the snail INVASION!

Question
Hi Tina-
I know your bio doesn't say you know anything about snails, but i figured since you own a pet store, you might be able to help me out a little.

I bought a water alfalfa plant at PetSmart about 2 weeks ago. I got it home and put it in and everything was okay. When i fed my fish a couple of hours later, i noticed there was this tiny brown thing crawling on my tank wall. My friend a and i studied it and figured out it was a snail, of all things!

so now its been like 3 weeks and theres like half a dozen little snails crawling around my tank. Whats the deal with these guys?? are they like little algae-suckers??

Do i have to feed them anything special to get them to grow as big as the snails i see in the pet stores?? and do i have to worry about them breeding excessively and like infesting my tank with snails????? ANYTHING you could tell me about snails in general would SUPER. thanks! -Shelby

Answer
Shelby,                                                      These are not the snails you buy for pets. These are wild snails and will constantly procreate. The snails they sell at Petsmart are mystery snails. They are not hermaphroditic like the snails you have loose in your tank. They are male and female and unless you leave your water level down about 3 inches they won't lay eggs. The females need to come out of the water to lay. They are very kool though and can live 2 yrs and get to the size of a golfball. They come in ivory , blue, black, and gold. You can throw in an algae wafer here and there to feed the guys you have now, but they are going to overwhelm your tank. I would recommend  getting had a snail and getting rid of them and adding regular snails. Good Luck,Tina