I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but what is your opinion of Japanese trap door snails?
I've seen them advertized on different water garden web sights, have even seen them on e-bay, that's where I got mine. They are suppose to survive over winter in my area, zone 6B, and I've seen several moving this spring, but they are hard to see against the black liner. I know I probably do not have enough of them at this point (I fairly sure at least 8 of the 12+ I added to the pond last year survived)in time to do the job I got them for, and thought I'd ask for opinions here on adding more.
First off, my pond is approx. 900 gallons, with an average depth of 24 inches. It is filtered through a biological filter I built in a 55 gal container using a pool pump to circulate the water, and unless it rains heavily the water stays crystal clear. I have 16 fantails (that over wintered very nicely and average about 2.5 inches, not counting the tail), two small koi (the koi will be moved to a bigger pond later) and a couple dozen tadpoles (thanks to my grandsons
)........... Oh, and the plants I have are waterlilies (wal-mart specials), water clover and water hawthorne, plus I'll be adding some water lettuce, and underwater plants as well.
Ok, the snails are suppose to be live bearing, so only a few babies at a time (if they survive the koi :'(), they are suppose to only eat algae, decaying plant matter, and left over fish food.........
Does anyone else have experience with these guys? And what is your opinion? Should I add more, or let mother nature take its course? Or get rid of the few I have left
, ah, I mean rehome......
Sorry for being long winded, but you can't give an honest opinion without the facts.....
Thank you for getting this far, and thank you again if you choose to offer an opinion,
Vicky