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Japanese Black Trapdoor Snails

Anyone use these in there turtle tanks? I'm in need of some algae control and I've read these work well in ponds.

Once again, any advice is appreciated.

They get enormous and they breed like crazy. I don't find they make much difference with the algae. They're also good food for turts if they can get thru the shell. Go ahead and try one, but don't get too attached to it

Oldturtle has some in his pond, I think.

I use these snails in my tanks and they control the algae really well. Just don't start out with too many, unless you're going to be putting them in a pon. My boyfriend bought me six and they multiplied too fast, and we ended up giving the mature ones to people he works with. Keeping them in the tank the baby snails tend to get eaten up pretty quickly by my 6 inch painted, but they're still a bit large for mt two baby res.

Yeah, I have about 30 in my 265 gallon preformed pond and they are good at cleaning the walls of the pond. If you can imagine a blind man mowing a lawn, that's what the tracks of the snails looked like at first when I had a good growth of algae going. That was earlier when the water temp was in the low 60s. The pond is in full sun from about 7AM until 5PM when it drops behind our house. I now have a pretty good growth of Helvola Lillies and my floating Water Hyacinth and Water Lettuce are producing runners so a good third of the pond is shaded by the plants. The pond bottom is sparkling clean as the Snails work that over and so far I haven't noticed any offspring. George

We really ought to transfer this discussion over to Outdoor Habitat. I'll meet you there if you want to continue. George

Thank you for all the replies. I just got finished cleaning the tank and I had this dark brown/green sludge on the rocks and glass facing the window. I'm assuming it is algae.

OldTurt, Is the 265 pond indoor or outdoor?. I've heard good things about them in the outdoors, but I need something for and indoor 40 gallon breeder.

When I was a kid we used the big Plecostumus (sp) Algae eaters but they seem a little soft and the turts are always hungry. I figured the Snails get pretty large and the turts would leave them alone or at least have a hard time getting through the shell.

Any other ideas on algae removal and/or prevention?

I have 2-265 gallon preformed ponds--one outside, buried flush to the ground for spring, summer and fall use and the other is in the basement on a 3/4nch plywood table with 6 by 6 legs for support. The table is 21" high so the pond edge is 40" off the floor. It's used for 'winter quarters' for the turts.
A big Pleco would not be harmed by the turt, even if the turt was full grown. I would use a chemical algae killer though instead of a Pleco. A large Pleco would depend on regular disc type food and wouldn't be much of a cleaner. As far as snails go, most will eat your plants and the turts would eat the young with relish and probbly kill the adults eating off their antennae and then go for their soft undersides. Black Trapdoors are a hard shelled snail but being live bearers you don't have to put up with egg clusters as with other kinds and they don't eat plants. It seemed that my turts left the Trapdoors alone. George

Oldturtle72 wrote: I would use a chemical algae killer though instead of a Pleco.

Can you recomend a brand or is any as good as the other?

Oldturtle72 wrote: As far as snails go, most will eat your plants and the turts would eat the young with relish and probbly kill the adults eating off their antennae and then go for their soft undersides. Black Trapdoors are a hard shelled snail but being live bearers you don't have to put up with egg clusters as with other kinds and they don't eat plants. It seemed that my turts left the Trapdoors alone.

So are Trapdoors not snails or just a better type of snail? Do they need any other food or is poop and algae enough for them?

Thanks
-Chris

Most pet stores carry a brand called AlgaeFix which is manufactured by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I and other RES owners have used it with good results. 1 tsp.treats 50 gallons and though it is mfd. for ponds, we have found it is also works well in glass tanks or Rubbermaid Totes. I can't recommend any other product because for years, I've only used this one.
I purchased my Japanese Black Trapdoor Snails from www.pondkoi.com along with many water plants. These are real snails and are live bearers so there is not the egg slime all over your habitat like the Mystery snailsod others. Your turtle(s) can eat them as soon as they are born and they provide a good source of calcium. I don't know what other nutritional value they supply but snails are a primary source of food for Map Turtles and my RESs and EPTs are still alive. My main purpose in buying these particular snails was that they don't eat plants but will clean off the algae on them. They are keeping my pond very clean but they have help in that I have a good growth of plants which shade the pond and keep the algae from growing. George