# Can you help me identify these please!!



## D-M-B (Mar 12, 2021)

I have been seeing a growing number of tiny spiral shell like things infesting my fish tank and I honestly don't know what they are or why it's happening. It's a 40lt tank with a few Mollies, Tetra's, 2 Pleco and a handful of Cherry shrimp.

I'm still a bit of a novice when it comes to all this but my daught desperately wanted a tank and we are learning together. So any advice is welcome


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## D-M-B (Mar 12, 2021)




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## Nicola234 (Nov 10, 2020)

Hi and welcome, my guess would be snails but someone experienced will come and help you


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## D-M-B (Mar 12, 2021)

Nicola234 said:


> Hi and welcome, my guess would be snails but someone experienced will come and help you


Thank you, that was my thinking too but I'm just not sure how they got there!


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## bunnygeek (Jul 24, 2018)

They’re Ramshorn Snails - a pest snail and they will get bigger.

That sounds like a lot of fish for a 40 litre, which is a very small tank. I would be looking at a tank upgrade


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## DogCatPerson (May 30, 2021)

D-M-B said:


> Thank you, that was my thinking too but I'm just not sure how they got there!


Hi 

They usually arrive as eggs in plants etc, and then breed and breed. A few snails can actually be ok, but it's hard to control the population. At this stage I'd just scoop up what you see and crush them by hand.

In future, having a sump or quarantine tank is a great idea for introducing new plants/fish to the environment to check for problems.

If you were to follow the advice of @bunnygeek above, and upgrade to say a 120-160L tank, it would be far easier to keep a good fish environment. You could also use your current 40 as a sump/quarantine tank. (A lot of websites will tell you this is only needed for reef tanks, but it's good practice everywhere)

Fish tanks are paradoxic - the bigger the tank, the easier to keep a stable and healthy environment. Very small tanks are the most difficult to keep properly.


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