"Martin A. Gross" wrote:

You know those little snails that come with every plant you buy? Why are
they considered to be a pest? Don't they virtually eliminate algae on plant
leaves? What is everyone's opinions of them? Are they beneficial to planted
aquariums, or are they a nuisance?

The ones that I've had arrive on plants are commonly called pond
snails. In my heavily planted 20 gallon, I've got a fairly large
population of these snails, and I see no evidence at all that they're
damaging my plants. I've also got a truckload of MTS, a ramshorn, and
until recently a true bridgesii apple snail, none of which ever hurt a
plant in my tank.

In fact, the only snail I've ever had problems with is Pomacea
canaliculata (which was sold to me as being bridgesii), of which I
have perhaps two dozen in a ten gallon snail-only tank. I started out
with just two of them, and they bred. They still lay clutches of eggs
every few days, but I destroy all the eggs now.


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