Snails in my tank

Question
I have a thirty gallon tank and recently have noticed 4 baby or very tiny snails in my tank. I have no idea how they got there and don't know if there good or bad for the tank and the fish in it. I thank you in advance for any help you can offer in this matter.

Brian Payton

Answer
Hi Brian,

These snails usually come in from pet stores, most times on live plants if you've recently bought some.  Sometimes if you add the water from the bag the fish came in from the pet store this may also have a few tiny baby snails in it.  They're pests, and will multiply and multiply and multiply and cover your tank.  If you have clown loaches or puffers in your tank, you won't have a problem because these fish love to eat snails.  But otherwise, I would either pull them off or smush them against the side of the tank.  They're not beneficial or detrimental; they will clean a bit of the algae from the tank, but, as I said, they will mulitply like crazy.  So, it's your call if you want to keep them or not, but the best thing to do in the long run is to get them out when there are only four of them!

-Lindsay