Bladder / Common Pond Snail

[Ami]

Ok, slightly over dramatic I know but I've had the snail investation before and that as bad.

I got some plants online about 3 weeks ago and despite rinsing them thoroughly before I put them in the tank, they seem to have come with snail eggs.

I've only spotted 2 of the invaders so far, I guess because they've now grown big enough. They are less than 5mm long and seem to fit the descriptions of either a bladder or pond snail in Rain's helpful snail ID pin.

Rain says to get rid of the eggs of a bladder snail as soon as you seen them cos they can develop quick, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to see them in my tank.

Any idea at what size they're ready to breed or should I just remove them now and have done with it?

Thanks,
Ami

PS - any idea if they're less likely to breed in BW or more?

 

[Adistar]

Hi ami,

As with most pest snails, once they are introduced they are going to reproduce. As you prolly wont be able to stop them from reporoducing you iwll howveer be able to keep them down in numbers.

Pest snails reproduce more when their is an abundance of food, either from over feeding or dead fish. These will both cause a snail population 'boom'.

Their are a few methods to keep their numbers down, such as....


1. Put a peice of lettuce in a shotglass at the bottom of your tank befor you go to bed. In the morning remove the shot glass, and their should be snails in the glass and on the lettuce.


2. Squish them as you see them, or just simply take them out as you see them.

3. But snail eating fish E.G. clown loaches. ONLY if you have a big enough tank. These need 125 gallons at least when full grown adults. they can get up to a foot in length, but they do grow slowly.


good luck!

Josh

 

[smooth_bourbon]

careful with the squishing. I read a story once about a lady that has always squished the snails she found in her tank. One day she got a tiny cut from part of the shell and it turned into a freaky bacterial infection and put her in the hospital. Besides you are just causing more waste in you aquarium.

 

[Ami]

Hi ami,

As with most pest snails, once they are introduced they are going to reproduce. As you prolly wont be able to stop them from reporoducing you iwll howveer be able to keep them down in numbers.

Pest snails reproduce more when their is an abundance of food, either from over feeding or dead fish. These will both cause a snail population 'boom'.

Their are a few methods to keep their numbers down, such as....


1. Put a peice of lettuce in a shotglass at the bottom of your tank befor you go to bed. In the morning remove the shot glass, and their should be snails in the glass and on the lettuce.


2. Squish them as you see them, or just simply take them out as you see them.

3. But snail eating fish E.G. clown loaches. ONLY if you have a big enough tank. These need 125 gallons at least when full grown adults. they can get up to a foot in length, but they do grow slowly.


good luck!

Josh

[snapback]888722[/snapback]​

Thanks Josh - there isn't that many of them just now. I've only counted 2 and they're tiny still. They do look quite neat with their shells looking like someone's stuck glitter on them, but I do not want them taking over!

Lettuce trick isn't too effective on my tank as snails seem to prefer the amazon swords instead and I'm too small for cloan loaches.

I don't wanna squish the guys but thought that maybe I could look out for eggs or population blooms then remove them. I'll soon have a water butt and pond in the back garden and will rehome them there, as I don't mind what they do outside where they're not in danger of wrecking my tank and continually blocking the filter etc.

Thanks again,
Ami

 

[Ami]

careful with the squishing. I read a story once about a lady that has always squished the snails she found in her tank. One day she got a tiny cut from part of the shell and it turned into a freaky bacterial infection and put her in the hospital. Besides you are just causing more waste in you aquarium.

[snapback]888744[/snapback]​

I'm not one for squishing them in any case!

I aint heard that story though but there was one with a guy in one of the marine invert topics who almost got himself killed doing a similar thing with a coral polyp or something!

Scary.