Mini Snails: Friend or Foe?

I have a ton of small (size of the head on a pencil) snails all over my
sump, refugium, and they really come out at night in my main tank. I
suppose they're not bad, but they keep clogging my pumps,
strainers, etc. I have water flow issues every once in awhile, and it's
usually due to these guys pluggin stuff. Other than these nuisances,
is there any reason why I don't want them around?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Ryan

I have the same swarm. They don't negatively impact my equipment setup or my livestock from what I can tell, so I guess simply by virtue of them eating detritus and whatnot they're probably very beneficial. I, like you, still kinda wish there weren't so DMN many of them though.

Put a small Puffer in your refugium. That will rid you of the "problem snails" and still allow algae and critters to grow.
(I've never done it but it should work )

A second smaller mesh strainer a few inches in front of the main strainer would also work. You can get "plastic canvas" for needlepoint at any craft store. Works great for all kinds of straining needs, IMO.