Snails can be both loved and detested additions to aquariums. Understanding their reproduction and how to control their population is important. Many snails are hitchhikers and join your tank in the form of eggs or very tiny snails on either decor or plants you have added to your tank. Some snails you can add for tank maintenance or the beauty that they add to your tank.
Mystery snails
These freshwater snails are and excellent clean up crew, eating leftover fish food, algae, and other organic material Their population is easy to control. They only lay eggs outside of the tank, and the eggs are very obvious. If the eggs are submerged, or if they dry out, they are no longer viable. You can choose whether or not to let the eggs hatch, by leaving them in the constant humidity just above the water, or you can remove them.
According to many experts, if they hatch, they can overwhelm a small ecosystem. In my experience, if they hatch, most do not survive until adulthood, either due to competition for resources, or because the fish find them tasty when freshly hatched.
Ramshorn Snails
These snails are both beneficial and a pest. They breed quickly, and their clear jellylike eggs are easy to overlook, leading to an explosion of snails if you are overfeeding your fish. Remember snails both clean your aquariums and also create waste at the same time. Ramshorn snails can be a good addition to your aquariums, as long as you relinquish control over their reproduction, and you like their looks.
Nerite snails
Appearance-wise, these snails are my favorite. However, they do not live very long (a year or so), and while they lay eggs in freshwater, the eggs do not hatch unless they are in brackish water. Their eggs are visible and difficult to remove, and the snails will need to be replaced every year or so, if they are part of your regular tank maintenance. I have a few, but mostly I depend on my neocaridina shrimp for the work of keeping my tanks clean.
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