Heeeeelllllpppppp!!!  snails!!!

[ostrow]

Alien Anna you may not want to read this.....

So I go to my tank tonight to check on my fish (see "very strange" thread) and what do I see??? Dozens, DOZENS of tiny snails. I swear they were not there 6 hours ago.

I have never purchased a snail.

Where did they come from?

How do I get rid of them? (Sorry Anna, I don't want them).

Are they the source of the other problems I've had?

This has me a bit freaked out. :cry: :cry: :cry:

 

[wlbadger]

You can get them when you put new live plants in your tank. If you want to get rid of them naturally add a loach or two, clowns are best or you can do it chemically but I own a loach so I have no idea what to use.

 

[ostrow]

I have just a 6 gal tank...I don't think I can add those...

 

[Alien Anna]

Don't worry about my sensibilities - there are two kinds of snail in my book:
1. Apple snails, mystery snails, ramshorn and the like that cost money and eat your algae without eating your plants.
2. B*stids that deserve what they get.

You have the latter sort. If you haven't got any domesticated snails, use Snail-away or something like that. Rinse all your plants in the stuff (that's probably how the snail eggs got there in the first place). If you can borrow a clown loach from another fish keeper, great. If not, it's chemicals or the method I use (because I have got expensive domesticated snails): weeding. Basically pick them out one by one and kill them.

 

[Davy Reynolds]

Clown loaches are good.
They come in on plants.
Chems are okay

My bit

You can use your finger and squash them against the glass. If there small Chems will work, but there not the best with plants. Snail traps can work. But I've caught more fish in them than snails :laugh:

Everyone has had snails at somepoint in there life. The only prob with them is the breed like mad and you become infested with them :hmm:

 

[ostrow]

Well, I took drastic measures. Really drastic ones that I know will make some of you cringe. But let me explain.

After a few hours I had 75 snails that I could see, in A 6 GALLON TANK. It was 11pm. No way to get Snail Away.

So I did a massive water change, scrubbed the sides of the tank, and the top, and all accessories and decorations that were touching any water, including the rocks. I know, I know.... While doing this the fish were in conditioned water in an old 2 gal tank. They were there 2 hours.

In the end, my count got lost somewhere around 175!!!

Here was my thinking. These snails were a serious problem and snail away I figured could lead to some filtration problems with a tank that size.

Given my other problems (see "Very Strange"), on Rose's advice which I find close to hitting what is going on, there was a chance I'd have to nuke the tank anyway.

So at least now I have a clean tank with water that is cycling and fish that will help get the thing going. Hopefully, the fish, which are obviously spooked beyond belief, will pull through. Obviously, I still need to treat them for the other problems. If they don't make it, I'll have a newly cycled tank ready for new fish.

I'd sure like to get past this quickly. Hopefully, the Bio Wheel will get the cycling done faster. Unfortunately, no carbon filter due to meds, so I'm not sure what that will do to things.

And I'm off as soon as stores open to get snail away.

OH, yeah, I did more than remove the plant. I got rid of it. And I'm gonna inform the lfs I got it from. Is this a reason not to go back to that store, or is there something I could have done??

 

[William]

Next time with the plants put them in a solution of high salt concentration. Then rinse them. Then put them in the tank.

Good Luck 8)

 

[ostrow]

Thanks William! Use Aquarium salt or any-ol'-salt? How long you leave them in the solution?

Anna recommended soaking them in Snail Away. Same question.

Now I'm trying to figure out if I should add plants now or wait until I'm done with the meds and the cycling that is gonna go on.....

 

[William]

Never had the problem and had to use salt myself. I would say that just normal salt will do for this. I imagine high salt will be bad for the plant in the long term. Perhaps somewhere between 5 and 20 minutes. The snails should start fizzling . With the high salt though the plant will suffer water loss as it is hypotonic and water moves from high concentration in plant to low in water (cause more salt % in water).

Good luck!

 

[Rose]

I have snails in all my tanks (except for the one with clown loaches). I have never had a snail outbreak. Then again the key to snail control is nutrient/ waste control. If you have those at good levels they won't be a problem. Some fish do eat them. Rose

 

[ostrow]

Rose, you have what Anna calls the b*stid snails? Without an outbreak? Hardly seems possible that you have the same ones I had ... they APPEARED in an outbreak!!!

The best way to measure nutrient/waste control is the ammonia and nitrite test, no? I do those weekly and it has always been 0. And I do my bi-weekly 20% water changes...

Anyway, I think it is good to have live rather than plastic plants. So I want to try that again. Any more specific guidelines on how to treat them before putting them in the tank this time would be MUCH appreciated.

Soak in salt or snail-away? How much for how long? I'm going to be VERY careful this time.

Does anyone think this snail thing could be related to the other mystery fast-killer sickness that struck last week?

Thanks,
Joel

 

[Rose]

snails had nothing to do with that disease outbreak. As for your plants put them in QT before you put them in your main tank. They can carry disease that can get your fish sick. As for the snail acides, your plants have a better chance of dying before the snails do with that stuff. Rose

 

[ostrow]

I'm sorry... QT? You mean quarantine? And do what?

I'm even more worried now because you may be right that the plant also brought in the parasite or whatever has been going on.

If you say don't use chems on the plants, then what? I really don't want to introduce any plants until I know what to do to try and prevent disease and snail infestations in the future. This has been a real drag ... and I'm not even one of the traumatized (or dead!) fish :grumpy:

 

[Rose]

Here's just a thought on the snail problem. Do you know of anyone who has clownloaches in one of their tanks and would be willing to let you put your plants in his tank for a couple of weeks? That might get rid of the snails. No gurantees but it might work. I know it works for me. Rose

 

[ostrow]

Sorry Rose ... You missed a post above. I took drastic measures to solve the snail problem for now.

But one of the measures was to dispose of the plant (roots had broken off anyway so it's future was in question).

What I'm after is what to do before introducing a new plant to PREVENT new snail outbursts like this one. And to prevent infections being introduced.

How does one condition, or otherwise treat plants prior to putting them into one's tank???