Is my Goldfish a snail killer?

Question

I have a goldfish who I keep in a tank all by himself. Awhile back I purchased a black mystery snail from my pet store and he never left his shell. I then read online that this was common for the type of snail but kept checking on him anyways. Then about five days later I found that his shell was empty and well I found the rest of him not in the shell all shriveled. So I went a couple of months with out a snail but the algae problem in the tank was insane and my fish has serious issues with me cleaning his tank (he just floats for a day after I do anything different in his tank), so cleaning it almost every three days like I've been having to lately seems like a bad idea. So a friend of mine told me that that is what snails are supposed to take care of. So I decided to try again and got another snail. This time I realized that my goldfish was knocking the snail around the tank a lot. Then this morning I looked in and saw that the snail had some serious damage done to his shell. He is still in his shell which is a sign of hope for me, so I took him out of the tank put him in a separate bowl and am hoping that he can repair himself away from the goldfish. So my question is am I being an idiot for putting a snail in with the goldfish or is there something I'm not seeing that is damaging my snails. Plus is there another way to get rid of the immense amounts of algae with other hurting another little soul.

Answer 1

goldfsih will eat pretty much anything. it's not that he's a viscous killer, goldfish just like to eat (please don't over feed him because of this... it's not healthy, they'll keep eating as long as you give them food). so it's highly lightly that he ate your first snail and is now trying to get the other to come out so he can eat it.

please do NOT get cories. not only are they not compatible with most types of goldfish, but if your goldfish is eating snails he'll probably eat them too (plus they don't eat algae). I have a goldfish that hasn't touched his snail, however anything that is in that tank that gets old and starts to slow down or gets sick... is a goner. he's eaten 3 bettas and a cory cat!

instead of trying to get something to clean the algae, why not try to prevent it? what type of algae is it? green, brown? hair? if you let me know the kind I can help you.

Answer 2

I put 8 small snails in the goldfish tank the other day and today I notice that they are all gone except for one. So maybe they do kill snails.

Answer 3

Kill the goldfish to save the snails

Answer 4

Well I've never heard a goldfish eating a snail, but I guess they do, as they eat a wide variety of things. Um, you could get one of those magnetic wipers so you can wipe of the algae on the glass. I hope I helped!

Answer 5

I have never seen this happen but maybe snails just don't go try getting 3 corie or 1 bristlenose/rubberlip pleco to clean I mean they will clean much better than a snail

Answer 6

Goldfish will eat just about anything that is in their tank.  They love to pick at stuff on the bottom and will rip up plants too.  It isn't attacking the snail but it thinks it might be food so it will just keep picking at it.

Algae growth is usually from too much light and too much nitrate in the water.  If you get those under control then you shouldn't have an algae problem.  One goldfish requires a 20 gallon tank with excellent filtration.  I notice you talk about cleaning every 3 days which leads me to think you may have the fish in a bowl or small tank.  Housing it properly would mean only doing 20% water changes weekly.

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