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We have a 10 gallon fishtank. It’s been established for a few years. We bought a new garbage eater in April if I’m remembering correctly. Our pleco was thriving and then started to get a huge swollen belly. Long story short, our poor pleco’s belly has deflated and the poor guy died. And now we have a teeny tiny snail in our tank. We do not have any live plants and haven’t bought any new fish. Would it be possible for a snail egg to survive in a fish for a few months before finally finding its way out of the host? From what I could see, the pleco’s stomach hadn’t exploded and it didn’t look like it came out of the pleco’s bum. Should we find the tiny snail and get it out? Will it infect our other fish? I called the petstore where we purchased the pleco and the person I spoke with wasn’t sure. We just want to make sure our other babies are safe. I haven’t been able to find anything online in regard to a snail parasite in a pleco. Any information or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Years ago I inadvertently introduced a small snail (altho probably a more common snail than yours) into my fish tank. I thot it was pretty cool so I left it alone. Did you know that snails do not need a mate to reproduce? Well, I certainly didn’t. In what seemed like no time, my tank was inundated with snails. To get rid of them, I had to remove & isolate my fish so I could “kill” the tank. If I were you, I would definitely get rid of the snail before you have to go thru a thorough cleansing & sanitising process! (Just my bad experience.) Good luck!

I agree with GRAMMA. I experienced the same thing. Destroy the snail.

we had this happen last fall, we had a tonne of them show up suddenly. They all died off after some big temperature changes! Maybe try turning off your heater for a day or something. We tried scooping them out but there are always more eggs.

I am sure your pleco is fine. I have two huge plecos and there belly's swell at times to. So I just don't feed them for a day so they can digest there food. I was told over feeding can cause it or if you have rocks in your tank they can suck one up which could possibly end there life. I have never heard of snail parasites as snails lay there eggs on the top of the water to avoid predictors. The pleco is a bottom feeder. If eggs are eaten I am sure they will be digested, causing the pleco to get proteins. Without fertilizing eggs they would not hatch.  
If you think in the wild a pleco is related to a catfish, a snail would be there source of food.  
I would get rid of the snails as they are invasive and buy some vitamins for your tank water to reduce stress.  
This might help.  
Good Luck.

Your tank is far, far, far too small if it is a common pleco. They can grow up to 24" long: stop by Best West Pets on 18th and look at the plecos in their display tank. A common pleco in a 10G tank is just cruel.  
 
As far as the snails go, they are harmless. I prefer them in my tanks because they keep things clean and add more life to the tank. If you start to get too many of them, that likely means you're over feeding. Snail populations will only explode if there is lots of food for them.  
 
Edited by RandomGuy, 2021-08-12 13:58:22