Ridding My Aquarium Of Snails

[m1lky12]

So I'm looking to give my tank a bit of a rescape in the next couple of weeks, I'll be removing the fish so I can get in there without worrying about them while I replant and change the decor over. Now for the past few months my tank has been inundated with snails, in particular Malaysian Trumpet Snails.Although they do have their benefits, there's literally hundreds and hundreds of them. I've noticed the majority of them burrow in the sand during the day, so as everything's coming out the tank I want to try get as many snails out as possible with it. 
 
I'm basically wondering if their's a way to either get them out of the sand, as most are too small to syphon I assume, as other than that I'm not too sure what else would work. Anyone got any ideas or tips?

 

[fluttermoth]

Sieve them out; with a sieve like the ones you'd use for sifting flour when baking.
 
If you're getting that many snails though, you're probably overfeeding, so you might want to cut back on that a bit as well so you don't get overrun again

 

[m1lky12]

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll definitely give that a go, would rinsing the sand through with hot/boiling water also help at all?
 
And yep, since I realised just how many there were I've cut back on the food!

 

[fluttermoth]

You should get most of them with the sieve. I wouldn't bother with the hot water.

 

[m1lky12]

Awesome, thanks for that!

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

Also, do a very diluted bleach dip on your hardier plants to kill off any eggs

 

[fluttermoth]

Trumpet snails are livebearers, Ellie, so no eggs

 

[coolie]

You could just send the snails to me?

 

[Fintastic!]

OMG the sieve is an excellent idea Fluttermoth! Why did I not think of that? I won't be emptying my tank so I think I'll give it a go with a tea strainer. I don't mind a few mts but I have so many of them at this stage and they just LOVE my poor vallis. 

 

[Brahmza]

If anyone has some loaches you could borrow, I'm sure they'd scarf them down

 

[Baccus]

Unfortunately dwarf chain loaches, Pakastani loaches, Khuli loaches and even Borneo Suckers make no impact on MTS, maybe clown loaches would be able to tackle the thick shells of MTS but the other loaches I mentioned cant.
 
When removing MTS from my  tanks with sand I use a fish net, scoop up a heap of sand and then swish it about in the water till all the sand falls free and I am left with a net full of MTS.

 

[Fintastic!]

Nice one Baccus. The fish net is the one I'm going for. Can't wait to get  stuck in!

 

[dougie]

I don't know anything about snails, but wouldn't an Assasin snail or two do the work for you?

 

[m1lky12]

Wow haven't checked this in a while, some great advice, thanks guys!
 

Also, do a very diluted bleach dip on your hardier plants to kill off any eggs

 
Yep, I'm doing my tank up soon so will be doing this too any plants entering, there's only a small crop of Vallis left so will do the same to them!
 
 
 

If anyone has some loaches you could borrow, I'm sure they'd scarf them down

 
Haha would love too! I had a similar problem when I got my last tank up and running and ended up with some Zebra Loaches (wanted some anyway) no snails in sight after a couple of weeks! Unfortunately it would prove to be a pretty expensive rental as I don't know anyone with loaches and my LFS don't do money back or credit notes.
 
 
 

I don't know anything about snails, but wouldn't an Assasin snail or two do the work for you?

 
I thought about this but i think I need a more radical solution as I read Assasins can only eat a couple a day, I must have hundreds of them!

 

[looking-glass]

Can i just say that thanks to this thread i now know what the abbreviation MTS means 

 thanks everyone