Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Snails for algae control?

A guy my wife works with has a older neighbor who put snails in his pond to control algae/weeds.

The older neighbor came over to my pond tonight and insist the snails will slowly eat all the weeds.

He took them from a lake somewhere in Michigan years ago and put them in his pond and swears they work.

He wants to put some in my pond to show me.............

Anyone heard of something like this?

There have been a number of forum discussions on snails as vectors of some fish parasites...
check out: http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=300284

and this one: http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=335575

crazy, I searched snails before I posted and got nothing.

Thanks!

Know the species of snails before introducing them. Then do lots of homework before adding them. Ask your neighbor if he will promise in writing take them out or pay to take them out when you decide adding them was a big mistake. Then watch him slowly crawl away with his free offer.

Yeah, after reading up I'm going to pass on the snails.

Seems like it could be a disaster I'll stick with Fluridone and Copper Sulfate.

sk187, you are in MI...Tilapia are legal to stock, and mixed sex readily control Filamentous Algae at a 40#/acre stocking rate

Bill Cody is the expert around here. Since sunfish will eat snails I wondered if they would eat snails that went too far in algae and weed control. Usually you can fix one problem with another species.

I absolutely controlled algae using 20 KOI and 6 Israeli per acre, and also used tadpoles and snail. But then you have to control the offsprings of these fish, which I did completely with largemouth bass.

Speaking of the sunfish controlling snails John, the first year of my pond I had snails everywhere around the edge wherever there was new algae on the limestone rocks and gravel I had put in. By the next year you have to look to find them. They are there, but not nearly in the numbers they were.

My assumption is the RES got big enough to control them.

Yellow perch too. We had all kinds of natural snails our second year but nothing any more.

Degree of snail control depends a lot on the species of snail. Snail size and thickness of the shell are very important factors in many species of fish such as sunfish and yellow perch that can eat snails. Specialized fish that consume snails are better at eating larger snails and those with thicker shells.

The only place I can find them is ebay and I would need over 60lbs.

Others from Michigan have found some locally at fish farms and aquaponics users in MI.

I bought some trapdoor snails on e-bay a couple of years ago. Put them in the pond and never seen them since.