Identify these snails?

Question
QUESTION: Can you ID these snails? I found these shells in the filter yesterday, then today i have seen several live ones in the tank of the same size. Also can you tell me anything about them? Should i do anything about them? Will they cause problems? Also where might they have come from? I have two theories about the where. Theory 1: The beginning of March i planted two live plants that i bought from a local fish store that they had in their fish tanks. Theory 2: a few weeks ago i harvested live mosquito larva for the first time with an eye dropper from a pale of water i set outside. However I never noticed any snails in the pale or eye dropper.

Tank set-up:
3 gallon Marineland Crescent 3 tank system.
10 watt heater
2 watt LED light
Fish: 1 male Betta, 2 "Asian" feeder guppies
Live Plants: Java fern, Cryptocoryne Spiralis, Cryptocoryne Balansae

Water stats:
Nitrates: 10
Nitrites: 0
GH: 75
Alkalinity: 120
PH: 7.2

Tank history:
Tank was started October 2011 with a betta fish and a plant i got from a local plant nursery(alternanthera ficoidea). Added Java fern January 2012. Completely removed alternanthera ficoidea February 2012. Planted both crypto plants and added two guppies in March 2012. Fed live mosquito larva 3 weeks ago. Noticed snails yesterday.

Pics:
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s416/cessna151/shells.jpg
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s416/cessna151/tank1.jpg

ANSWER: Lance,
You have Malaysian Trumpet Snails. You most likely introduced them to the tank with the live plants. They are a useful snail to have. They will eat any algae, left over food, and any dead plants. Normally they will leave live plants alone. They normally come out at night, but if you see them heading for the surface of the water during the day, it means you are having water quality issues. The do reproduce very quickly, and can also come around of you over feed the fish. If you find that you are getting too many of them, you can shut off your filter and net the adults climbing up the tank walls. You can also use a gravel vacuum to suck up the babies. I have them in all my tanks and I have no need for an algae eater.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I use a gravel vac every week for the water change. Will this cause them to disappear?

ANSWER: It will probably get rid of the juvenile snails, but the adults have a better grip. These are beneficial snails, but you will get over run very quickly. I would say the safest way to get rid of some is to turn out the light at night. After about a half an hour or so, use a flashlight to shine on the tank. You will see them climbing up the side of the tank to feed on algae. You can either net them or grab them with your hands. You can get a product that will kill them, but I have never used it. You can also clean a bottle and submerge it in the tank, you can either add fish food or an algae wafer to the bottle. I would use the algae wafer. Once you have a good number of snails in the bottle, remove it and dump out the snails. You can do this as often as you wish. If the tank was larger, I would suggest a pair of clown loaches. These guys are fantastic in snail eating. There is even a "assassin snail," also called a "killer snail," which is a snail-eating snail. If you are notices a lot more snails, then you are over feeding the fish. When the fish are over fed, the snails breed very quickly.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: That is all very good info, however, i feel you might have misunderstood the reasoning of my follow-up question and i want to clear it up. I have no reason to want to get rid of them as long as they cause no harm. I was asking because you said they are beneficial and because you said a gravel vac will suck them up. Since i use a gravel vac every week for the water change i was concerned that these beneficial snails would eventually disappear. I went ahead and did another water change yesterday with my gravel vac as usual and then did the flashlight trick later that night and was surprised to see several baby snails chomping away the algae in the tank, however, i have yet to see any bigger than the ones in the picture. Now just to be sure, there is nothing i really need to do different at this point?

Answer
There is nothing you need to do to keep the snails. Just so you understand, you will get over run with them, that is why I was telling you different ways to keep the population down. The larger ones hide under the gravel and come out once the tank lights have been out for awhile. Since they multiply so quickly, you will be over populated very soon with that small of a tank. Too much of a good thing can be bad. Just keep an eye on them so that you can "thin the herd" when needed. You still need to vacuum the gravel once a week. This will remove some of the snails, but more than enough will remain in the tank.