The Best Aquarium Snails

If you don’t want to strictly stick to only having fish in your aquarium tank, then you may want to broaden your scope and add other organisms and plants for a more interesting aquarium. For instance, many people like to add plants, decorations, or other organisms like shrimp, crabs, or snails in their aquarium. Snails are highly recommended for you because they offer your tank a variety of benefits, and they’re fairly easy to maintain.

Aquarium snails also have the ability to live up to a few years, and they can add a beautiful look to your tank, creating a diverse aquatic community in your home. But choosing the right snails for your aquarium can be difficult, since there are so many different types to choose from. Given that, here is a complete guide that I’ve put tougher for you. In here you’ll find some information that may help you in your snail-buying process, and I’ve even included some of the best aquarium snails that you can find on the market.

Benefits of Having Aquarium Snails

Clean your tank of harmful substances

Snails essentially act as small vacuums for your fish tank, since they’re responsible for digesting any rotting plants from your tank’s water, and they can even eat the corpses of any fish that have been dead for a longer period of time. They’re also able to clean the glass on the interior side of the tank, so you don’t have to clean the class as deeply when you’re changing the water in the tank. By having snails that can maintain a clean tank, you’re required to perform less maintenance on the tank overall (1).

Add movement

Since snails are constantly moving and vacuuming tiny particles with their mouths, they’re able to add more movement to your tank. They can move the water around, creating a more natural environment overall for the fish. They also move in various different ways that aren’t like any other fish or organism, so they can be entertaining to watch while they’re in your tank.

Various colors

Snails have the ability to come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, so they can add diversity to your aquarium tank. More specifically, aquarium snails can create a more colorful environment in your fish tank, resulting in the aquarium catching the every of any visitors in your home. They also have shells that can come in a variety of different shapes that present not only different colors but also different patterns. By having different shapes in their shells, snails can add diversity if you have more than one snail in your tank (2).

How to Care for Aquarium Snails

In order to offer the best aquarium environment for your snails, you should make sure that your fish tank has high quality water, substrate, and peaceful companions. The water quality of your fish tank is important because snails need water that has a large amount of minerals in it. The minerals that are in the water help the pH levels of the water remain at a healthy level. And having water that has beneficial pH levels will ultimately increase the livelihood of your snails.

Additionally, having a good substrate material is highly recommended if you have snails because they will likely spend the majority of their time on the ground and in burrows in the substrate. You’ll need to make sure that your substrate is clear of any harmful toxins, substances, or chemicals, and you should make sure that the material of the substrate is suitable for snails. For instance, most snails either like sand, gravel, or a combination of the two.

Lastly, it’s important that you choose peaceful tank companions, since some fish are known to consume snails. You shouldn’t add snails to a tank that has fish that are known to be aggressive or ones that are large compared to the small snails. Additionally, you should consider adding snails to tanks that have snails similar in size, since they have been known to consume each other sometimes (3).

Things to Consider Before Purchasing a Snail

Size

It’s important that you consider what size snail you want for your aquarium. You shouldn’t have any snails that are too small in a tank that has fish too large for them, since the fish will likely eat them. But you also shouldn’t have snails that are too large in a tank with only small fish, since the snails will likely consume the smaller fish as well. You should ultimately put snails into tanks that have fish and other organisms that are a similar size to them.

Snail type

If you’re planning on putting several different snails together in the same tank, then you should consider which types you’ll have. Some snail species are known to be aggressive and eat other ones, while some are peaceful and act as great companions to have. Be mindful of each snail type’s behavior when choosing.

Tank conditions

When you have snails, you should always consider what the conditions of your tank are, since their well-being depends largely on the quality of the tank’s environment. Make sure that the pH levels of your tank are always within a healthy range for your fish. And consider whether you have enough time and effort to care and maintain for snails.

Infestations

Many people refrain from keeping snails in their aquarium, since snails are known to reproduce at a high rate. Because of that, if you have only a few snails in your tank during one season, you may end up with an even larger amount the next season. Because of that, you should watch what types of snails you put in your fish tank and make sure you limit the number of offspring that they produce, since this will prevent any snail infestations from occurring (4).

Best Aquarium Snail

1. Nerite snails

Nerite snails are highly recommended for you to purchase for your aquarium tank, since they’re able to consume various types of algae or other decaying plant waste. They’re one of the most common types of aquarium snails, and they have a durable and compact shell that can withstand a large amount of wear and tear.

Not only that, but nerite snails are also classified as a peaceful snail species, since they can happily co-exist with other aquatic companions in your fish tank. They’re more active than other types of snails, so they can remove unwanted substances from a tank faster than most other types of snails on the market.

Furthermore, nerite snails don’t produce asexually, so you don’t have to worry about maintaining their population sizes. In order to properly care for nerite snails, you should keep them in water that measures a pH balance of around 7.5 as well as a water temperature between 72 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Nerite snails can typically live up to two years when they’re cared for properly, so you should maintain their tank water and place them with other compatible organisms.

These nerite snails in particular come in a combination pack of six nerite snails, which include three tiger nerite snails as well as three zebra nerite snails. These snails are safe for live plants as well as live shrimp in your tank, and they have the ability to last for a long period of time, since they’re young.

Pros:

• Won’t reproduce in your tank
• Safe for plants and live shrimp
• Peaceful and interactive

Cons:

• Only live up to 1-2 years

2. Trumpet Snails

Trumpet snails are highly recommended for you to check out because they’re able to consume a large amount of algae in a short amount of time. Because of that, they can remove any algae from your tank within a matter of hours. Not only that, but trumpet snails are known to burrow down into substrate, so they can help to keep your aquarium’s substrate clean for your convenience.

Additionally, since trumpet snails like to borrow down into the substrate, they can contribute to substrate aeration. More specifically, they can release extremely harmful pockets of gas that accumulate in the substrate, ultimately lengthening the lives of the fish and other organisms in your tank.

Trumpet snails are known to reproduce quickly, so you should watch them closely if you want to limit the amount of snails that you have in your tank. They usually prefer an ideal water pH level of anywhere from 7.0 to 7.5 as well as a water temperature between 70 to 79 degrees Fahrenheit.

These snails in particular come in a pack of five altogether as well as live plants. More specifically, this product has five Malaysian trumpet snails as well as background, bottom, and surface plants for your aquarium.

Pros:

• Comes with 5 Malaysian trumpet snails
• Includes 3 kinds live plants
• Remove algae at a fast rate

Cons:

• Reproduce quickly

3. Mystery Snail

You’re advised to check out mystery snails for your aquarium because they have the ability to come in a variety of different colors and with a variety of different designs. Some snails have solid colors and other have certain patterns in them.

Mystery snails are easy to maintain, since they aren’t able to reproduce nearly as fast as other types of snails can. Given that, they’re beneficial if you’re not trying to have a large amount of snails in your tank. They prefer water with pH levels around a 7.0 or 7.5, they they like water that measures between 68 and 82 degree Fahrenheit.

For this mystery snail specifically, it comes in a golden color that’s able to add color to your aquarium. This snail can also grow larger than other types of snails, since it grows up to two inches big.

Pros:

• Peaceful with other plants and organisms
• Available in various different colors
• Can live in a range of temperature conditions

Cons:

• Can grow up to 2 inches, so they’re not recommended for tanks with smaller fish

4. Ivory Snail

This ivory snail is suggested for you because they represent a light color that can add dimension to your tank. This snail can then stand out in the plants and other natural colors in the background of the tank.

Furthermore, ivory snails have high energy levels and are always moving and exploring your tank. They’re also very gentle and peaceful in their environment, so you can place them with other types of fish without having to worry about them fighting. They’re able to consume fish waste and other decaying plants for your convenience.

This ivory snail in particular can grow up to two inches, and it’s able to consume any leftover fish food or other waste particles.

Pros:

• Peaceful and explorative
• High-energy
• Stand out in the natural colors of the tank

Cons:

• Grows up to 2 inches, so they’re not recommended for tanks with small fish

5. Ramshorn Snail

Ramshorn snails are recommended for you aquarium tank because they’re extremely small and present a light-pink color to your tank. They have a small, compact shell that has a delicate curve in the back, which offers a peaceful nature to your tank overall.

Moreover, ramshorn snails are highly recommended because they’re great at cleaning up fish waste and other unwanted particles from your tank’s water. They do reproduce quickly though, so you should water out and limit that if you don’t want a snail infestation.

This ramshorn snail in particular is highly recommended because it comes with more than 10 snails in the package and they’re cheaper than other types of snails. They consume so much waste from your tank’s water that they act as great natural tank cleaners.

Pros:

• Cheaper to maintain
• Act as great natural tank cleaners
• Present a peaceful nature and appearance

Cons:

• Reproduce quickly

Conclusion

Overall, there are various different types of snails on the market that you can consider placing in your aquarium. Snails come in a large variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and they all offer different designs on their shells. In addition to that, snails are able to offer natural filtration and cleaning to your aquarium, so they benefit you in the long run when you have to clean your fish tank.

Consequently, you should consider purchasing aquarium snails for your tank. But it can be difficult to choose the best one for your specific needs, especially after reviewing all of their different benefits and features. Given that, you’re most recommended to purchase product #1: Nerite Snails. These snails are the most common because they don’t reproduce quickly and they’re easy to maintain.

Furthermore, nerite snails are a great companion for your aquarium, since they’re peaceful and they offer great colors and designs to your tank. Because of these benefits, you should consider purchasing the best aquarium snail: SevenSeaSupply Nerite Snails on the market today.