Freshwater snails

Question
I have had my freshwater tank for about a year. I have 2 fantails, 1 red fin shark, 2 tiger barbs, and a tetra. (Same fish for the whole year) Now I was watching my fish swim the other day and I noticed that my goldfish was laying on my filter like she was tired. Then I looked down and saw a snail on the side of my tank. I looked around my tank and saw 3 more small ones and a large one. I have never added snails to my tank, nor have I had a snail issue before. My question is how do snails appear from out of nowhere without me adding them or having live rock?

Answer
Hi Sarah,
Snails commonly appear in your aquarium when they hitch a ride in the bag when whenever you bring new fish home or especially so on live plants you add to the tank.Either as tiny babies or even as eggs... They are not any problem and they are actually nice a little additions and they make good scavengers. Sometimes they can multiply and overpopulate some aquariums but this can be prevented by making sure there isn't too much leftover food that would fuel a population.

As for your goldfish laying on the filter. She could just be resting. But just in case, its best to do a water change of about 30-50% ideally for a couple of days just a precaution against possible water quality issues.

Best wishes and happy fishkeeping!
Karen~