Snails Are Good For Your Tank ….some Are.

Being new at this blogging thing…i figured i may have a go at it with the snails and their benifits. When i started cultivating the hobby of a aquarist 2-3 years ago, i didn’t like snails. i also like gardening and i still don’t like those snails. however in the aquariam it seems if one has the right kind of snails then they can be benificial. for example i recently cycled my new tank with a snail. in this process i would have to say i minimized the loss of fish (which had definitely happened when i just started). the only snails that survive in my tanks are the ram horn snails. for some reasons they never overcrowd the tank. maybe the fishes eat the eggs or maybe there isn’t enough food in the tank (i feed the fishes once a day). however i am curious to know what happens to the shells after the snails die. i have not found the shells of a single ramhorn snail after it died.i have to admit there are some nuisance snails such as the tiny malaysian trumpet snails…..but they dont bother too much. the reason most folks dont like snails is that some snails would eat the plants in the tank as well as the algae (which is why i put them there). and since i like live plants it has the potential of becoming an issue.

other reasons for having snails is because they look pretty. i experiments with mystery snails which did not last too long. so temporarily i am content with ram horns. attached is a link with more details on snails (technical info).

the coolest thing i like is when little baby snails move around. it is like a grain of sand moving from one end to the other. and over time there are snails at various ages which makes it quite interesting. in the older snails noticed that snails clean each other’s shells too (at least that is what i believe and what makes it cool).

have fun growing snails. drop me a line if you know cool snail facts.

http://www.otocinclus.com/articles/snails.html