Excessive Snail Problem

[Byron]

Byron,
 
I would like some snails, I just find their current numbers bothersome.
 
The friend who gave me this tank used to breed guppies, and plecos in this tank. At one point she had over 100 guppies in this tank. The plecos are essentially fully grown, and they seem happy in there.
 
I was told, with proper maintenance it should be OK. I am also looking to sell off, or even give away many of the guppies, so I can have other species in there. I have done some research, and will be sure to get tank mates that are suitable for my current fish.
 
I was hoping to get a couple of Angel fish, but have heard they can attack the plecos.

 
There is no room in this tank for angelfish...not sure you were thinking this 20g or another much, much larger tank you might have.
 
I am not going to belabour things, I believe I have offered some suggestions on the snails, and the fish load is certainly a prime factor.  As I said, the more snails there are, the more organics are in the tank providing food.

 

[NickAu]

My biggest problem with pond snails is that my Kuhli Loaches keep eating them thankfully they leave the mystery snails alone. I think I am the only guy in town who goes into LFS and asks to buy pond snails LOL.
 
The guy at LFS lets me have as many as I like free. 

 

[Frank77]

I wont be adding Angel fish then. But I look forward to getting some in the future, with a bigger tank.
 
I looked into Kuhli Loaches, it says a 20 gallon is OK. I'll try to find one near by.
 
I think the various techniques suggested here will allow me to attack the problem on a few fronts, and keep a healthy population.
 
Thanks for the input all!
 

 

[NickAu]

 
I looked into Kuhli Loaches, it says a 20 gallon is OK. I'll try to find one near by.

 I wouldn't recommend adding any more fish to that tank. And I doubt they would make much of a dent in your snails by the sounds of it.
 
 You would need at least 4 or 5 because Kuhlis don't like being on their own, and you need lots of hiding places for them, Things like driftwood and plants. They also prefer a mature tank.

 

[Frank77]

Ahh, I didn't know they need to be with others of their kind.
 
I wont be adding more fish, until I can find someone to take most of the guppies.
 
And I want some more Ghost shrimp.

 

[Far_King]

I agree with Byron that there is definitely a place for pond snails.  A contained number of them is without doubt beneficial and I'd not seek to utterly eradicate them; however in greater numbers they can be very unsightly.
 
Frank, what sort of maintenance do you undertake?  Do you syphon the substrate when you do water changes?  This can help to remove a lot of the detritus the snails feed on.  From what you've said it doesn't sound like you're over feeding so they must be getting sustenance from elsewhere.

 

[Frank77]

I would like some snails, but as you said, in high numbers, it looks terrible.
 
I've only had the tank for about a week and a half. I've done one water change, yesterday, of about 20% of the water. I have a good syphon, a lot of dirt and snail shells came out with it.
 
She gave it to me with the fish, some gravel, and a couple of decorations, a power filter, and a piece of driftwood, as she said the plecos need it, I see them munching on it frequently.
 
I am assuming the snails were in the gravel, as within the first week there were about 100 of them.
 
Also she said the dirty gravel and the used filters would help with not having a bad cycle, and I should not get a bloom.

 

[Beginnerbreeder1]

Hey it might help if you lower the temperature. If its in the 80° range it may enhance breeding

 

[Frank77]

OK.

 

[Baccus]

I find pest snails will always find food in a natural tank with timbers and live plants. Because no matter how much you cut back the fish food the snails just transfer their attention to the wood and plants.
I am currently trying something a little different in one of my tanks that has lots of detritus for the native shrimp who's shrimplets thrive on it. Syphoning out the detritus is not an option because I end up sucking out the tiny shrimplets.  I am removing undesired pest snails and introducing desired snails such as notopala in the hope that eventually the desired snails will eat the foods the pest snails are currently eating. The notopala wont become a pest themselves because they have single live young instead of laying eggs every where. Also notopala a single sexed so you need a male and female for them to breed.

 

[Frank77]

I've made a lot of progress bringing down the numbers, now that I've accepted I'd have to just dispose of them.
 
My worry is that the population will increase again, with all the eggs, I foresee having to remove another explosion of snails. But I'm sure in a few weeks, I'll get it under control, as there are less and less of them laying eggs.
 
I've been scrubbing the glass to dislodge the eggs a couple of times a day. Will they just land somewhere else and hatch?

 

[Baccus]

If you have a bit of spare airhose laying about the place, I would use that to dislodge the eggs and syphon them out of the tank entirely. Doing it that way you are removing minimal water and not accidentally removing anything you want. Also it gives you a lot of control being able to easily stop the syphon by putting your finger over the end while you hunt for more egg clusters. You can also use the airhose syphon technique to suck up any small snails that will fit down the tube with out clogging it (if they do clog it just squish with your fingers and they will continue the journey into the collection container) I found it was a great way to remove hydra.

 

[Frank77]

Great idea, thanks!

 

[Far_King]

I've made a lot of progress bringing down the numbers, now that I've accepted I'd have to just dispose of them.
 
My worry is that the population will increase again, with all the eggs, I foresee having to remove another explosion of snails. But I'm sure in a few weeks, I'll get it under control, as there are less and less of them laying eggs.
 
I've been scrubbing the glass to dislodge the eggs a couple of times a day. Will they just land somewhere else and hatch?

 
You may want to consider Assassin snails to help.  One or two should help to keep the population in check, although they may eventually eradicate all the other snails.  They are a lot more attractive and fascinating to watch and breed very slowly.

 

[Frank77]

I've been trying to find some Assassin snails, no luck so far. I found someone on kijiji, but they have not responded for a while now.