Snails..........

[aravenschild]

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

[Bartman]

If I remember correctly you do NOT want to use any of these snails in your pond.  I'm not longer 100% sure since I haven't looked into adding any in a long time, but for some reason the idea of staying away from these seems to surface in my  head.  Someone else will come up with the exact answer I'm sure.

Bart

[Julles]

Our local pond store, Nelson's Water Gardens sells them, and their hand-written burb specifically says, "Will not overpopulate." 

I bought one last time I was there, and really didn't even remember it, until reading your post.  But I DO remember buying three snails from PetSmart, for $1.49 each - an yellow one, a blue one, and a "white" one.  I noticed the yellow one just today, working its way up the side of the pond liner.  When the light's right, I can see the wakes they leave as they eat their way through the coating of algea on the liner.

I remember ones from years past being around all year, but never saw any babies.

[aravenschild]

The snails you described sound like mystery snails, they are not live bearing, and they will lay eggs above the water line. The egg cases look like a clump of dried topioca. They are a tropical snail, but they will still work in a pond if you over winter them inside.

The ones I'm wanting to know about are call Japanese Trapdoor Snails.

But thank you for posting,

Vicky

[Derrick]

I tried 6 trap door snails last year, but none of them made it over the winter. 
So this year I am trying 12 melantho snails! Haven't seen them since I put them in! hahaha

I do have a couple of mystery snails I need to move out to the pond from a tank for the summer as the darn things are getting HUGE!

I like having the snails, and the only ones I think I worry about are those tiny "pond snails" that hitch hike in one plants, etc.

Derrick

[Cedric]

If you haven't got snails in your pond stay well away. You are blessed.

Snails are a problem. This is the most sound advice you will ever get. Take heed.

They breed exponentially, eating every thing tender in sight, when that's finished and in tatters they start on the bigger stuff like lily pads. Very soon they have reached encrustation proportions, now they suddenly all die at the height of summer turning your water into a foul smelling putrid snail cauldron, that bubbles and festers. This sadly doesn't obliterate them, it starts all over again next spring.

Only very few sub-tropical specialist fish actually eat them, most fish couldn't be bothered with the sharp crunchy shell and slimy rubber. The specialist fish , loaches are fussy about water quality purity temperature ph etc and wont easily make inroads into your snail epidemic. Most will also will not tolerate any medication, preferring to swim happily in strong flowing mountain streams of crystal clear highly oxygenated god provided water. Not only that but mine up and left wriggling back into the stream. Leaving me to my snails in disgust.

Until someone discovers a species that is 100% scavenger and truly frigid, no snail is definitely the best place there is.

[aravenschild]

Thank you for all the input so far, but I think we are talking about several different species......
The kind I'm refering to get bigger then a ping pong ball, give birth to a few live babies twice a year, and do not bother healthy plants unless its the only thing left for them to eat.
The species I'm asking about is viviparis malleatus, Crystal Creek Pond Supply LLc has a good articule on them.

I just wanted to know someone else opinions on them, especially someone with first hand knowledge and not trying to sell them....

Also the mystery snails seem to do pretty well, but they can overpopulate very quickly, and cannot be left outside all winter.

Thank you again,

Vicky

[Ruthie]

I'm not going to be much help here, specific to your question.  But I  have ram's horn snails in my pond and they don't mess with my lilies...they do eat algae though...you can see the paths they "mow." 

I've read about the snails you are talking about, but I don't know anyone who has them.

[water_sprite]

I have many trapdoor snails in my pond.  They are live bearing, so the won't over populate.  They eat dead matter.  Never had a problem w/my plants.  I really like them!

Brenda

[Mikey]

Here's my experience.  I have a 2300 gallon pond with lots of plants.  Initially I had only goldfish (comets & shubunkins).  I introduced rams horn & Japanese trap door snails into my pond.  I have lots of plants in the pond and these snails didn't do any significant damage that I could see.  Then as I obtained water plants I accidentally introduced two additional unknown types of pond snails into the pond.  They too didn't seem to make a difference.  I then added a koi and kept finding empty Japanese trap door snail shells.  Soon I didn't notice any snails in the pond.  Today the only noticeable snails are in the stream and stock tank and none where the koi live.....  Thus it's pretty clear to me that the fish, especially the koi, do a pretty good job in controlling the snails... 

Here's a link that may be of help: http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snail2.htm

[Cedric]

Quite often if you medicate your fish, the snails shrimp etc all die, as they are not compatible with most fish medication. I know Koi and goldfish owners do this quite often, maybe the die off is sufficient to keep them in balance. I only ever use a little sea salt, but I have even stopped that as the hair-algae love it.

Seems like most snail fads end in disaster, as the foreign introductions very easily escape. If they're not going to survive your winter that's a good thing.

What I am looking for is a local water snail that eats other snails. There are a few terrestrial ones that do this.  We also have giant African snails, introduced as pets, a complete menace.

[PondmaninAL]

Snails, a controversial subject. I have common pond snails, rams horns, and the mystery snails that someone called apple snails. One of the yellow ones have laid eggs on one of my black magic taro. The point is, snails are a personal decision. The large snails I have will not eat the plants as long as there is excess food. Right now, they are in the plant filter with pond snail. This was my choice. Another thing, if you have ever hand fed a koi, it's like sticking you fingers in the intake of a pond pump. I have seen where they have pulled the snail out of it's shell. Either way, I like snails.

Happy ponding,
Scott

[karen J]

I can't recall ever reading anything bad about Trap Door snails. Live bearers are usually well behaved. I've also never had a problem with Rams horns.

The snails that hitch hike on plants, reproduce like crazy, and decimate plants in my area are the Great Pond Snails. They are the ones who lay gelatinous, clear egg masses on the undersides of lily pads. They can severely infest filtration systems. Those are definitely ones to avoid.

Does anyone know the uppermost northern limits of Trap Door Snails?

[Arey]

I have a large population of Japanese Black trapdoor snails in my 940 gal. garden pond, and I've never had a problem with them eating plants.  They go over the liner, pots, rocks and everything in the pond eating algae while the tadpoles go over them.  The only real problem is that when removing excess plants from the pond or scooping out muck from the bottom of the pond, I have to sift through the debris to find all the snails and put them back in the pond. 

[Johns]

Just my own stupid opinion, but listen to Cedric on this one.  I've been ponding almost 40 years and for outdoor ponds, snails of any kind are verboten.  You will eventually arrive at the same conclusion after 10 or so years.  Remember, internet advice is often worth less than you paid for it, including mine.

[miguynmkoi]

I think the snails I have in my ponds are the rams horn variety and a few of the trapdoor snails.  Rams horn do eat healthy lily pads in clean ponds    AND they multiply in the filter box.  They've only been a nuisance blocking the intake pipe to the filter!!!  I can't crush enough of them...and the fish like the occasional escargot.  These are snails that probably came with waterplants I purchased at nurseries.