Good Ol Trapdoor Pond Snails - The Cool Cats of Garden Ponds

Are pond snails a good thing or a bad thing? If they are bad, how do you get rid of them? If they are good, what types of good for your pone and what types of pond snails may hard your pond?

These are all good questions and the best way to learn more about pond snails is to visit your local fish or pond expert. You're thinking that you would rather read the good, bad and ugly stuff online and well, you can learn a lot about pond snails online. The problem is in identifying the right types of pond snails for your particular pond.

The Trapdoor Pond Snail - Wonderfully Great Pond Snails

A great pond snail for your pond is the Black Trapdoor snail. It is the most preferable species of snail by pond lovers world-wide. A Trapdoor snail is black, and why it is referred to as the Black Trapdoor snail. Most are shipped when they are at least an inche long. 

These snails survive well in the winter, even in the colder climates such as in northern states. It is a great pond snail as it is good at keeping the algae under control. These pond snails will do a nice job at eating the algae off your plants, post and the walls of your pond.

They love the bottom of your ponds as well due to the wonderful decaying matter they can much on. The are full grown at about 3" and they only breed a few times each year so they will not overwhelm your pond like other types of snails. Which brings us to talking about the Apple Snail.

Possible Bad Snail Problems

The Apple snail can overwhlem a fish tank and they are illegal in some states as far as putting them outside in your pond or any waterway.

It is best to avoid placing Apple snails into your pond if you do not know the results and laws for pond snails in your state. Talk to your local fish pone expert for more help on keeping your pond stocked with the right types of plants and live critters such as snails.

Getting Rid of Bad Snails in Your Pond

There are some good ways and some not so good. A bad way is to add chemicals to your pond. Pretty much no guarantee your koi or fish will survive in the long run.

You can try baiting your snails with luttuce. But you'll need to make sure to remove it after a day.

There are also fish that will eat some snails. However, there are many things to consider before adding new fish into your pond. The size of your pond, the filter you have, depth of your pond and so forth. This is why I would not come right out and suggest any particular fish. It's always better to talk to an expert who can better asses your particular pond needs.