Boy oh boy.

A whole forum for snails and not one post. I'll change that!

The title of this forum is "Pests or Pets?" I'd like to open up the debate. In siting the case of "Spongebob vs. Squidward" I submit that snails (i.e. Gary) are pets. They can make a walk tedious, but they're pets nonetheless.

Seriously, though. All of my tanks have snails & I think they're an important part of the underwater eco-system!

The pest part is that they reproduce like rabbits and can over-populate. Hint: Most of your LFS's will take them off your hands if you get too many.

My only other heads up would have to do with BIG (apple, mystery snails etc.) snails and slow moving/small fish. They can and will damage or kill fish.

Overall though - sign me up as more of a fan than an opponent.

I don't think I've ever regarded them as either 'Pets' or 'Pests'.

They're more of 'Foodstock".

They eat up scraps, I used to plop a small one in with my fry. I know of no instance where a snail has been a threat to any of my fish.

They do tend to lower pH somewhat, in large populations.

But when in large populations, they just become 'Lunch', one at a time!

I did the same with my cory fry...at your suggestion. It did help quite a bit.

I dropped two big black mystery snails in my Discus tank just this week...so far neither the snails or the discus seem to care.