Ramshorn Snails - Are They Good Or Bad For Your Aquarium?

Introduction

Ramshorn snails are one of the most popular types of snails found in freshwater aquariums today. But they are not wanted by some Aquarists while others welcome them with open arms.

So why the difference between the two groups? To make things perfectly clear, I am on the side of the Aquarist who welcome Ramshorn snails with open arms.

The Pros On Having Ramshorn Snails

There are several benefits for having Ramshorn snails in your aquarium. The biggest benefit I have from having these snails in my aquarium is that they help keep the nitrates down. They do this by eating up the items that can produce nitrates, such as excess food waste, plants and fish.

They also eat the algae in the aquarium keeping the tank clean.

Another benefit to having Ramshorn snails is there is little maintenance involved in raising them. They essentially take care of themselves.

How To Obtain Them

It is easy to obtain these snails for your aquarium. Some aquariums will have them in with their plants that they sell. This is how I introduced them to my aquarium.

Just rinsing off the plants before you put them in your aquarium will not remove all the eggs or snails. So if you buy your plants from these places you certainly will put Ramshoad snails in your aquarium.

The Cons Of Having Ramshorn Snails

Being hermaphroditic, it does not matter what sex the snails are they will have baby snails. Hermaphroditic means that the snail has both sexes, male and female, so can reproduce individually.

So without proper controls, the Ramshorn snail is very prolific and can soon take over an aquarium.

Another reason they are not welcomed in aquariums is the risk of infecting the inhabitants of your tank. The red Ramshorn has been known to carry a parasite that can infect your tank. Fortunately the red Ramshorn is not as dominate as the brown or black Ramshorn.

Ramshorn snails may also eat certain types of aquatic plants.

Removing Them

The best way to remove them is to not to introduce them in the first place. Since they are introduced with new plants, soaking your plants in a chemical bath of potassium permanganate for at least 15 minutes will remove the snails and their eggs. Be sure to rinse your plants before putting them in your aquarium after the chemical bath.

To remove these snails from your tank you can put in predators that eat these snails such as gouramis and loaches.

Another method to keep them in check or remove eliminate them is by your weekly cleaning of the debris in the substrate or simply pick them off the side of your tank.

J.W. Chase is an amateur Aquarist who has successfully been keeping aquariums for over 35 years. Over 75% of people who start aquariums fail in the first month for lack of knowledge. If you want more information on how to keep an aquarium, go to his web site and download a free eBook on "15 Tips On Building And Maintaining An Aquarium" at http://www.squidoo.com/homefreshwateraquariums.

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Freshwater Aquarium - Prevention and Removal Of Snails

Introduction

When I first developed my 75-gallon aquarium, I did not want to put snails in my tank because I did not know much abut them and I heard that they can take over a freshwater aquarium.

I was surprised about two months after I had stocked my tank I found a snail crawling up the side of the aquariums glass. I had been very careful to wash everything before I put anything in my aquarium including live plants.

Where My Snails Came From

I did some investigative work on tracing the source of my snails. Since the best source of my snails was from the live plants I placed in the tank, I started there. I bought most of my plants from a pet store that guarantees the plants were snail free. Plus I had always rinsed my plants.

I then remembered I did buy some plants from another store and when I was there I saw the little bastards in the tank where they kept the live plants they sell. But why did my rinsing of the plants before I put the them in the tank not prevent their introduction?

Preventing Snails

After some research I found that just rinsing the plants was not enough to keep the snails out of your tank. More than likely I introduced the eggs of the snail when I put the plants in.

What I needed to do to keep the snails and their eggs out was to soak the plants in a snail killing chemical and then rinse the plants with water. Potassium permanganate is a popular chemical sold in many pet stores that is used in the eradication of snails and snail eggs.

The directions are simple, soak the plant in this solution for at least 15 minutes and then ensure you thoroughly rinse your plant before placing it in the aquarium.

Removing Snails

There are chemicals you can place in the aquarium to remove the snails. But I did not want to jeopardize my fish. Then I found that Gourami like to eat the snails.

I have three Kissing Gourami and three Blue Gourami in my aquarium. So I decided to leave the snails in and allow my fish to have a different food source.

Plus when I find a snail climbing up the side of the aquarium, I will remove it from the tank. They are also removed when I clean my tank with my siphon vacuum cleaner

J.W. Chase is an amateur Aquarist who has successfully been keeping aquariums for over 35 years. Over 75% of people who start aquariums fail in the first month for lack of knowledge. If you want more information on how to keep an aquarium, go to his web site and download a free eBook on "15 Tips On Building And Maintaining An Aquarium" at http://www.squidoo.com/homefreshwateraquariums.

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Freshwater Aquarium - Snails For Your Freshwater Aquarium

Introduction

Aquarium snails are a good way to control algae and even nitrites in your aquarium. So what type of snail is good for your freshwater aquarium.

There are many different types of freshwater snails to choose from. So do your research well to obtain the right snail for your aquarium. Here are some of the attributes you will want to know:

How big will the snail grow?What is their reproduction rate?What do they eat?

Ramshorn Snail - This is one of the most common snails found in freshwater aquariums today. Some Aquarist consider these pests yet others consider them one of the snails you need for your aquarium.

Here are the attributes:

Size - These snails are small and can grow up to a length of 1 cm.
Reproduction Rate - These snails are considered hermaphroditic, so you only need one to start a colony. Because of their reproduction rate, some Aquarist considered them pests if they are not controlled.
Food - The Ramshorn snail is an excellent janitor for your aquarium. They will devour algae, excess food, dead plants and dead fish. By performing this duty they help keep your water clean and your nitrates under control.

Nertite Snail - These snails can survive in almost any type of water from saltwater to brackish to freshwater. There many different types of Nertite snail and it all depends on the coloring you want.

Here are their attributes;

Size - Like the Ramshorn, these snails are also small and can grow up to one cm in size.
Reproductive Rate - If kept in freshwater aquariums the reproductive rate of this type of snail is next to zero. But if you do want to attempt breeding them, unlike Ramshorn snails you will need at least one male and one female.
Food - These little fellows will do a good job of eating the algae that accumulates in your tank. You may want to periodically feed them algae wafers.

Mystery Snail - Mystery snails are related to the Apple snail. There are a few theories on why they are called Mystery snails. One theory is they do not know why they lay their eggs above the water line when all other snails lay their eggs below the water line. Another thought is that it is a mystery why they are called mystery snails.

Here are their attributes:

Size - This is one of the larger freshwater snails who can grow to a size of 3 cm.
Reproductive Rate - Their reproductive rate is not as fast as Ramshorn snails because you will need both a female and male snail to have reproduction.
Food - These are also good janitors for your aquarium for they will eat algae, dead or decaying plants and excess fish food in the substrate.

There is also the Apple snail that some people like in their aquarium. Stay away from these because they can cause infestations, like in Southeast Asia, if released to the wild. In fact some states do not allow them to be sold in their state.

J.W. Chase is an amateur Aquarist who has successfully been keeping aquariums for over 35 years. Over 75% of people who start aquariums fail in the first month for lack of knowledge. If you want more information on how to keep an aquarium, go to his web site and download a free eBook on "15 Tips On Building And Maintaining An Aquarium" at http://www.squidoo.com/homefreshwateraquariums.

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Freshwater Aquarium - How I Control Ramshorn Snails

Introduction

One of things I wanted to do when I started my freshwater aquarium was to keep snails out, especially Ramshorn snails, because I had heard they can take over an aquarium. I spent extra money to ensure I purchased snail free aquarium plants just to keep my aquarium snail free.

One time, without thinking, I purchased plants from a a store I was not familiar with and I paid the price. I did take extra care to wash my new plants to remove debris and snails, but that was not enough. All I needed to do was miss one snail or one egg and I could guarantee myself a good crop of snails.

Within two weeks I had Ramshorn snails crawling all over my aquarium.

Research Ramshorn Snails

When I found that I had the Ramshorn snail in my aquarium, I immediately researched the subject to learn how to get rid of them. I quickly found out that I should learn to control them rather than eradicate them.

The snails are very good at keeping my aquarium clean. They will eat the algae and even eat dead plants. Since they were good at keeping my aquarium clean, I rapidly turned from trying to eradicate them to just keeping them under control.

Controlling The Ramshorn Snails

When I looked at trying to control the Ramshorn snails I found that certain fish love to eat them. This includes kissing Gourami and Tiger Barb. I had both kinds of these fish in my freshwater aquarium but they were not eating the snails.

So the question was, why were my fish not eating the snails? Then it hit me, they were not hungry and preferred my fish flakes and blood worms to snails.

I consulted an Aquarist at our local pet fish store who told me that I should only feed them once a day and only feed them what they can eat in two minutes.

I reduced their feeding to once a day and solved two problems when I did that. The first problem was they started eating the Ramshorn snails. This solved the main problem I was trying to solve, keeping my snails under control.

The second problem I solved was the nitrate levels were reduced in in the tank. Apparently the high levels of nitrates in my aquarium water was caused by the decay of excess food.

Conclusion

If you want to control the amount of Ramshorn snails in your aquarium, get some fish that eat them such as Tiger Barbs.

J.W. Chase is an amateur Aquarist who has successfully been keeping aquariums for over 35 years. Over 75% of people who start aquariums fail in the first month for lack of knowledge. If you want more information on how to keep an aquarium, go to his web site and download a free eBook on "15 Tips On Building And Maintaining An Aquarium" at http://www.squidoo.com/homefreshwateraquariums.

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert