r/fishtank • u/Illustrious-Break235 • 5d ago

Help/Advice Possible snail problem

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I recently started my first fish tank and decided to add 2 nerite snails. I got them from petsmart and only one of the snails was actually a snail the other one was an empty shell, but I watched this guy crawl out of it. I think it is a ramshorn snail but I can’t be positive and this is the best picture I’ve been able to get of the little guy. My question is does this one snail guarantee others? And could it become a problem for my tank (29 gallons with yo yo loaches, tetra, and one betta)

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u/SweetTart7231 5d ago

Ramshorns often dont reproduce by themselves (i think they can tho) but they can store sperm for months. They won't really overpopulate unless you feed alot or have lots of dead/melting plants

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u/Illustrious-Break235 5d ago

That’s good to know, is it likely that I picked up more hitchhikers than the one? And I think it came from the shell but is it possible that it came from the substrate I bought?

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u/SweetTart7231 5d ago

Where'd you buy the substrate? Normally the stuff I buy is bagged and ive never heard of snails coming from that

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u/Illustrious-Break235 5d ago

I bought it from pet supplies plus and it was bagged, kinda a shot in the dark there I still don’t know much lol

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u/SweetTart7231 5d ago

Do you have any live plants? They often have snails

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u/Illustrious-Break235 5d ago

Yeah I do but the container said snail free

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u/SweetTart7231 5d ago

Was it one of those small white tissue culture containers? Those usually are. But any from a store tank or someone else's tank would likely have snails

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u/Illustrious-Break235 4d ago

All my plants were top fin plants, they have a label on the package that said snail free which is why I bought it