Pond Snails

[psychotic]

I have some blue ramshorn snails. Well they are actually my boyfriend's. He ordered 20 babies for his tank. I thought they were cute so I took two of them for my own tank. I got a dark blue and a light blue snail. However in the three days they have been here they have grown and turned lighter. So now I have a white one and a light blue one lol.

Anyway as I've said these snails have only been here for three days. Today I noticed some sort of tiny baby snails crawling around in my tank. They looked like little specs of dust. I went about sucking them up with a turkey baster that I use for my aquarium only and put them in a separate container. They are all so tiny! Some the size of a pin head. Once I took some pictures of them though I think I have identified them. I believe they are some sort of pond snail. I don't really want pond snails so I will continue to remove them. I'll feed them to my newts (they love snails).

I can only guess that they came from the ramshorn snails as hitchhikers. As to if they were eggs or already hatched, I have no idea. My ramshorn snails are only a little bigger than a dime (I swear they were smaller 3 days ago).

Here are some pictures of the snails. Please help identify them. I think they are pond snails. But I'm not sure.

I actually like the one at the top in this picture. It has a nice pattern. I wonder if it will stay that way?

 

[jayla2251]

Yes they are pond snails. Usually they come in on live plants. Is there any in your boyfriends tank?

 

[psychotic]

Nope. No live plants. That's why I figured they came with the other snails. I have live plants in my tank though. But they are not new plants and I never had snails until I got those ramshorn snails. Weird.

 

[psychotic]

Oh and if you meant, "are there any of these snails in my boyfriend's tank." I have no idea. I asked him to turn out his lights for a while and check. They look like moving specks of dust. But knowing him he won't even notice them if there are any.

I have live plants in my tank. How big do these pond snails get? Maybe I had them all along and never noticed them and the new snails scared them out or something? Plus my newts eat baby snails.

 

[jayla2251]

I have some one's that came in on plants recently that are about 1/2" or so guessing. But that's the largest I've ever seen them. I guess they could have came in with the other rams. Their egg sacs are clear and very hard to spot.

 

[Kaosu]

no they are bladder snails..not pond snails..pond snails are large and eat everything.. bladder snails are smaller..and much nicer to the tank and a good clean up crew but they breed like mad.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

Kaosu is correct, they are bladder snails.

populations can easily be kept in check by not overfeeding the tank and manually removing them if they get too numerous.

if the ramshorn snails have been in your tank only 3 or so days, i highly doubt your bladder snail population is due to the introduction of ramshorns. bladder snails do grow fairly quickly, but not that quick. your first photo clearly shows at least three different sizes,which tells me they have been in your tank for some time, just staying well hidden.

 

[psychotic]

Thanks for the help! I guess they were hidden very very well lol. Little ninja snails. My newts are in a ten gallon with thin layer of small river rock gravel (from fish section at pet store) with 4 bunches of anachris (about 6 small stems per bunch) and some java moss (small patch, hasn't grown much). So I guess they were hiding and my ramshorns must of disturbed them or something. Kind of strange I never seen them crawling around on the glass before.

I've got 15 out of the tank so far and haven't seen anymore since I last posted. I've set them up in a separate plastic critter keeper type box. I think some of them are pretty so I'll keep them. Maybe get them their own little tank lol. I was thinking of doing that for the rams anyway.

How big do bladder snails get?

 

[BettaFishMommy]

not big at all. i've seen full size ones that are about a half inch long at their largest in one of my tanks.

'pest' snails can be beneficial in a tank as long as their population doesn't get out of control. they eat leftover food and decaying plant matter. they are essentially a mini clean up crew.

 

[psychotic]

They shouldn't get out of control in my tank then. I never have left over uneaten food in my tank as my newts are hand fed with a toothpick. They are semi aquatic and hang out on a small floating turtle dock. Also I've read they are supposed to like eating small snails.