about a month ago i purchased two amazon swords for my 55gal. a couple days ago i noticed a small snail climbing down the glass. after seeing that, i look more carefull in the tank. i counted about 6-7 small snails. is it ok to have them in my tank or should i take them out. there are no goldfish in the tank, its all tropical.

I have always had snails in my tropical and goldfish tanks. There are quite a few small snails in my white cloud tank. They tend to get out of controle if i dont remove some and give them to my goldfish to help keep the population low. I aslo put some of these in my pond which is fish free but has lots of frogs and eggs in it.

Some feel they may harbor parasites which may be harmful to fish.

Knock on wood only had a little fungus to worry about and it was easily treated. I dont feel this came from snails.

They wont do any harm though they will soon populate your tank very heavily. I feel they are actually beneficial to have, as they will eat some algae and some keep your substrate stirred up.

They are probably what is considered "Pest Snails".They will help eat your algae,but they will also eat any live plants that you may have in the tank. I don't know about stirring your substrate though.The only ones that I 've seen really do that,are MT's,(Malaysian Trumpet Snails) They usually stay under the gravel,moving through it,and come out during the night. If they are pest snails-Physa Acuta,or Planorbids(Ramshorns) one minute you will have a few,and before you know it,you'll have a gazillion.I made the mistake of keeping a few Ramshorns because they were pretty,& I thought they'd help clean the tank.Months & months later,I can't tell you how many I dispose of on a weekly basis.I hate to do that,but thats how out of control they get.