Snails

[PSUalum]

I'm currently doing a fishless cycle on my 10 gallon tank. I have 3 Amazons swords from a LFS and 2 Anubias 'snail-free' from PetSmart via TopFin brand. I washed off the roots in hot water but didn't read about rinsing them in hot salt water until about 12 hours after planting them.

I found a few snails in the first week, maybe 5, checking the plants right as I turn on the lights and I even tried the Lettuce Trick that yielded no snails so I assumed I had gotten most of them. Well I haven't, today I found about 7 TINY snails in my tank. I want to get rid of these things before my fish are added to the tank.

I want to avoid getting an Assassin Snail. I've read that adding a small amount of salt can kill them off but the salt can be harmful to certain fish and I have a Cory Cat in another tank that I planned on adding once the tank is cycled. If salt is solution to the problem could I reduce the salinity after all the snails are dead by doing weekly water changes?

Thanks in advance for the help!

I'm currently doing a fishless cycle on my 10 gallon tank. I have 3 Amazons swords from a LFS and 2 Anubias 'snail-free' from PetSmart via TopFin brand. I washed off the roots in hot water but didn't read about rinsing them in hot salt water until about 12 hours after planting them.

I found a few snails in the first week, maybe 5, checking the plants right as I turn on the lights and I even tried the Lettuce Trick that yielded no snails so I assumed I had gotten most of them. Well I haven't, today I found about 7 TINY snails in my tank. I want to get rid of these things before my fish are added to the tank.

I want to avoid getting an Assassin Snail. I've read that adding a small amount of salt can kill them off but the salt can be harmful to certain fish and I have a Cory Cat in another tank that I planned on adding once the tank is cycled. If salt is solution to the problem could I reduce the salinity after all the snails are dead by doing weekly water changes?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[fishlove75]

If you are fishless cycling your tank the high amounts of ammonia that you are adding should kill them off. I know that sounds horrible, but it should do the trick. If you are planning a fish-in cycle then you can go ahead and add some salt to the water now, before the fish are in, then do 1 or 2 large water changes, like 90% or so, to make sure you got the salt out before adding the fish. Salt in small doses is usually only a problem with fish that have no scales (at least that was my understanding). Now your cory will be effected, but if you do sufficient water changes before adding the cory it should be ok.

Good luck.

 

[PSUalum]

If you are fishless cycling your tank the high amounts of ammonia that you are adding should kill them off. I know that sounds horrible, but it should do the trick. If you are planning a fish-in cycle then you can go ahead and add some salt to the water now, before the fish are in, then do 1 or 2 large water changes, like 90% or so, to make sure you got the salt out before adding the fish. Salt in small doses is usually only a problem with fish that have no scales (at least that was my understanding). Now your cory will be effected, but if you do sufficient water changes before adding the cory it should be ok.

Good luck.

Thanks, I'm doing a fishless cycle now and think I'm just hitting my first ammonia drop (4ppm to about 2 ppm). So you're saying that the re-dosing of ammonia over the cycling process will kill them because they seem to be doing ok with the 4ppm that has been in there for the past week?

 

[saltynay]

Firstly id here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/75554-snail-species/

Actually pond, pouch or tadpole snails that these probably are can live in the dankest stagnant pools quite happily so ammonia spikes won't bother them much. The most effective way to kill them would be to add a source of copper to the tank like many ich medications contain. Have you actually thought of the benefits of having a snail population?

 

[fishlove75]

i am not saying it will for sure, but I purchased a used tank that had a snail problem. Even though i removed everything cleaned the tank really really well, they were still there, however by the time I finished my cycle they were gone. I think it was after the 3rd or maybe 4th dose of ammonia that finially finished them off. Everytime i dosed the tank with in an hour or two I would find three or four dead snails.

Snails are really really hardy, and can live in pretty retched water conditions, all I am saying is the cycling process seemed to take care of my snail infestation (had aboout 50 or 60 little mystery snails in total).

 

[saltynay]

They were possibly Ramshorns or MTS/DTS which are more sensitive to ammonia but still very resistant. Why do you not want snails they are fascinating, beautiful and fill a niche in the biosphere of your tank making a more natural and well rounded environment.

BTW don't know who is spreading the lettuce trick but lettuce always yields low results courgette is the preferred food to use to remove snails and to give your fish a vitamin boost.

 

[fishlove75]

Oh no don't get me wrong, I wanted snails just not an over infestation. I really have no idea what type of snails they were I was told they came in on plants and the person i purchased the tank described them as "pest snail". There was probably at least 60 of them at first, I pick a bunch out and brought them to my LFS they took them but were unable to definitively id them for me. But even after I picked out at least 60 there was still tons more, I tried to pick them out when i saw them i didn't necessarily want to kill them, I just didn't want a tank full of snails. I currently have olive nerite snails and I love them. They are awesome little creatures, and what is even better they don't breed in fresh water, so no chances of another population explosion.

 

[saltynay]

The population explosion happens because you are incorrectly feeding your aquatic life thus providing a bountiful amount of food and the snail population rapidly increases. When food is scarce the snails breed less frequently and the levels of food keep the population to a sustainable and low level.

 

[fishlove75]

I realize that. I had purchased the tank used, the snails were already in the tank and the substrate, plants, decor that I also purchased used with the tank. I had not put the tank into use it came that way.

Sorry PSUalum didn't mean to hijack your post, back to your orgional question. If you are wanting to get rid of the snails and or get the population under control, some snails may die off during the cycling process, some may not. Just pick them out as you see them (dead or alive). If you get live ones out of the tank you can try to bring them to your LFS they may take them off your hands, or you may be able to find someone who will want them. If the population is still out of control after the cycling process, or you just want them completly out of your tank, try using the salt, as said before, just make sure you do enough water changes to remove the salt before adding your cory.

best of luck to you.

edit - Just another thought, you could also try a copper based product. Copper based products do not generally effect fish but do harm snails. However I think cories are sensitive to copper products. So if you go copper route, after the snails are gone, do water changes and run carbon in your filter for a couple of weeks before adding your cory. The carbon will filter out any copper the water change did not catch (can't filter out salt, only water changes will get rid of salt)

 

[Aqua Tom]

Leave em be. You are fishless cycling so you will probably thin the population drasticly when you do the 100% water change at the end of the cycle.