Over Run With Snails

[wayne84]

Well ive been keeping fish for a few years now and ive only just had this problem i have 3 tanks a large tank with large catfish , a cold water tank and also a nice pretty small tropical tank that i have as a planted tank well the small tank as been set up for around 5 years and has been running fine but since about 2 months ago when i had to move my clown loaches to a bigger tank i stated to see small but skinny and tall smails pop up i think there trumpet snails ? and have taken over the tank at first i did not mind they was not doing no harm but now the tank is over run they are everywhere there are thousands now within a few months i know this maybe as i have took the loaches out ( what a job they must of been doing ) but i dont want to go get some more smaller loaches just to clear the tank up as i am full up in my tanks now.
What i wanted to no is will apple snails do the job just aswel as the loaches ?? i have a few apple snails in another tank that i have put in there today i know they are going to eat plants but as long as they start to clean up the tank a bit ill be happy i also know there are other ways to get rid of pest snails ( traps ) but im thinking that large apple snails should do the job ?

any help from anyone who has had this problem or who has used larger snails for the problem would be great

 

[Smoothy]

I had a problem with snails too a few weeks back ... I bought 2 Asassin snails ... they didn't really help at all, I've only ever seen them eat 1 snail they just sit there most of the time.

Then I started picking them out every water change or just everytime I saw them on the glass I'd crush them and drop them in the tank ... the cories and Embers loved them

I've since reduced the amount I feed and I no longer have a problem with them at all really ... I see the odd one here and there but I actually quite like them ... in small numbers anyway

Sorry, no idea if Apple Snails eat them

EDIT: spelling

 

[saltynay]

Smoothy assassin snails will not eliminate a snail population this is a common myth they should be used to control the population from getting to high. They also don't like MTS given the choice as MTS have trapdoors on their shells which make it more difficult for the assassins to attack them.

Apple snails will not eat them but they will eat some of the excess food which is promoting your population explosion. The best way is to use a combination of methods and hope for the best.

Stop feeding your fish for a week whilst you follow the below
Pick as many up with tweezers as you can see and remove any egg clutches
If possible sieve the substrate
Put a piece of cucumber in the tank every 3 hours removing it and scraping off the snails and returning or fresh bit each time for 2-3 days blacking out the tank during this time by covering and turning off lights.
Use a snail killer product on the 3rd day but bare in mind you won't be able to keep apple snails or any other inverts in the tank for a couple of months at least. You can also now return the tank to its normal light sequence. Do regular ammonia checks as the decaying snails cause ammonia spikes.
Sieve the substrate again after the course of snail killer has been completed.

 

[Smoothy]

Smoothy assassin snails will not eliminate a snail population this is a common myth they should be used to control the population from getting to high.

This is the reason I got them

Was hoping they would do their part as well as me crushing them

 

[wayne84]

Thanks to all for the posts back

saltynay thanks for the tips im going to give your step by step ago wish me luck

 

[Amunet]

You could always sell them on ebay
Was poking around ebay last night and saw plenty of people selling off extra trumpet snails. People were actually buying them as well so *shrugs* You may be able to get some $$ outta your infestation

 

[wayne84]

You could always sell them on ebay
Was poking around ebay last night and saw plenty of people selling off extra trumpet snails. People were actually buying them as well so *shrugs* You may be able to get some $$ outta your infestation

lol really ? dont people know all you need to do is buy plants the snails come free haha

 

[Ficious]

put some lettuce in there over night then the next morning pick it up and throw it and all the snails that are on it away. repeat, repeat, repeat...dont overfeed...and grab as many as you see when doing tank cleaning.

or


remove and rehome the current fish, buy a puffer. lol (jk dont)

 

[Amunet]

You could always sell them on ebay
Was poking around ebay last night and saw plenty of people selling off extra trumpet snails. People were actually buying them as well so *shrugs* You may be able to get some $$ outta your infestation

lol really ? dont people know all you need to do is buy plants the snails come free haha

lol.. I was just as surprised to see that people were actually buying them

 

[LiveYourLife]

Id be more than happy to pay you to post a large amount of them up to me?
i have a 125 thats purely a snail tank!