Types of aquarium snails

Aquarium snails compared at one scale: which graze algae, which dig through the sand, which breed fast and which hunt other snails. Snail-eating fish such as puffers and some loaches eat them all.

Zebra nerite snail

Japanese trapdoor snail

Scroll sideways to see them all. All drawn at one scale, adult size: = 1 inch. Tap one to open its care page.

Zebra nerite snail

Peaceful · Bottom · easy care

1 in adult
5+ gal
70–80 °F
pH 7 to 8.5
alone or pair

Mystery snail

Peaceful · Bottom · easy care

2 in adult
10+ gal
68–82 °F
pH 7 to 8
alone or pair

Assassin snail

Peaceful · Bottom · easy care

1 in adult
5+ gal
72–80 °F
pH 7 to 8
alone or pair

Bladder snail

Peaceful · Bottom · easy care

0.6 in adult
5+ gal
64–82 °F
pH 7 to 8.5
alone or pair

Horned nerite snail

Peaceful · Bottom · easy care

0.5 in adult
5+ gal
72–80 °F
pH 7 to 8.5
alone or pair

Japanese trapdoor snail

Peaceful · Bottom · easy care

2 in adult
10+ gal
60–80 °F
pH 7 to 8
alone or pair

Malaysian trumpet snail

Peaceful · Bottom · easy care

1.2 in adult
5+ gal
64–86 °F
pH 7 to 8
alone or pair

Rabbit snail

Peaceful · Bottom · moderate care

3 in adult
20+ gal
76–84 °F
pH 7.3 to 8.5
alone or pair

Ramshorn snail

Peaceful · Bottom · easy care

1 in adult
5+ gal
64–82 °F
pH 7 to 8
alone or pair

Other fish families

Types of plecos Types of aquarium shrimp Types of tetras Types of rasboras and danios Types of barbs Types of livebearers Types of bettas and gouramis Types of cichlids Types of catfish Types of loaches Types of freshwater sharks Types of rainbowfish Types of killifish Types of puffers Types of goldfish Types of oddball fish Types of shrimp, snails, frogs and axolotls All fish

Names, and adult sizes where the article gives one, are checked against Wikipedia; care ranges are common hobby guidance, and each species page says which is which. 0 of these 9 are fish. Photos are real photographs from Wikimedia Commons, credited below; the lineup is our own drawing at one scale.

Photo credits

Real photographs from Wikimedia Commons, resized and cropped to fit; each is used under the license named.

Zebra nerite snail TheJammingYam, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mystery snail Gabriel Resende Veiga, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Assassin snail Steffi Klee, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bladder snail Dat doris, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Horned nerite snail Obsidian Soul, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Japanese trapdoor snail Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Malaysian trumpet snail Buchling, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ramshorn snail Dat doris, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons