Done with snails, how do I get rid of them?

[eicca]

Since the start of my fish tank I've had problems with bladder snails. I had no idea it would get this far. At the beginning, it got to like 50 of them and I got 3 assassin snails. They did a good job of reducing their numbers, but for the last 2 months they haven't been doing much. They even rarely show up anymore. If I didn't see them last week, I'd think they've vanished into thin air.
There are so many bladder snails in my tank at this point, and this morning I found them gnawing on my dead panda cory. I'm done with them.

I'm going to give the assassins away, and then want to treat the water to get rid of the bladders. I heard that copper is the way to go? I heard that once the water is treated with copper there can never be any snails or shrimp in there?

How do I go about this? Where do I get the copper? Is it a thing I can get in a fish store?
Will it harm my fish or plants in any way?

 

[Essjay]

Anything you add to a tank will potentially harm the fish, chemicals of any sort should not be added to a tank unless it's to treat a disease that fresh clean water and/or salt can't cure.

The main cause of a snail population explosion is too much food, often left over food from over feeding fish, or dead plant matter not removed from the tank. I have both bladder and ramshorn pest snails but there are few of them because I don't over feed and I remove dead plant leaves.


Have you tried using a snail trap? That is a screw top jar with holes punched through the lid from the outside. The points made when punching the holes are on the inside and prevent the snails leaving the jar. Lettuce or some other plant matter is placed inside the jar which is then filled with tank water and placed on the bottom of the tank on its side just before lights out. The jar, hopefully full of snails, is removed next morning. The holes should be large enough for the snails to pass through but small enough to keep fish out.

 

[eicca]

Anything you add to a tank will potentially harm the fish, chemicals of any sort should not be added to a tank unless it's to treat a disease that fresh clean water and/or salt can't cure.

The main cause of a snail population explosion is too much food, often left over food from over feeding fish, or dead plant matter not removed from the tank. I have both bladder and ramshorn pest snails but there are few of them because I don't over feed and I remove dead plant leaves.


Have you tried using a snail trap? That is a screw top jar with holes punched through the lid from the outside. The points made when punching the holes are on the inside and prevent the snails leaving the jar. Lettuce or some other plant matter is placed inside the jar which is then filled with tank water and placed on the bottom of the tank on its side just before lights out. The jar, hopefully full of snails, is removed next morning. The holes should be large enough for the snails to pass through but small enough to keep fish out.

I think the overfeeding might be right, but I don't know how else to feed my corys. Whenever I give them food, there are a million snails on it within 30s. That's another reason I want them gone.

If I trap them in a jar, how do I get rid of them then? By jar, you mean any jar?

 

[seangee]

I think the overfeeding might be right, but I don't know how else to feed my corys. Whenever I give them food, there are a million snails on it within 30s. That's another reason I want them gone.

If I trap them in a jar, how do I get rid of them then? By jar, you mean any jar?

Then put down a saucer or dish with food in it: algae wafers, lettuce or anything that attracts snails. When it is covered just lift it out of the tank. I pour boiling water over them. Do that for 2 or 3 days and your numbers will go down a lot.

 

[Byron]

These snails are actually good for your aquarium. They eat and thus break down organic matter faster so the various bacteria (the ones that eat organics and live primarily in the substrate) can then do their thing. All part of a healthy aquarium.

Too many means they are obviously getting food, and that is one way they help you. There is obviously an excess of food for them, which can mean overfeeding, or too many fish, or plant matter. You say you are not overstocked, so that's covered. The feeding though is probably the main issue. Removing decaying plant matter may help too. But let's look at the feeding.

If you have cories, the primary food for them should be Bug Bites. IN their habitats cories eat insects, insect larvae, and crustaceans. In that order. So the Bug Bites is their best food. The upper fish will probably eat these too, that is also expected because mostfishwe keep (the small and medium ones) eat much the same as cories if they are omnivores or carnivores. Herbivores obviously need "green" food as well. Feed sparingly though. Once a day is plenty for mature fish, and missing one, two or even three days a week will not hurt. A hungry fish is a healthy fish.

I have found that the best food for cories is bug bites, Omega One shrimp pellets, frozen daphnia, frozen shrimp. My fish were primarily fed on the bug bites, with the shrimp pellets; frozen daphnia once a week as a treat. The 40 cories went into fish exstasy when the dinner gong sounded,

 

[10 Tanks]

Since the start of my fish tank I've had problems with bladder snails. I had no idea it would get this far. At the beginning, it got to like 50 of them and I got 3 assassin snails. They did a good job of reducing their numbers, but for the last 2 months they haven't been doing much. They even rarely show up anymore. If I didn't see them last week, I'd think they've vanished into thin air.
There are so many bladder snails in my tank at this point, and this morning I found them gnawing on my dead panda cory. I'm done with them.

I'm going to give the assassins away, and then want to treat the water to get rid of the bladders. I heard that copper is the way to go? I heard that once the water is treated with copper there can never be any snails or shrimp in there?

How do I go about this? Where do I get the copper? Is it a thing I can get in a fish store?
Will it harm my fish or plants in any way?

Hello. Iceberg lettuce will work. Drop in a couple of leaves and the snails will all attach themselves to it. Once you have several on the lettuce leaf, just remove it and toss it in the trash. Pretty easy.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

The more chemicals you can avoid going into your tank the better. If there's a natural way to do/treat/fix a problem then that's the way I would encourage you to do it. It might be harder or tedious but it's safer and your fish will thank you in the long run. The lettuce trick works well but honestly, snails are useful in the tank. Try feeding every other day for a while and watch what happens...and don't feed more on the feeding days to overcompensate for the fasting days!

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Actually, snails in large numbers aren't good. Again, in large numbers, they'll add quite a bit of waste material to the tank. More waste dissolving in the tank water will require larger and more frequent water changes in order to maintain a healthy water chemistry. It's really best to feed sparingly and avoid snails for the most part.

10 Tanks (Now 11)