Plant snails

[grayshark]

hi i have plant snails in my tank how can i get rid of them?

 

[guppymonkey]

There is no way to really stop snails from breeding. I am not sure what "plant snails" are, if they are a specific species or just a generic snail. Most snails lay their eggs above the waterline and the babies hatch and fall into the water. If you can get to the eggs before they hatch that would obviously help with the overpopulation problem. Another way to get rid of some of the snails is to get a fish that will eat snails, I have heard that some cichlids and gourami eat snails. Or you could put a piece of meat in the tank and wait for the snails to cover it (and they will) and then take the meat out and get rid of a lot of snails that way.

 

[Gunnie]

I would suggest some kind of loach for your tank. They love snails, but your tank already looks quite full. If you move your fish to a bigger tank, that's what I would suggest. Snails hitchhike on plants and decorations in your tank and will probably end up in your new tank as well unless you meticulously clean everything going into the new tank.

 

[sinistral]

You could either pick them out by hand/destroy egg sacs, use the lettuce method (weigh some lettuce down with a rock before turning off the lights, then remove the lettuce the next morning, similar to what guppymonkey suggested), or simply not overfeed the tank.

If you are careful about how much you feed your fish, you will most likely not experience a population explosion. Common snails in fact I've found make decent scavengers.

 

[FishDan]

The above suggestions about removing snails is great. But what do the snails look like? I don't know what a "plant snail" is and a description will help identify the snails. This is somewhat relevant as not all snails are egg layers. You may waste a lot of time looking for eggs if there are none, and grow very frustrated if your snail population continues to grow. And aside from removing them, the sigle best way to prevent overpopulation in the first place, as was touched on, is to not overfeed. Snails will breed in direct proportion to the amount of food available. Overabundance of food = overabundance of snails.

\Dan

 

[grayshark]

thanks u lot

 

[Yenko]

Kribensis will eat snails, but those aren't an option for someone with a 14 gallon, especially one as full as yours. Why remove the snails? Plants secrete chemicals that prevent snails from eating them if they are healthy; if snails are eating your plants, then they are most likely unhealthy. This may not be very attractive, but it is actually beneficial to the health of your tank.

 

[Da_Oz]

If round and brown to black these are pond snails, if thin and long these are trumpet snails. Pond snails lay eggs under water, trumpets give live birth. Both can be good for your tank. Main reason they over breed is over feeding. If there is no food they will not breed. And pond snails if there no food at all they will leave the tank. But with fish in the tank that can't happen. Both are not a cruse, pond snails are good for cleaning eat algae and don't have a big bioload. Trumpets are great for sand tanks they keep the sand loose and the gas pockets out.

The trap out way already said is a good way to help control them. Less food is another.