Found Snails :o

[SimoUK]

Hi guys

Ok so i was watching my fish in my 40 gal tank erlier and i noticed a tiny snail and i mean tiny, it can only be a day old,

so i thought i would keep it in there, i mean what the hell, what can one snail; hurt as i was going to look at what it would grow into.

So then i looked a little closer and there ofcourse on the glass at the back of my tank was another, then i looked even harder, then after a while i could SEE atleast 5 or 6 of these tiny snails, so im guessing there are loads elsewher in the tank.

and my question is wether i should keep them or not, i was thinking yes so that i could wait and see what they develop into, cant tell right now as they are so small, i did remove one that i could get at erlier.

if you think that i shouldnt keep them then i was thinking of getting some clown loaches anyway, which after a quick google unearthed that they love to eat small baby snails.

Any advice is GREATLY appreciated

 

[saltynay]

Clown loaches will hunt down and kill all snails doesn't really matter on size. They are probably pond snails, keep them if you want they eat algae, just don't overfeed your fish or else you will havea population explosion from the excess food being eaten by the snails.

 

[SimoUK]

Clown loaches will hunt down and kill all snails doesn't really matter on size. They are probably pond snails, keep them if you want they eat algae, just don't overfeed your fish or else you will havea population explosion from the excess food being eaten by the snails.

thanks for the reply salt,

think i will try the lettiuce trick overnight tonight, just to make sure there arent MILLIONS of the litle guys, but i think im gonna try and keep a few to see what they do for cleaning and stuff as ive never had snails before.

And also im guessing that they wont hurt any of the fish in any way?

thanks Simo

 

[saltynay]

They won't hurt the fish directly but if you add copper to the tank it will kill the snails and they can rot causing an ammonia spike.

 

[afishdude]

Honestly, you will never get rid of them. Unless you use copper or drain the tank, you are stuck with them. If you can see them then they are already about a week old.

 

[SimoUK]

Honestly, you will never get rid of them. Unless you use copper or drain the tank, you are stuck with them. If you can see them then they are already about a week old.

hmm, are you sure, i bought the tank off ebay and when transporting the tank was completely emptied into barrels which we used to transport water so that it would keep the same water stats when we got it to my house, would they have been on the rock which we took out andf placed into water?

i only transported it 3 days ago.. oh and i went to check for some lettuce but we dont have any left, would cucumber work as well?

thanks for replies

Simo

 

[afishdude]

The cucumber/ lettuce trick works well with adults but the small ones seem to stick to sucking on the glass. Just smoosh all the ones you can see with your finger.

 

[saltynay]

They are not a bad thing I deliberately add them to my tank they keep the algae down and their shells are beautiful in the right light. They are only a bother if you overfeed and your tank gets overcrowded otherwise they are effective janitors clearing up any uneaten food and algae.

 

[SimoUK]

The cucumber/ lettuce trick works well with adults but the small ones seem to stick to sucking on the glass. Just smoosh all the ones you can see with your finger.

HeHe yeh i just found that out this morning mate, turned the lights on and there was nothing on the cucumber

They are not a bad thing I deliberately add them to my tank they keep the algae down and their shells are beautiful in the right light. They are only a bother if you overfeed and your tank gets overcrowded otherwise they are effective janitors clearing up any uneaten food and algae.

yeh tanks for reply m8, i will try to control the number but defianately keep a few, my bronze corydoras dont seem to clear up much anyway

thanks guys

 

[bae1994]

well keep em and sell them to dp owners