Red Ramshorn Snail (Planorbella duryi)

The Red Ramshorn Snail (Planorbella duryi) is the bright red color form of a hardy little snail with a flat, coiled shell shaped like a ram's horn. The body is a vivid cherry red and the shell ranges from reddish brown to pink, so a few of them gliding across the glass add a real splash of color. They graze algae, biofilm, leftover food, and melting plant leaves all day, and they are completely peaceful. One thing to know up front: they breed readily, so a couple of snails today can be a colony in a couple of months. Pair them with the rest of our freshwater cleanup crew.

Care Guide

• Cleanup duty: they eat soft algae, biofilm, uneaten food, and decaying leaves, which helps keep leftovers from rotting in the tank. They generally leave healthy plants alone.
• They will breed: every ramshorn is both male and female, so any two can reproduce. They lay small clear jelly patches of eggs on glass, plants, and decor, and tiny snails hatch in about two weeks.
• Population follows food: the number of snails in your tank is set mostly by how much you feed. Feed fish only what they finish in a couple of minutes, scrape off egg clutches you do not want, and use a trap such as the sera Snail Collect to thin them out.
• Hard water for strong shells: keep pH at 7.0 or higher with moderate hardness. In soft, acidic water shells turn white, pitted, and brittle. Seachem Equilibrium helps if your water is soft.
• Supplemental food: in a very clean tank, drop in an algae wafer once or twice a week so they are not left hungry.
• No copper: copper-based medications kill snails. Check labels before dosing any tank that holds them.

Specifications

Compatibility

Red Ramshorns are harmless to every fish, shrimp, and plant, so the real question is what might eat them.

• Great with: shrimp tanks with Amano Shrimp or Neocaridina, livebearers like the Bumble Bee Platy and Sailfin Molly that share their taste for harder water, small peaceful community fish, and planted tanks.
• Avoid if you want to keep them: puffers, most loaches other than kuhlis, crayfish, and large cichlids, all of which eat snails.
• Raising snails as food: on the other hand, a ramshorn colony in a spare tank is a classic live food supply for the Indian Pea Puffer, whose beak needs hard shelled food to stay trimmed.

Recommended Foods & Supplies

• Hikari Mini Algae Wafers as a weekly supplement
• Repashy Soilent Green, a gel food snails and shrimp both graze
• Seachem Equilibrium for hardness and healthy shells
• Fritz GH Test Kit to confirm your water supports shell growth
• sera Snail Collect to keep the population where you want it

FAQ

Will they take over my tank? They can if there is a lot of extra food. Snail numbers track the food supply, so cutting back on feeding, removing egg clutches, and trapping a few keeps a small, useful group. Many keepers like having a steady population as a sign of a healthy tank.

Will they eat my plants? Not healthy ones. They go for algae, film, and soft decaying leaves. If you see them on a plant, they are usually cleaning a leaf that was already melting.

Why are my snail shells turning white or cracking? That is almost always soft or acidic water. Test pH and GH, and raise hardness toward 8 dGH or more. New shell growth will come in solid once the minerals are there.

Are they safe with shrimp? Completely. Ramshorns and shrimp share food without competing in any harmful way, and the snails help clean up leftovers in shrimp tanks.

What should I do with extra snails? Bring healthy extras to a local fish store, give them to a hobbyist with a puffer, or dispose of them humanely. Never release aquarium snails into a pond, creek, or lake.