Freak Snail

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tlagden

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Had my tank over a month now - no additions for a while and was surprised to see a small snail squirming it's way across the front pane of the tank the other night before watching a DVD in my room and saw it again today going across the filter it's only about 5mm bless it.

I guess it hitch-hiked on the plants i bought - as i didn't buy any. It's so tiny that i can't focus a picture on it so am hoping it's not a multiplying one as i've heard snails are a-sexual.
 
If you see the snail again... it would be wise to remove it... remember, that they can reproduce by the hundreds...
 
not asexual i believe. hermaphrodidic. in other words it takes two snails to tango but they are all male and female. also if you see any funny jellylike spots on the glass or plants with lots of tiny dots inside then squish it. it is almost an exercise in futility however. You'll probably never get rid of them.

they aren't so bad really. unless they eat your plants. They help you know how much to feed. if you've got lotsa snails then your overfeeding. If you only have a few snails then your feeding habits are probably pretty good.
 
This happened to us.

Brought some Elodea, about 2 weeks later - snails!

And new snails every day.

I want them gone but my husband thinks they are a really good thing for the tank.

I dont think he has actually had a close enough look to see that there is over 50 snails now.
 
This happened to us.

Brought some Elodea, about 2 weeks later - snails!

And new snails every day.

I want them gone but my husband thinks they are a really good thing for the tank.

I dont think he has actually had a close enough look to see that there is over 50 snails now.

oh dear - i don't want 50 snails - and i look forward to the squishing lol
 
I couldnt squish, I would have to either put them down the sink or in the bin.
 
I couldnt squish, I would have to either put them down the sink or in the bin.

I was referring to torrean who claimed there may be egg sacks of some sort that I'd have to destroy :)
 
what size is your tank. The most commonly available snail munchers are too big for that tank.

Take a look through the loaches in the fish index. There might be some info there about which fish would work well for snail extermination.

other methods of snail extraction include

1. the lettuce trick. This involves placing a leaf of lettuce in your tank (preferrably near lights out) then come back an hour later and either remove the lettuce leaf and throw it away, or rinse it well and place it back into the tank to catch more snails. This will not get rid of all the snails and it will not get rid of the snail eggs. I'm a little reluctant to put a lettuce leaf in my tank (pesticides, I know I'm wierd people put veggies in to feed fish all the time) if you are the same you could try another method that IME works very well. It involve placing an algae wafer in a coffee mug and putting it in the tank. come back in an hour or so and rinse out the mug. repeat until lots of snails are gone.

2. chemicals. I don't really like this method since it tends to leave a lot of snail corpses in the water but since you only have a few snails it may be a path you would like to travel, it is pretty straight forward. Add some copper based medication or a commercial snail killer (such as hadasnail) to the water as directed then remove as many snails as you can. that's it

3. pick them out and throw them away whenever you see them

4. learn to live with and enjoy them. as I believe i said earlier they are helpful when it comes to feeding in moderation.

5. get a snail eating fish such as a dwarf puffer (probably too aggressive for your tank) or a clown loach (probably to large for your tank) I'm sure someone else can help you figure out what fish would work well.
 
Clown loaches got rid of my snail problem one time, had 60 or more and within a few days they were all away. Also south american puffers are good for keeping snails at bay helps keep their teeth trimmed too. :nod:
 
are you planning on rehomeing those clown loaches eventually and are you experiencing any aggression issues from the puffers? I honestly would not try the mix you have in your tank.
 
WOH WOH WOH what about squishing!? your not gonna squich the little snail are you!? you could keep him as a little pet in a betta bowl or something and see what he is when he grows up. don't just kill it! thats terrible. if we hitchhiked on an alien spaceship would you want to be squished just because you were curious where you would go?

I couldnt squish, I would have to either put them down the sink or in the bin.

I was referring to torrean who claimed there may be egg sacks of some sort that I'd have to destroy :)
oh...

well, you could sell the egg clutches. most people would buy egg clutches. depending on the breed. heck, if it's something i don't have i may even want some eggs :lol:
 
trust me no one is gonna buy pond snail eggs... I can't say invariably that that is what this is but chances are pretty good it's either a pond snail a ramshorn or an MTS snail. MTS are the only ones you might be able to sell.
 
wow, the people here don't think anyone buys pond snails or ramhorns? i've seen this alot here lately. lots of people buy them. just because you havent seen anyone buy them doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

the whole puddle inc business started from breeding pond snails and selling them. so don't judge the domain before you read the ebay. :sly:
 

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