Snails?

[connor_09]

Hi guys, hoping somebody can give me some advice of a mass outbreak of snails in my tank?! Past couple of weeks I have been noticing more and more snails in my tank they aren't very big I think the largest I've seen is about 5mm but never the less they are everywhere I have tried syphoning them out but obviously can't seem to get rid of all of them and they keep breeding and more and more keep appearing I decided today to give up and let a fish do the job for me, so does anybody know of a fish that would happily take the pleasure of gobbling up the snails for me? I have a small 54L tank so nothing on the large side would be great. Very grateful for any advice!

 

[nork]

What type of fish do you have in your tank already?

Have you recently added any live plants or borrowed decor/sustrate/etc from another tank? It's possible this is how the snails were introduced to your aquarium. Of course removing any of this decor at this point might be too late considering these things are like the rabbits of the sea.

 

[connor_09]

I have a small bristle nose, 6 ember tetra, one corydoras and 15 odd cherry shrimp that are also breeding like mad, yeah like you say they appeared after I put an plant in.

 

[Gilli]

You only get an overload of snails if you are overfeeding your fish, so cut down on the feeding. Feed once a day and only as much as they will eat in a few minutes. Feed a little at a time and as soon as they start to lose interest stop!.

You can use meds to get rid of them but its not really advisable, and there are not any community fish that will eat them without you squishing them first. Best thing to do is fish them out - even the small ones, squish them and feed them to your fish - they love them and its a free protien shot for them and free fish food for you!

 

[adammichael]

clown loaches will eat em, I had some in my new tank bought 2 clown loaches the other day not seen any snails since

 

[nessar]

It might not be down to overfeeding. Im cycling my tank and there are at the moment more than 20 snails that just appeared in the last couple of weeks, and I havent put any food in there.

any sort of puffer will too, but they will also go after your shrimp so you would have to relocate them.

 

[loachman]

clown loaches will eat em, I had some in my new tank bought 2 clown loaches the other day not seen any snails since

Clowns are too big for his tank. Pretty much any snail eater will also eat shrimp (including loaches), so I would definitely not advise a fish to deal with his snail issues. Chemicals to kill them will also eliminate the shrimp.

Manual removal and less feeding are your only real options.

 

[Gilli]

A clown loach will grow from between 11 to 14 inches and cant be in a tank less than 75 gallons. Also you cannot keep puffer fish in a tank of mixed fish - most Puffer species have a nasty temperament. They can be fin nippers and killers. Even those who have previously been in a community tank can become aggressive when they are older.

Everyone gets snails in their tank at some time - they come in on plants. Its only if you overfeed your fish they will start to breed like rabbits and become a pest.

Best thing to do in future if you dont want snails is soak all new plants in a snail killer med then rinse thoroughly before you put them in the tank. Your only option now if you dont want them is to squish them as ive told you above.

 

[GuppyGoddess]

clown loaches will eat em, I had some in my new tank bought 2 clown loaches the other day not seen any snails since

What size tank do you have for your clown loaches?

 

[kiriyama]

I have heard weighing down a piece of lettuce in the evening then removing it in the morning with the snails on
Manual removal can be laborious though, also squshing them , , , bloody messy pests

 

[betta fish]

There are also snail eating snails assassin snails although they might defeat the object! don't think they breed so readily though and are expensive to buy so you could always sell em

 

[connor_09]

Thanks everybody i love my shrimp so i suppose ill have to try and do it manually during my water changes!

 

[waterdrop]

I have heard weighing down a piece of lettuce in the evening then removing it in the morning with the snails on
Manual removal can be laborious though, also squshing them , , , bloody messy pests

Yes, this is correct. When you get a snail problem like you are describing you need to take a "maintenance" approach of doing all the different things you can on an ongoing basis. Feed less, crush snails for your fish to eat as often as you can, but definately try the plate approach: sink lettuce (or try various other veggies that are non-messy, like cucumber) weighted down on top of a tea saucer. In the morning there will hopefully be quite a few snails on the vegatable and you can lift the plate up slowly such that most of them fall on the plate and not back into the tank. Be sure to dump these in the woods or outdoor trash. If you put them in your indoor trash they may crawl out into your house. Fish that eat snails can also be tried but of course you need to think whether these work with your tank size and stocking plans.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[zophie]

Hey connor,
I had the exact same problem- what I did, is I took a peice of cucumber, put it in the tank, then waited 24 hours. The next day, it was covered in snails.
I did this 3 more times, and I have not seen them since *zophie slaps hand on wood*

Zo

 

[tinytayor]

Hi guys, hoping somebody can give me some advice of a mass outbreak of snails in my tank?! Past couple of weeks I have been noticing more and more snails in my tank they aren't very big I think the largest I've seen is about 5mm but never the less they are everywhere I have tried syphoning them out but obviously can't seem to get rid of all of them and they keep breeding and more and more keep appearing I decided today to give up and let a fish do the job for me, so does anybody know of a fish that would happily take the pleasure of gobbling up the snails for me? I have a small 54L tank so nothing on the large side would be great. Very grateful for any advice!

green spotted puffer fish. i wanted to get one becuz theyre so cute but i saw online that they eat snails to keep their teeth short and i have a snail that i want so i didnt get it