are snails in a fishtank a good thing/bad thing/irrelevent?

[BloodySmartarseToTheRescue]

there seem to be a fair number of snails, mostly titchy ones... must have come in with the last new plant coz i didt put them in there. should i be pulling them out? or are they fine to leave?

I don't know but I can tell you they can breed at a rabbit-like rate and before you know it you'll hardly be able to see the fish for snails. And even when you think you've got rid of them all, you'll have left enough behind for the mass-breeding programme to start again immediately. Whether they actually do any harm or not, I'm not sure but they must be eating something, which I guess is a Good Thing.

theres millions of them! had a better look just now. the light wasnt on and they were all up top, theyre all makingntheir way down again now...

hmm, i may wait till tomorrow and have a bit of a removal exercise if they breed like that, see if i can cut the numbers a bit.

could they be taking up oxygen you think? the bubbles werent on and a lot of the fish were up top and gulping a fair bit... and they oughtnt really to need the bubbles to breathe...

do you know anything about how often filters need changing/cleaning?? its the first time ive had a fish tank this big...

If its any help I clean my filters out once a month or if the flow is slowing down sooner and do a 25% water change every week
Am being over run by teeny snails too and they are jolly hard to squish.

What fish do you have? I think some types eat small snails.
We have had sporadic influxes on plants, but they never seem to last - i suspect the clown loaches are mopping them up!

a small number of snails is ok, they keep the tank clean, but then so do catfish and they're easier to keep under control....

they do breed like mad though, so you'll need to cull them every so often.

if they're the tiny snails then some fish do eat them, but if you get a cone shaped snail then chuck it out straight away - their shells are too hard for most fish and they really do take over the place.

I had 5 ramshorn snails to start with but my 3 fish ate them, then i got another 12 a few months ago, these are are now down to 9 but are growing well,i dont have any bother with them, i have seen eggs now and again but clean the tank every week and no babies so far.

oh, the cone ones are the pretty ones... oh well.

i cant remember all the types of fish but one si do know are: 2 angel fish, 3 passion fish, some platys and other ubiquitous small multi coloured ones... 3 algae eaters, a couple of what we call 'moppers' which were supposed to eat algea but didnt really make any impact and also hide all the time... my last remaining little one-stripe from the v first bunch of teeny fish about 4 tanks ago (we have sized up gradually over the last 3 yrs or so... currently on a 125L tank)...

our plants were dying all the time too bamzooki till i found this stuff called blackwater somethingorother, made by the same people as the feed and water conditioners etc. yellow bottle. is good for the fish and plants apparenlty, and i tell you, the plants have made a complete turnaround and i now have to chop em back every now and then for fear of them taking over!

Cone ones are called trumpet snails, i wanted those but it said they burrow under the substrate ( thats gravel to you and me)and as im a bit rough with the gravel when i vaccum it i got the others instead.

meh, they look like they can take care of themselves... i'll happily hoover at the gravel without worrying about them.

i spose i better call the shop to find out how often i need to clean/change the filters... its all different to when i had smaller tanks, you can actually empty the whole thing and give it a good scrub whereas this one is a bit diff. i can hoover, and do as much as a third water change, but thats it i think...

haven;t read all posts but from my experience, snails are bad bad bad in a tank, they multiply like you wouldn't believe. I had SUCH a nightmare trying to get rid of them!

hmmm
i will try the first wave of major culling tomorrow and report further. thanks for advice folks.