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Hi everyone. My tank's cycled and thought it has a bit of brown algae, it's doing very well and I'm happy. Well today I just noticed a very small snail on the side of the tank. Where on earth did it come from? Will it cause problems, or can I leave it alone?

If you have live plants from your LFS it might have come in on them. Or anything that was in another tank before going into yours.
Pest snails breed like crazy but I'm not sure what kind of damage they do. Puffers or loaches will eat them.

The Snail could have came with the Gravel of if you have, live Plants.

There are fish that eat Snails, like Clown Loaches & Puffers, but i don't know what's your tank setup & which fish you are adding.


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I just have a five gallon hex with two guppies, and I'm going to get a third. That's all. Will it do any damage, or can I leave it alone? It's really really cute being so miniature with a practically see-through shell. It's like having an extra pet for free!

They don't really do any damage but even 1 snail can lay eggs and multiply. Most people just don't like the look of them. They do clean up leftover food and such and squishing them on occasion keeps their population in check while giving your fish a snack. The more you feed them the more they multiply so don't overfeed the tank and they generally won't get out of hand. Usually people think they are ugly and want to eliminate every last one of them.

Well I think he's cool. I actually hope I get a few more...

Actually, I've become something of a fan of snails. And there's a reason for this.

The creatures that people call 'pest snails' seem, on the basis of my observations, to perform a useful function. I had a cyanobacteria attack both in my Panda nursery and my quarantine aquarium when they were devoid of snails. By way of experiment, I added snails to the quarantine aquarium, and within 3-4 days, the cyanobacteria was on its way out.

Now I wouldn't say that the snails are actually eating the stuff, though that is possible ... however, for some reason, whenever I have a cyanobacteria attack, it ALWAYS takes place in a snail free aquarium.

So, once the Panda fry were free swimming, I added snails to their nursery. Again, same result - bye bye cyanobacteria. Of course, snails will make egg rearing somewhat problematic in a nursery, but, if my experience is anything to go by, they provide a very useful management tool for dealing with various aquarium maintenance aspects. Every time I have set up an aquarium recently without snails, the dreaded cyanobacteria has paid a call, whereas upon adding snails, boom, end of cyanobacteria problem.

Something for you all to think about there!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

If you like snails but dont want a huge population explosion, look into getting an apple snail. Some apple snails get big, however Pomacea Bridgessi stays small.

Pomacea Bridgessi will also eat pest snail eggs preventing overpopulation.



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i love my snails, but yes after awhile there can be alot of them, one day i came home with a weather/dojo loach(very active and always out& about) i don't think he eats snails but loves snail egg jelly(one day i'll see a big patch of snail eggs and the next day its all gone) !!!!!
and in one of my other tanks i have a kuhli loach in there ( a couple months ago i was adding more plant dirt& plants , i thought a few months before that he died, but low'n bo hold there he is close to 3 inches long!!! ) well anyways i don't see alot of snails , but i never have to clean the glass walls in there so the snails are doing there job and the kulhi loach whom i haven't see in months but i know he's in there somewheres, is keeping the snails in check . the fasinating world of aquatic environments! and i'm totally addicted!!!! the most rewarding hobby

90g- anguilla rostrata,6 silver dollars,2 pictus catfish 60 g- anguilla rostrata 29g-4 blk skirt&4 serpia tetras, 6 harliquin resbora, 3kuhli loach 20g- 2 mountian minnows, 2 zebra danio& dojo loach , a corn snake and 2 monster dogs