The problem is, you may or may not be able to lay the cause of a recent
outbreak at the (ahem!) feet of the snails. They're just SUSPECT - always.
Once upon a time I had apple snails: was a real treat to watch them. Then my
fish got sick. One of the possible culprits were the snails. Didn't know for
sure, didn't want to take the risk: gave them to a kid who only wanted the
snails in a tank with no fish. Also, a lot of medications that you may wish
to treat your fish with will play havoc with snails. Which in turn plays
havoc with your water quality. And then there's this to consider: there
are no snails in the pond where the fish are (they're munchies if found!);
however, I just had to tear my Ultima II down over the weekend because it
had slowed to a trickle. The fins were clogged solid with the little black
common pond snails. They're a nuisance. They serve no good (other than
munchies). If they can be prevented, they should be. After they're in the
pond, it's nearly impossible to be rid of them.

Lee

"Kay" wrote in message
news:5cqqc.111931$Ik.9128532@attbi_s53...
I have been posting and reading in the goldfish news group about snails.
and it seems as if some posters feel that snails are danggerious to
their goldfish. Basically buying plants and the snails on the plants
having diseases. what my question here is, how many people here have had
a fish get sick or die due to a snail?

Kay