Salade ala Escargot My Pretties...

[miguynmkoi]

I have a 20 gallon tub sitting to the side of my pond just for odd (no where to place them) water plants and a great place for rinsing the filter pads once in a while.  A few weeks ago I had to check why the pond water flow was so low.  I found the inflow tube chocked full of snails of all sizes and one the size of the 3/4" tube.  I cleaned those suckers out of the filter box, gajillions of 'em, into the side tub.

Later in the week I received many lilies from Kat.  Guess where some of them went!   

I've learned many thing reading this forum and lately some ponders have been having problems with their lily pads looking not so healthy.  I thought, "Oh no, not me too!"  So I lifted a pad and I couldn't believe my eyes.   The underside of the pad was 75% covered with all sizes of snails    I checked every pad and wiped off too many snails.  Too angry to take photos but thought about it.  Have any Ponders had this problem?

Hopefully koi and goldies are safe eating these little monsters.  I threw the snails into the pond knowing the fish would not let them touch bottom.  I crushed the larger ones for easy swallowing 

So what do you feed your koi?  My babies had salade ala escargot for breakfast.

[Desertponder]

Ummm, well, snails just come with ponding. I actually like snails, I think they are cool to watch. They can be a little tough on lily pads but they don't seem to destroy them that much. I'm sure your fish enjoyed their meal.

[thedahlialama]

most of the snails we pass around are quite harmless to our plants - helping more with keeping the algae down than hurting the plants. getting so many they clog the tubing is another matter. i have never had that kind of problem - i think the fish must keep them to a reasonable level most of the time. but even in my fishless tubs i've never seen enough of them to give me concern.

[miguynmkoi]

I have nothing against snails as I'm the one who introduced them into my pond.  They ate the algae and they were cute to watch.  Then the fish got big and I noticed a lot less....until I checked out the filter box.  That's probably where they all went to save themselves from the big mouth

They also have no competition in the tub and no algae as yet so the next best thing....my new love in ponding, lilies    They're like vampires on bruised pads.

I crushed a big snail for the fish and there was what looked like blood.  I didn't look twice, yucky!!  Is this possible?

[Desertponder]

Good heavens!! I've got loads of snails but they don't do that number on my lilies!
I bet you have a different culprit. Get a magnifying glass and look at the backs of your lily pads.
You might see these very tiny clear worms squiggling around. They are very hard to see. If you do, that's what is doing
the number on those pads. Its easiest to see them at night with a flashlight.
When I get those worms I pick off every pad from the lily with the exception of the most healthy ones.
Then every day I "wash" the remaining pads and rub them between my hands to remove the worms. It seems
to work. They are usually gone within a week.

[miguynmkoi]

WORMS!?!? YUCCC!  I'll check but I'm pretty sure snails are the culprit.  The pics I show were taken after I picked off many many snails.  I did pick a few more off this morning too.  Later I will check for worms...ugh.

[tranquility]

in an isolated area such as that they will really multiply....I have a tub that is kind of my catch all tub...every year it ends up with a different plant in it for the season...this year it was a tropical lily....I was surprised by how they were able to eat it...but, once it got hot enough for the lily to take off....It grew faster than they could eat...it now is sooo full that I have leaves are spilling over the edge....you can still pick up a leaf and it will still have gobs of snails on it....but, I can tell you that new lilies will die back some...especially if not planted right away....what the snails are eating were probably dieing leaves to begin with....
Lawanna

[miguynmkoi]

That sounds about right Lawanna.  I did check the leaves for worms...none, thank goodness.  Just one more chore...picking off snails.

[Kat]

I've never had snails do that kind of damage .... maybe a caterpillar got on the pads?

[miguynmkoi]

Caught the snails (hundreds in many sizes all over) sucking away!  Only wish I took pics first but in a panicky state I picked them off first!

Some of the leaves had small bruises that became bigger with the snail commotion overnight.  Since I've been checking and picking snails off there seems to be less damage.  I know I didn't get them all in the tub but a major amount is gone.  Too many baby snails though = much more snails to come.

[tranquility]

Snails like to eat dying and decaying matter....I'm sure thats what happened...alot of the time if you don't plant the lily right away you will start losing the larger leaves....I know that because I almost never have time to plant them right away and they will float in a pool for a week or two before I get them planted....they almost always lose the big leaves because of it...but, once they are planted they rebound fast...
Lawanna

[Jonna]

Careful of snails in your pump.  They completely clogged mine 2 years ago and were part of the clogs this year.  They get sucked into the impeller slots and clog it up.  I had gazillions in the skippy but not as many in the pond, I think the 3 koi are now big enough to eat them.   The Wakin won't touch them.

[bunny56lbc]

I used to have shubbies & they loved to eat the snail's . They would eat every snail in their pond .
I got rid of the shubbies because they breed worse than rabbit's...! Sometime's I wish I had a few just to eat the snail's .
bonnie

[miguynmkoi]

Snails do not get in my pump because of the foam thingy around it.  They did got into my Bio-filter when I first used plants to filter.  Plants introduced the snails and they multiplied  like crazy blocking the incoming hose!  What a sight  :'( to see the hose pushed out of the box by snails so densely packed in the hose.

I think the wakins must have a soft palate because they don't suck food as hard as the koi.

Bonnie, don't tell me shubs breed worst than rabbits   Looks like a good thing for my turtles though.   I do not enjoy going to the pet store to see their sickly fish to purchase feeders for the turtles.