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Awhile back, I found a clear blob with dots in it on one of my plants. Curious, I let it be, and the dots grew and then vanished one by one. I didn't see any new life for awhile, so I assumed whatever it was got eaten, but now I have quite a few very small (size of a large pin head) snails, that are yellow with black spots. They have standard looking "mystery snail" spiral shells, though a bit more elongate and pointed than the ones I usually see at the LFS. They also seem really fast for snails... I know very little about snails, so maybe I just don't know how to look, but I can't find what these are anywhere. Do they sound familiar to anybody? I will try to get pictures, but I am a TERRIBLE photographer...

pond snails

Oh dear... that was obvious I guess. Disappointing though, now I'm going to have to pick them out. They're kind of cool looking, but I don't want them to eat my plants...

If they are Physa or Physella sp. pond snails then they won't eat any plants. I have Physa sp. all over my tanks and they don't do any harm.

My Cajun crays are having a feast on them. I was kind of suprised how big of snails they will actually eat. I now sea the pond snails numbers dropping and little shells all over. 3/16" seems to be the favorite size.

Mustafa wrote:If they are Physa or Physella sp. pond snails then they won't eat any plants. I have Physa sp. all over my tanks and they don't do any harm.

Really? Hooray! Googling left me with the impression that all pond snails equal death to plants. I'm glad I haven't done anything about them yet then. I guess I'll just keep an eye on them, and see how it goes... I've never been a big fan of snails before, but these have such lovely spots, and it's fun to watch them zoom around.

I keep snails in all my tanks to eat extra food and provide food for crays. It works well.

Heres the snails I have cruizing around my tank walls.

The spotted one in the top pic looks interesting, does it eat plants?

ToddnBecka wrote:The spotted one in the top pic looks interesting, does it eat plants?

I have no idea. The only plants available in the tank are these, and they seem to be ok. I rarely see the snails on the plants, they are most often on the walls of the tank.

Those are exactly the snails I was talking about above. They are some kind of Physa sp. They never eat plants...even soft ones.

That's marvelous... those are exactly the snails I have, although mine are yellow with black spots, rather than the other way like the one in the picture. I've been watching them, and they do seem to prefer the rocks and glass to the plants...

to avoid any confusion, those snails in my pics are really, really small, like 5mm long. I take pics with a 7mp camera, then cut out around the snail. I dont resize the photo, so its the equivalent of looking at them under a microscope. If I posted the whole photo all you would see is a brown dot in the middle.

This is the same photo from above with red arrows added to point out the snails. As far as I can tell, these are the adults. I have had them for about 8 months now, and this is as big as they seem to get.

Wow...the "plant" looks like Chara. Haven't seen any of that in years.

The snails are definitley Physa or Physella. In my experience, they don't do any real damage to plants unless food is an issue. They're a great cleanup crew. It looks like you have some of what I call "blonde" pond snails - a mutation that gives them a light golden-brown body color.

It looks like you have some of what I call "blonde" pond snails - a mutation that gives them a light golden-brown body color.

A snail that is aesthetically pleasing as well as being plant safe! That is a wonderful combo