Snails

[willroo]

Hello everyone I seem to have an increasing problem with snails.

Is there anything I can add to the water or do I just have to pick them out?


Will

 

[Chris_qld]

Regular (weekly) gravel cleans will help, as well as magnetic glass cleaners, which will scrub the eggs from the glass. This will keep them under control. I believe a few snails are beneficial to a tank.

 

[jennybugs]

Before lights out, weight down a piece of thick cucumber. In the morning you'll be amazed at how many of the blighters you find Repeat as necessary. Failing that, pick them out as soon as you see them. I harvest mine each evening and give them to my dwarf puffers

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Before lights out, weight down a piece of thick cucumber. In the morning you'll be amazed at how many of the blighters you find Repeat as necessary. Failing that, pick them out as soon as you see them. I harvest mine each evening and give them to my dwarf puffers

Yep probably the best method. My tank is infested with them but I actually quite like them. They clean up any waste food and dead bits of plants.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi willroo

An increase in the snail population is usually related to an increase in the amount of food available to them. This means you are overfeeding your fish. If you feed less, the breeding will stop, or at least slow down, and once you've picked the surplus snails out, you can maintain a small population for cleaning purposes.

I like the little red ramshorns and keep them in most of my tanks.

 

[iSnail]

Hi willroo

An increase in the snail population is usually related to an increase in the amount of food available to them. This means you are overfeeding your fish. If you feed less, the breeding will stop, or at least slow down, and once you've picked the surplus snails out, you can maintain a small population for cleaning purposes.

I like the little red ramshorns and keep them in most of my tanks.

I second that

 

[jennybugs]

Interesting note on the overfeeding there. I've just cut back on the amount I feed my main community as I noticed the snails were picking up.

I have 3 apple snails and 2 spixi apple snails in my community tank and they are a great clean up crew. My trouble is with miniature ramshorn pests. I've yet to see if the reduced feeding helps, but will look on with interest

I used to have a few red ramshorns scattered about my tanks, but all 3 of them died within a month of each other, whereas the apple snails and nerites I have are thriving really well

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Over feeding will certainly help to increase the snail population but I have found even in tanks that had no food going into them for weeks snails still rapidly multiply so it is not always a sign of overfeeding.

There are some things you can put in to kill snails but they are qite nasty and I really wouldn't recommend them.

What size tank is it and what other fish do you have? Most loaches make very short work of snails so if you have the space and dont have issues with compatability then 3 yo-yo loaches would be a good addition.

 

[Inchworm]

There are some things you can put in to kill snails but they are qite nasty and I really wouldn't recommend them.

Absolutely not! If you have a lot of them and kill them all at once, you will end up having a lot of rotting meat in your tank, polluting your water.

Over feeding will certainly help to increase the snail population but I have found even in tanks that had no food going into them for weeks snails still rapidly multiply so it is not always a sign of overfeeding.

I'm not sure about this, but it could be that, having eaten well and gotten their bodies geared up to produce eggs, it might take some time for them to respond to the lack of plentiful food by ceasing to lay them.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Possibly. Wouldnt explain it though when the tank is new and there was no food at all put into the system. My planted tank was sitting for over a month before any fish (and food) went in and there was a massive explosion in snails during this time. However the dying plants leaves and stuff might be providing mor ethen enough food so this might not count?

 

[Inchworm]

However the dying plants leaves and stuff might be providing mor ethen enough food so this might not count?

I think they were probably feasting on that.

 

[iSnail]

Don't forget they also feed on brown algae (diatoms) which is in abundance in a new tank

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Don't forget they also feed on brown algae (diatoms) which is in abundance in a new tank

Thats right! I never even thought of that.

 

[goosej13]

SOME THINGS THAT IV HEARD
get some chiclids and when they get big enough they will eat them... ... great lil fish but my tank has other fish that won't and I can't put chichlids in it...

Get some algie killer and put that in your tank.. the kid that has the white chunks.. and when the snails eat that they die...

one sure fire way.....IF YOU DO IT RIGHT

Take your tank and empty all the fish out into a temp tank... also take out all of the plants and really clean them all off.... make sure there are NO snails at all one snail could really screw u over on this so make sure you clean them all off really really good... then put the plants into a bucket with some cucumbers in the bottom... and let the remaining IF ANY go down to the bottom onto the cucumbers... as soon as u see one on there kill it or get it out... Take your tank... empty all the gravel out and put i all out on a cookie sheet or something... and let it dry right out... either put it in the oven and cook the lil bastards on there.. OR take a hair dryer and dry them all out that way... then clean the tank out... make sure there are no snails at all on the inside of the tank.. This whole process will take like 2 days so that the snails can dry out and die...

 

[Inchworm]

Don't forget they also feed on brown algae (diatoms) which is in abundance in a new tank

Thats right! I never even thought of that.

Hummm......I didn't think of it either.

But I did remember another trick for getting rid of them. If you like apple snails, add one to your tank. They are quite a bit larger than the pesty snails, and will eat all of their eggs. This will stop their reproduction and will only leave you with the problem of picking out the ones you already have, not having to deal with an ever increasing population of them.