paulthegreat
Fish Addict
bag the fish, wash the plants, empty the tank, scrub it, boil the sand/gravel
Snails?
- Thread starter PoPoV
- Start date
DarkEntity
Eater Of The Fishies!!!
Would 1 Loach be ok? Or does he need a buddy? I only have the snail problem in my livebearer tank wich is only a 10 gallon. so i dont want to push the capability of my tank givin its small size?
Unfortunately your tank is far to small for even one clown loach. These fish grow to about 12-14" albeit slowly.
atmmachine816
Fish Gatherer
PMed you, when I finish the thing i'm writing about killing snails I'll post it here too.
Austin
Austin
Underwurlde
Always look on the bright side of life..
So far, in my desperate attempts to rid a tank of snails, my extensive (though limited) searching has led me thus far:
Pest snails are a big problem. I am talking about critters that are called:
Physa Fontinalis or Physa Acuta
(I think their common name is Bladder / Tadpole / Pouch Snails)
To I.D. them, do a Google image search based on those names.
Thier eggs are laid in a clutch and look light clear lumps of jelly, about 10mm in diameter. The clutch will contain between 15 to 20
little white dots that is each of the eggs.
The Problems
They eat everything (could be considered a good thing).
They can reproduce 'with themselves' - i.e. it takes ONLY ONE snail to infect a tank.
They multiply EXPONENTIALLY, i.e. 1, then 2, then 4, then 8 then 16, THEN 32, THEN 64!
Hence if left unchecked their numbers can explode to such a level that they can take over a tank and starve the tank (killing any fish).
They are horrible polluters: I once left about 10 snails in a bucket for about an hour and I could not believe the amount of poo.
They lay eggs (each clutch holding 15 to 20 snails with an 80% survival rate) that are hard to spot. You think you've got rid of the snails & then wham! 1 week later there are 20 more!
Worst of all they can get into your filter media!!! Making them nigh on impossible to eradicate.
ERADICATION METHODS
Chemical
’Had-A-Snail’ & ’eSHa Gastropex Snail Killer’ are just a couple of the many chemical solutions - usually using copper and sulphate ions . Apaprently 'Had-a-Snail works.
Problems: You'll pollute the tank with Copper [Cu]. You'll also kill any invertibrate, i.e. shrimp.
Some of these products simply DO NOT WORK. Some state that they 'knock them out'
And?
Hence due to copper pollution: I DO NOT SUGGEST USING A CHEMICAL METHOD
Fish
Add some snail eaters. This is the best method but you'll need a big tank.
Clown Loach is 'the' snail eater: However they grow to 12"+ and prefer to be kept in shoals of 6.
Second best alternative is a Yoyo Loach (Botia Lohachata or Lohachata Loaches): It is a smaller fish than the CLown & happier in smaller shoals and hence much better suited to smaller tanks. Unfortunately they are not very common.
Other snail eaters (I have yet to confirm effectiveness): Puffers, Hora’s (Skunk) Botias (unfortunately the most aggressive type of Loach), Opaline Gourami, Khuli Loach, Firemouth Cichlid.
Apparent egg eaters: Zebra Danios, Blue Ram Cichlid
Physical removal
Keep snail numbers under check by removing them by hand, using a veg such as cucumber or snail traps. These methods WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. How can it? It does not remove eggs!
If there are any snails living inside your filter media 'sponges' (assume they ARE) then youu will not be able to get at them to remove.
DON'T crush any snails while they are in the tank - this will certainly kill the snail but may also release any eggs into the water.
Blitzing
Extreme & drastic: but unfortunately the only sure fire method to COMPLETELY eradicate ALL snails & their eggs. Also the only option left open to those who do not want to use chemicals in the tank or whose tank is too small for loaches.
Note: Cleaning could be easy if it were not for the fact that snails can and will get into the filter sponges. The filter sponges must therefore be discarded in order to rid the tank of the infestation. This is compounded by the fact that the filter media holds the essential ammonia busting bacteria that my have taken weeks to establish.
Transfer your fish to a second tank, water & all. Remove the heater and soak it for an hour in a very stong solution (i.e. 4 tsp per Litre of water) of Aluminium Sulphate or Aluminium Potassium Sulphate OR soak for 10 minutes in a 10ml / Gallon solution of Potassium Permanganate. Once done, thoughly rinse in tap water, then transfer to holding tank & switch on.
Remove substrate & bin it (leave plants behind). Remove any decorations and stones and BOIL them for at least an hour.
Snails and their eggs can be killed with a 2-day bath in ALUM (Aluminium Potassium Sulphate) using 1-2 tablespoons per 1 Gallon of water. Hence soak tank, all equipment and plants and in this solution with the pump running.
Remove the filter media, discard half of it and put the other half inside some tights (thus containing any snails therein). Knot.
To make DOUBLY sure the tank is clean of any snails, add 10ml / Gallon Potassium Permanganate - This will kill EVERYTHING (Snails, eggs, bacteria, algae). Add ½ tsp / Gallon water (i.e. 15ppm) for 10-20mins.
Once treated, rinse everything in water (with the pump running). Then add new filter media but only half filling the container. Now tranfer fish & water and heater back into original tank along with half the filter media that should still be wrapped in some tights. Wait a few weeks for the old filter media (inside the tights) to seed the new filter media. Then remove & discard the old filter media inside the tights replacing it with more new filter media.
Chemicals - where to get them
Get chemicals (in poweder form) from: www.gardendirect.co.uk
Andy
PS
My 'BLITZ' solution above is something I am CURRENTLY working on.
PERFORM AT YOUR OWN RISK
Pest snails are a big problem. I am talking about critters that are called:
Physa Fontinalis or Physa Acuta
(I think their common name is Bladder / Tadpole / Pouch Snails)
To I.D. them, do a Google image search based on those names.
Thier eggs are laid in a clutch and look light clear lumps of jelly, about 10mm in diameter. The clutch will contain between 15 to 20
little white dots that is each of the eggs.
The Problems
They eat everything (could be considered a good thing).
They can reproduce 'with themselves' - i.e. it takes ONLY ONE snail to infect a tank.
They multiply EXPONENTIALLY, i.e. 1, then 2, then 4, then 8 then 16, THEN 32, THEN 64!
Hence if left unchecked their numbers can explode to such a level that they can take over a tank and starve the tank (killing any fish).
They are horrible polluters: I once left about 10 snails in a bucket for about an hour and I could not believe the amount of poo.
They lay eggs (each clutch holding 15 to 20 snails with an 80% survival rate) that are hard to spot. You think you've got rid of the snails & then wham! 1 week later there are 20 more!
Worst of all they can get into your filter media!!! Making them nigh on impossible to eradicate.
ERADICATION METHODS
Chemical
’Had-A-Snail’ & ’eSHa Gastropex Snail Killer’ are just a couple of the many chemical solutions - usually using copper and sulphate ions . Apaprently 'Had-a-Snail works.
Problems: You'll pollute the tank with Copper [Cu]. You'll also kill any invertibrate, i.e. shrimp.
Some of these products simply DO NOT WORK. Some state that they 'knock them out'
And?Hence due to copper pollution: I DO NOT SUGGEST USING A CHEMICAL METHOD
Fish
Add some snail eaters. This is the best method but you'll need a big tank.
Clown Loach is 'the' snail eater: However they grow to 12"+ and prefer to be kept in shoals of 6.
Second best alternative is a Yoyo Loach (Botia Lohachata or Lohachata Loaches): It is a smaller fish than the CLown & happier in smaller shoals and hence much better suited to smaller tanks. Unfortunately they are not very common.
Other snail eaters (I have yet to confirm effectiveness): Puffers, Hora’s (Skunk) Botias (unfortunately the most aggressive type of Loach), Opaline Gourami, Khuli Loach, Firemouth Cichlid.
Apparent egg eaters: Zebra Danios, Blue Ram Cichlid
Physical removal
Keep snail numbers under check by removing them by hand, using a veg such as cucumber or snail traps. These methods WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. How can it? It does not remove eggs!
If there are any snails living inside your filter media 'sponges' (assume they ARE) then youu will not be able to get at them to remove.
DON'T crush any snails while they are in the tank - this will certainly kill the snail but may also release any eggs into the water.
Blitzing
Extreme & drastic: but unfortunately the only sure fire method to COMPLETELY eradicate ALL snails & their eggs. Also the only option left open to those who do not want to use chemicals in the tank or whose tank is too small for loaches.
Note: Cleaning could be easy if it were not for the fact that snails can and will get into the filter sponges. The filter sponges must therefore be discarded in order to rid the tank of the infestation. This is compounded by the fact that the filter media holds the essential ammonia busting bacteria that my have taken weeks to establish.
Transfer your fish to a second tank, water & all. Remove the heater and soak it for an hour in a very stong solution (i.e. 4 tsp per Litre of water) of Aluminium Sulphate or Aluminium Potassium Sulphate OR soak for 10 minutes in a 10ml / Gallon solution of Potassium Permanganate. Once done, thoughly rinse in tap water, then transfer to holding tank & switch on.
Remove substrate & bin it (leave plants behind). Remove any decorations and stones and BOIL them for at least an hour.
Snails and their eggs can be killed with a 2-day bath in ALUM (Aluminium Potassium Sulphate) using 1-2 tablespoons per 1 Gallon of water. Hence soak tank, all equipment and plants and in this solution with the pump running.
Remove the filter media, discard half of it and put the other half inside some tights (thus containing any snails therein). Knot.
To make DOUBLY sure the tank is clean of any snails, add 10ml / Gallon Potassium Permanganate - This will kill EVERYTHING (Snails, eggs, bacteria, algae). Add ½ tsp / Gallon water (i.e. 15ppm) for 10-20mins.
Once treated, rinse everything in water (with the pump running). Then add new filter media but only half filling the container. Now tranfer fish & water and heater back into original tank along with half the filter media that should still be wrapped in some tights. Wait a few weeks for the old filter media (inside the tights) to seed the new filter media. Then remove & discard the old filter media inside the tights replacing it with more new filter media.
Chemicals - where to get them
Get chemicals (in poweder form) from: www.gardendirect.co.uk
Andy
PS
My 'BLITZ' solution above is something I am CURRENTLY working on.
PERFORM AT YOUR OWN RISK
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
There are some misunderstandings about snails. So let's clear up a little of the science.
Snails do not magically increase the amount of ammonium, nitrite, or nitrate in an aquarium. These pollutants (collectively called nitrogenous waste) are sourced from the food you put in the tank and also (to a far lesser extent) any decaying plant matter in the tank as well. So, while snails can and will eat excess food in the aquarium, if there's nothing for them to eat, they won't create nitrogenous waste from nothing. In short, if your aquarium is polluted or messy, that's your fault, not the snails. Sure, they'll take advantage, but unless they're helping themselves to the pot of flake food while you're not looking, they're totally dependent on what you put into the aquarium (or fail to clear away, in the case of dead plant matter).
Snail populations are classic examples of r-selected organisms: i.e., their numbers rise and fall dependent on the amount of resources, such as food. If you overfeed your fish, and fail to wash away decaying organic matter at each water change, then the snail populations will go up. If you keep your tank clean, only feed what the fish can eat, remove uneaten food at once, perform regular water changes, and cut away decaying plant leaves on sight, then your snails will starve. They may not die at once, but they will certainly stop breeding (the equation is simple: food surplus to their requirements = baby snails). After a few months you'll notice fewer and fewer snails. Add a snail eating fish, and you'll hardly ever see snails. Loaches have been mentioned, but there are numerous others. Synodontis catfish will eat them, as will many cichlids (if hungry enough!). If you crush snails on sight, then virtually all fish will simply eat the soft parts, saving you the trouble of having to fish out the remains.
Not all snails are bad. Physa snails will indeed eat plants, and are a pest, but Malayan livebearing snails are totally harmless. In fact, they are very good for keeping the gravel or sand oxygenated and clean. If you have too many Malayan snails, it means you are overfeeding and not keeping the tank clean. Most other snails are in the middle: they'll eat sick plants but tend to ignore healthy ones. This varies depending on the plant, with some plants being more "tasty" to snails than others.
Aquarists love to blame snails for problems instead of accepting that snails are a symptom of the problem, not the cause of it.
Cheers,
Neale
Snails do not magically increase the amount of ammonium, nitrite, or nitrate in an aquarium. These pollutants (collectively called nitrogenous waste) are sourced from the food you put in the tank and also (to a far lesser extent) any decaying plant matter in the tank as well. So, while snails can and will eat excess food in the aquarium, if there's nothing for them to eat, they won't create nitrogenous waste from nothing. In short, if your aquarium is polluted or messy, that's your fault, not the snails. Sure, they'll take advantage, but unless they're helping themselves to the pot of flake food while you're not looking, they're totally dependent on what you put into the aquarium (or fail to clear away, in the case of dead plant matter).
Snail populations are classic examples of r-selected organisms: i.e., their numbers rise and fall dependent on the amount of resources, such as food. If you overfeed your fish, and fail to wash away decaying organic matter at each water change, then the snail populations will go up. If you keep your tank clean, only feed what the fish can eat, remove uneaten food at once, perform regular water changes, and cut away decaying plant leaves on sight, then your snails will starve. They may not die at once, but they will certainly stop breeding (the equation is simple: food surplus to their requirements = baby snails). After a few months you'll notice fewer and fewer snails. Add a snail eating fish, and you'll hardly ever see snails. Loaches have been mentioned, but there are numerous others. Synodontis catfish will eat them, as will many cichlids (if hungry enough!). If you crush snails on sight, then virtually all fish will simply eat the soft parts, saving you the trouble of having to fish out the remains.
Not all snails are bad. Physa snails will indeed eat plants, and are a pest, but Malayan livebearing snails are totally harmless. In fact, they are very good for keeping the gravel or sand oxygenated and clean. If you have too many Malayan snails, it means you are overfeeding and not keeping the tank clean. Most other snails are in the middle: they'll eat sick plants but tend to ignore healthy ones. This varies depending on the plant, with some plants being more "tasty" to snails than others.
Aquarists love to blame snails for problems instead of accepting that snails are a symptom of the problem, not the cause of it.
Cheers,
Neale
Underwurlde
Always look on the bright side of life..
Snail Identification:
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=75554
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=75554atmmachine816
Fish Gatherer
besides most puffers will rip his guppies to shreds or need a larger tank. Another easier way to do it if you have two tanks up is transfer all fish to tank with no snails, drain all water from tank and let everything sit out for two days drying everything out killing the snails, then put everything back in, take some filter media from other tank and put it in this tank let run for a day or two put fish back in and no snails.
Also when buying plants put plants in a bleach bath, 19:1 ration, water=19 bleach=1. Soak plants in it for 30 seconds then rinse well with water then plant. Don't bleach anarchis, as it will die. There's another plant that can't tolerate bleach but can't remember.
just make sure your only killing the pest snails
Austin
Also when buying plants put plants in a bleach bath, 19:1 ration, water=19 bleach=1. Soak plants in it for 30 seconds then rinse well with water then plant. Don't bleach anarchis, as it will die. There's another plant that can't tolerate bleach but can't remember.
just make sure your only killing the pest snails
Austin
OP
OP
PoPoV
Fish Crazy
Im shure a puffer would rather eat my breeders or their fry than snails. Im thinking of putting a loach in my big tank and transfering him back and fourth to my breeding tank with the snail problem. would this be stressfull to the loach? And also could a loach live a stressfree life in a tank with dwarf pike cichlids? Or would he get clobered? And Nmonks you are very right. I think thats a main reason the snails are flurishing in this tank is becouse I have 11 fry wich i feed about 6-8 times a day. Though I clean the remaining food out after feeding them its kinda hard to get it all since the flake is ground to powder. Im going to go through the tank and clean em out again today since im do for a water change today.
OP
OP
PoPoV
Fish Crazy
Snail Identification:
http
I think they are pouch snails, physidae. As far as i can tell
civicr
Fish Crazy
i also have a snail take over bid in my tank but today i got my self a few clown loaches aswell and i hope they will do the job of wiping them out for me!!!
Underwurlde
Always look on the bright side of life..
@PoPoV: Ah, exactly the same ones my tank is infested with. 
@atmmachine: I honestly don't think your methods are good enough (IF you have two tanks as you say then this will help IMMENSELY like you say), a 2 day 'dry out' won't be good enough.
Also, bleaching plants using that manner won't do much either IMHO. I have written a thread here:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=167686
that deals with FULLY sterilizing plants.
Andy
@atmmachine: I honestly don't think your methods are good enough (IF you have two tanks as you say then this will help IMMENSELY like you say), a 2 day 'dry out' won't be good enough.
Also, bleaching plants using that manner won't do much either IMHO. I have written a thread here:
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=167686that deals with FULLY sterilizing plants.
Andy
puddle_inc
Fishaholic
you can get puffers or if you would like you could send them to me, i'll pay shipping if i need to. i gladly take unwanted snails 
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
My fry-rearing tank is just as bad! So I speak from experience! This is one good reason to rear your baby fish in their own aquarium. This way, you can feed the babies as much as you want, without worrying about the snails. Excess snails can be crushed and fed to your adult fish, or fed whole to those that like them that way. So you kill two birds with one stone: live food for the big fish, and a safe haven for your baby fish.
Some folk like to keep their baby fish aquarium empty of sand or gravel, so they can siphone out uneaten food at once. The advantage there is the better water quality and the lower risk of disease (less decaying material = less fungus and bacteria).
Cheers,
Neale
Some folk like to keep their baby fish aquarium empty of sand or gravel, so they can siphone out uneaten food at once. The advantage there is the better water quality and the lower risk of disease (less decaying material = less fungus and bacteria).
Cheers,
Neale
OP
OP
PoPoV
Fish Crazy
you can get puffers or if you would like you could send them to me, i'll pay shipping if i need to. i gladly take unwanted snails
Lmao!!
Ill send you all the Snails you want brotha. I counted the ones i pulled out and crushed today. It was 27 lil buggers.-PopoV
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