SNAILS !

[Abhi]

Ok most the time we hobbyists when see a snail only look for geting rid of it, apart from MTS or the rare variety.
What are the draw backs of having snails in a tank, apart from them crawling everywhere.
Also What are the plus points of snails being in a tank ?

Would love to discuss these points.

[ishaan]

I am trying to get rid of even MTS snails, the reason is that these snails eat the new plants at least in my case or the newly trimmed tip of the plants. When we clean the glass of the aquarium for removing algae there is a risk of scratching the glass because of the snails.

[parthapratim22]

I am trying to get rid of even MTS snails, the reason is that these snails eat the new plants at least in my case or the newly trimmed tip of the plants. When we clean the glass of the aquarium for removing algae there is a risk of scratching the glass because of the snails.

not only that, if you have snail in a single tank, if you carry any item(like plants hardscape material) from that tank to other, maximum chance of getting affected with snail in the new tank.

[marsaiko]

They unearth delicate plants. Apart from this never felt bad of having.

[Abhi]

Agreed to the above points, but what about, the substrate movement, eating leftover/unnoticed food/ algae, infusoria production etc.. Would like to hear more if there are more benefits.

[marsaiko]

Oh yes, if you have laterite and snail combo then problem, else above points look more of benefits

[aquadream]

Ok most the time we hobbyists when see a snail only look for geting rid of it, apart from MTS or the rare variety.
What are the draw backs of having snails in a tank, apart from them crawling everywhere.
Also What are the plus points of snails being in a tank ?

Would love to discuss these points.

It's a good topic to discuss , snails actually damage the beauty of scape, i tried various methods to combat it and realized its complete eradication can't be done but numbers can be reduced.

cheers
Rajeev

[sushant]

the only problem i have with my snails are the dig out the newly planted plants specially the foreground plant.

benefits are:
1)act as scavengers eating leftover and dead plants and fish.
2) as a cleaning crew eating algae and fungus
3) trumpet loosen the substrate and helps in easy propagation of roots

[Abhi]

Summary so far points to the pros being more than the cons.

Come on people lets hear some more views.

[juanico]

setting up a tank is creating an ecological system.
tiny as the tanks are, these artificial ecological systems are not very stable and easily prone to get out of balance.
snails are just a part of it and contribute to the stability of the system.
huge amounts of snails only occur if they have enough food...such as not eaten fish food, dead plants...

now imagine you don't have this cleaning guards...everything decays in the tank and pollutes the water a lot, bacteria find perfect condition for their outbreak.
the result might become a disaster for fish and shrimps.

i do not really understand why people suggest various methods to fight snails.
you just get rid of one symptom, but you do not fight the cause of the problem...which makes it even worse.