Snails!

[Etrigan]

I seem to have a population of little snails - most have the corkscrew type shell on them. They are tiny and as small as a piece of gravel. I know that having a couple of snails can be a good thing as they are always eating algae and other bits of leftover food and debris.

1 - Are these a problem to my aquarium and fish?

2 - How do I get rid of them without destroying anything else in the environment?

 

[Katty]

Snails aren't a problem aside from most people not liking the look of them. I personally think they're cute, so to me they aren't a problem. If you think they look nasty though, then they are a problem to you. They can, however, indicate if something is wrong. If you have way too many snails there is probably too much food or waste/plant debris left in the tank that needs to be cleaned up. And snails themselves are also producing waste, which adds strain on the filtration.

It's pretty hard to totally get rid of snails. But you can shrink the population of snails down so you don't notice them as much. The easiest way is to manually remove them. When you see them on the glass or near the surface of the water you can pick them up or scoop them out with a spoon.

Another method is to "bait" the snails by putting a piece of vegetable in the tank after lights out and wait a couple of hours. The snails should start eating the veggie, which you can then remove the whole thing with the snails.

A good way to keep snails to a minimum though is keep up on thorough tank cleaning and gravel vacuuming and make sure there's no leftover bits for the snails to munch on.

You can also buy assassin snails or fish that eat snails, but I don't have experience with how effective those are. Maybe someone else can comment with info on snail-eating critters if you're into that route.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with Katty. Note that if you manually remove them and put them whole into the indoor trash they may crawl out in to your house. They can make good live fish food if crushed but be careful not to cut your thumb.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Katty]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention when I throw them away I coat them in table salt so they "melt" first. Then I chuck em in the trash. I was more worried about them escaping into the local rivers than crawling around the house though I didn't know they would do that.

 

[waterdrop]

Yup, I've had big ones march through several rooms.

 

[Etrigan]

Thanks for the info!

 

[bugsy66]

Hey there, snails hey. They are nasty looking critters in my opinion. I have been plagued by these guys for the past couple of years. I don't have the kind that you do, I have the ones that are the more rounded shell and stay ontop of the sand, glass etc.

Things I have tried and what works for me.

The medication you can get to kill snails, do not use this at all, you will have dead fish more than dead snails.

Assassin snails, I did not find them to be of any help at all. Waste of time and money.

Sinking a piece of cucumber, lettuce etc over night works and you get quite a few of them.

The best, Clown Loaches. These guys go to work like mad. I have only a few remaining int he tank but let me tell you something, unless you completely shutdown your tank and let it sit for a very long time you will never completely get rid of them. They hid in the the filter, oranments, wood etc. So control is about what you are aiming for at this poing.

Cutting back on food as suggested works great, basically starving them out of the tank is what you want to do. But I swear by the loach myself.

I had a Yo-Yo Loach and be warned, they get very snasty and aggressive towards the other fish in the tank.

Many say that loaches do best in schools, I have to differ, I have one clown loach and he is growing and doing very well with the job he was bought for. They are a much nicer loach and very pretty addition to the tank too. They can get to quite a size also.

This is what has worked for me.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, clown loaches can indeed get to quite a size (7 to 10 inches in length and big all around is quite large in my world!) I saw one bigger than 7 inches just the other day in a shop I don't normally go to.

I completely agree that with snails its best to consider it to be an ongoing maintenance task. Their eggs will usually outwit you, lol. One good suggestion we've used here in the beginners section about the use of veggies is to put them on top of a tea saucer overnight so that when you carefully and slowly raise it out the next day the snails will be caught when they try their famous "dropping off" trick on you (amazing how they can drop off, get caught in a current and end up somewhere you can't see or get to them!)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[seffieuk]

Assassin snails are fantastic, they are doing a great job on my granddaughters tank and its only been a week or so

Seffie x

 

[Etrigan]

I've heard of the vegetable trick before. Think I'll try that soon.

Will also be a little more diligent about keeping the gravel more thoroughly vacuum and cleaned up.

They don't really bother me that much but I don't want my tank overrun by these things. Just want to
keep them under control.

I do appreciate everyone's input and suggestions... Thank you!