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

I think it's safe to say that snails can carry diseases just like any
other animal. Therefore when adding snails, if you really want to be
anal aboutit, you should quarantene them just like you do with fish.
As far as I am aware they don't present any bigger threat than adding
new fish would.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

Kay wrote in message news:Ibqqc.21300$qA.2416111@attbi_s51...
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

In 40 years of fish keeping I have never had a fish die that could in any way
be attributed to snails. Snails can be an intermediary host in a parasitic
disease that involves fish that eat snails but the snails have to be in contact
with birds and the parasite doesn't harm the fish and has to eaten by the bird
to carry on the disease other than that I know of no other disease carried by
snails for fish.

Moon
I breed dwarf crayfish for planted aquariums and grow trees in aquariums.
My groups

Moontanman wrote:
In 40 years of fish keeping I have never had a fish die that could in any way
be attributed to snails. Snails can be an intermediary host in a parasitic
disease that involves fish that eat snails but the snails have to be in contact
with birds and the parasite doesn't harm the fish and has to eaten by the bird
to carry on the disease other than that I know of no other disease carried by
snails for fish.

Moon
I breed dwarf crayfish for planted aquariums and grow trees in aquariums.
My groups






Thanks for the feedback, there was a debate in the goldfish newsgroup
and the majority think snails are dangerious to thier goldfish. Due to
this link

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disea...m#black%20spot

Kay

Kay wrote:
Thanks for the feedback, there was a debate in the goldfish newsgroup
and the majority think snails are dangerious to thier goldfish. Due to
this link

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disea...m#black%20spot

Well, this is a case of knowing where people are coming from. In the case
of black spot disease, it would be of concern to pond goldfish keepers,
because, being that ponds are outdoors, all the vectors required for the
disease (snails, birds, fish) are present. This is not a concern to the
indoor tank keeper, unless for some reason you have birds free-flying in
your home. It is possible that some goldfish keepers have experienced this
in their ponds, polarizing them against snails, even in situations were
there are no birds present. Note particularly that the page referenced
does not even mention the role birds play in the lifecycle.

On Wed, 19 May 2004 22:13:15 +0000 (UTC), Cichlidiot
wrote:

Kay wrote:
Thanks for the feedback, there was a debate in the goldfish newsgroup
and the majority think snails are dangerious to thier goldfish. Due to
this link

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disea...m#black%20spot

Well, this is a case of knowing where people are coming from. In the case
of black spot disease, it would be of concern to pond goldfish keepers,
because, being that ponds are outdoors, all the vectors required for the
disease (snails, birds, fish) are present. This is not a concern to the
indoor tank keeper, unless for some reason you have birds free-flying in
your home. It is possible that some goldfish keepers have experienced this
in their ponds, polarizing them against snails, even in situations were
there are no birds present. Note particularly that the page referenced
does not even mention the role birds play in the lifecycle.

The bird factor can indeed affect indoor aquaria. A store bought
plant can come from suppliers that use outdoor growing ponds. Plenty
of birds there.

Okay, so I'm reaching.

Bill.

Bill wrote:
On Wed, 19 May 2004 22:13:15 +0000 (UTC), Cichlidiot
wrote:

Well, this is a case of knowing where people are coming from. In the case
of black spot disease, it would be of concern to pond goldfish keepers,
because, being that ponds are outdoors, all the vectors required for the
disease (snails, birds, fish) are present. This is not a concern to the
indoor tank keeper, unless for some reason you have birds free-flying in
your home. It is possible that some goldfish keepers have experienced this
in their ponds, polarizing them against snails, even in situations were
there are no birds present. Note particularly that the page referenced
does not even mention the role birds play in the lifecycle.

The bird factor can indeed affect indoor aquaria. A store bought
plant can come from suppliers that use outdoor growing ponds. Plenty
of birds there.

Okay, so I'm reaching.

Well, let's evaluate this for a moment even though you say you're
reaching. The life cycle of black spot is as follows. The adult lives in
birds which pass the eggs in their feces. The eggs that land in water then
hatch and inhabit snails. It goes through some larva stages while living
in the snail then develops to a stage that infects fish, the black spot
"disease". The fish is then eaten by a bird, where the black spot parasite
develops into its adult form.

So, assuming that you got infested snails on your plant purchase, then you
could see the black spot on the fish. But, unless you are constantly
introducing infested snails, without the bird to carry the adult form, the
life cycle is interrupted and the black spot infestation is self-limiting.
You could also do any of the techniques to "de-snail" new plants to
prevent the snail vector.