning my tank, trumpet snails look like little "cork screws" rams horn look like little "rams horns" hence the name i guess, i bought some zebra snails and other snails that you actually have to buy from the fish store and those guys actually did damage to my plants and drift wood? layed eggs every where!!!!!!!! and nibbled on new plant growth!!!! if you get to many just put a peeled potatoe or cucumber in your tank over night and by the next day there will be a bunch attached to it so you can grab them out because they don't move very fast, thats one way to a least control the population!

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