pest snail issues that never were

[betta4ever!]

Really cool there were two and they paired up betta!
Hopefully you'll get more fry!

Female's eggy already

Sorry for your losses

Thanks I appreciate it

(just realized this has gone way off topic I think we should stop... Sorry OP)

 

[Rocky998]

Female's eggy already

Thanks I appreciate it

(just realized this has gone way off topic I think we should stop... Sorry OP)

Great to hear!!

No problem Betta!

Yah I was thinking the same thing... Sorry OP.
Now we're the pest snails...

 

[P3rhaps009]

Female's eggy already

Thanks I appreciate it

(just realized this has gone way off topic I think we should stop... Sorry OP)

its fine, I dont mind it at all.

 

[P3rhaps009]

to be honest I havent seen anything since I saw the first potential "pest snail" I guess It made me paranoid as I was concerned they would eat my plants. I dont really think there was a need for this thread to begin with.

 

[Latin Mama]

*Me thinking I'm solving the snail issue with assassin snails*

The assassin snails: "We establish base here"

Me: "Wai- whaaaaaat... No you can't do that. I got you so you would fix the issue your causing now"

The assassin snails: "Bro your head is a snail"

LOL. I bought a couple of Assassin snails. 1 for each tank. 40 gallons, NO less. Needless to say, I need to buy more! They are carnivores, but could not Keep up with my snail population. I had a 10 gallon tank, that I SWEAR I pulled at least 100 pest snails out of the tank. During a 5 day period. Just a total population explosion. I have been picking some out, but leave a few since they are helpful. I didn't keep up with my water changes and cleaning as much as I should have. Had a bunch of Algae covering my decor. Those snails literally turned my sugar skull white again. I was shocked. This is how many I got in One attempt!

 

[P3rhaps009]

There is no such thing as a pest snail. There are aquarists who for whatever reason do not like snails, that is not the same thing. But snails in and of themselves are not pests, they are a part--and quite an important part--of an ecosystem, including your aquarium. They get places you cannot, or would not with ease, to eat organic matter, breaking it down faster for the various bacteria to handle. Assuming the aquarium will biologically "explode" if you see one snail...well, that just is not true or realistic.

As for their numbers, this is caused by the "food" they are given. They eat algae from the most delicate leaves of plants. They eat organic matter like over-fed fish food. They eat dying plant matter (the small harmless snails do not eat healthy live plants). If you want to control their numbers, then control the fish stocking, fish feeding, and increase water changes and substrate and filter cleaning, all of which will remove organics.

Instead of reaching for some chemical additive to "fix" some problem, understand and use nature to help you. Your fish will be less inclined to have problems if they live in a more natural environment.

a snail showed up in my tanks today. I actually agree with you, they're cute little critters that benefit my tank. Thanks for your insight without you telling me that I think I could've ended up squishing them

Thanks!

 

[kiko]

LOL. I bought a couple of Assassin snails. 1 for each tank. 40 gallons, NO less. Needless to say, I need to buy more! They are carnivores, but could not Keep up with my snail population. I had a 10 gallon tank, that I SWEAR I pulled at least 100 pest snails out of the tank. During a 5 day period. Just a total population explosion. I have been picking some out, but leave a few since they are helpful. I didn't keep up with my water changes and cleaning as much as I should have. Had a bunch of Algae covering my decor. Those snails literally turned my sugar skull white again. I was shocked. This is how many I got in One attempt!

Pea puffers will eat the snails and look cute..
as for assassin snails...they eat about 3/4 a week so you'd need to have at least 10-15 assassin snails to do the same job a couple pea puffers do....
assassin snails will also hunt down the snails eggs and turn the substrate
myself I keep 1 assassin snail in my shrimp tank to prevent growth explosions as it'll take care of the eggs which in turn controls population...
and instead of throwing the snails in the garbage...I pick let's say 10-15 of them and throw them in my 45gal so the pea puffers can have some fun xD
also some people will say puffers are aggressive etc...they can be with slow swimming fish as puffers themselves are very slow swimmers...
a rainbow forktail for eg. looks nice and specially females are way more aggressive than pea puffers to the point even the puffers will run away from them.
Also it's a lot easier to keep shrimp with pea puffers than let's say neon tetras or rasboras or forktails as they swim fast
and can catch shrimp even when they do all those "jumps" to run away from fish...
the internet makes pea puffers more aggressive than they really are
I love watching them..they swim weird as if they're floating instead of swimming, looks really cool...

 

[P3rhaps009]

Pea puffers will eat the snails and look cute..
as for assassin snails...they eat about 3/4 a week so you'd need to have at least 10-15 assassin snails to do the same job a couple pea puffers do....
assassin snails will also hunt down the snails eggs and turn the substrate
myself I keep 1 assassin snail in my shrimp tank to prevent growth explosions as it'll take care of the eggs which in turn controls population...
and instead of throwing the snails in the garbage...I pick let's say 10-15 of them and throw them in my 45gal so the pea puffers can have some fun xD
also some people will say puffers are aggressive etc...they can be with slow swimming fish as puffers themselves are very slow swimmers...
a rainbow forktail for eg. looks nice and specially females are way more aggressive than pea puffers to the point even the puffers will run away from them.
Also it's a lot easier to keep shrimp with pea puffers than let's say neon tetras or rasboras or forktails as they swim fast
and can catch shrimp even when they do all those "jumps" to run away from fish...
the internet makes pea puffers more aggressive than they really are
I love watching them..they swim weird as if they're floating instead of swimming, looks really cool...

yeah If they start reproducing a lot i might get some assassins but I currently am just happy to have at least something in the tank lol (I haven't even finished setting up bacteria so Its kinda like an early guest.)

 

[david.molloy2009]

When I bought a second hand tank I had an infestation of Malaysian trumpet snails. Bought 2 assassin snails and after a while they brought the numbers down greatly to an acceptable level.
I love snails in my tank as part of a cleaning crew but keeping the right level is important.

 

[P3rhaps009]

When I bought a second hand tank I had an infestation of Malaysian trumpet snails. Bought 2 assassin snails and after a while they brought the numbers down greatly to an acceptable level.
I love snails in my tank as part of a cleaning crew but keeping the right level is important.

yeah If my tank ends up with an infestation I would see to doing that, but right now I just think they are kind of cute and nice to have in my tank.