Snails

[stanster]

Have started cycling the tank, all seem to be going to plans (the newbie guidelines are a great help

Seems to be a bit of a snail epidemic, guess I didn't rinse off the plants thoroughly enough

Is there anything I can do ?

I'm picking out as many as I can each night.

Guess I'll have to think about a snail eating fish or 2 sooner rather than later

 

[panda_cory]

You can get treatment put that just knocks them out so they float to the top and it is easy for them to still be in there under ornaments, plants, ect.
You could buy assassin snails they will not reproduce on there own so if you dont want to risk them reproducing you could get 1.
Zebra loaches and clown loaches will eat snails but this depends on the size of your tank and they like to be in groups.

 

[RyanV]

Put in a piece of lettuce over night, most of them will attach to it, than remove it.

 

[panda_cory]

^^^^ This should work as well, and you can use cucumber.

 

[stanster]

I'll try this.

What sort of group size do loaches prefer ?

I'd sort of had the idea of a small group of Corys rather than loaches, for the tank, tbh.

 

[Tuxyu3]

What size is the tank?

 

[stanster]

What size is the tank?

The tank is a Askoll pure large (56 W x 44 H x 36 D)

94L.

 

[panda_cory]

Here is some information on the zebra loaches for you:
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/botia-striata/
http/www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-striata

 

[stanster]

Think loaches might be too big for my tank, especially with a group of 5 or more

Just put a lump of cucumber in, its floated though, do I need to weigh it down ?

Can't see any snails on the leaves this morning either, do they hide or bury themselves ?

 

[Baccus]

You can weigh the cucumber down with a fork, or use a carrot cut length ways, I find carrot works a treat because not only does it sink but it doesn't foul the water and go soft and mushy as quickly as cucumber.

If the snails are Rams Horn, pond or bladder snails then they will hang out on the glass, plants, gravel practically every where, but if the snails are MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails) then they will mostly remain hidden and only come out when they smell food.

A nice group of possible loaches are Dwarf Chain Loaches they stay much smaller than Pakastani (Yo-Yo) loaches but can be just as good at eating snails. Another option depending on the type of fish you end up with are some Macrobachium species of shrimp, some of these are leathal to snails but be warned they can and will also grab fish.

 

[Sharpy1987]

I'd personally choose the Assassin snail route. I have them myself. They have nice shells and do the job perfectly

 

[Baccus]

Assassin snails are fine if they are available to you, but not every country allows these snails into the country.

 

[stanster]

You can weigh the cucumber down with a fork, or use a carrot cut length ways, I find carrot works a treat because not only does it sink but it doesn't foul the water and go soft and mushy as quickly as cucumber.

Tried a carrot last night, didn't seem to attract a single snail !

 

[toshapetriji]

I think the carrot was to weigh down the lettuce to be honest.

 

[Pang]

Snails are usually lighter than gravel so I usually get a nice handful of mts removed whilst i'm gravel vacuming. You're usually left with a small pile of them where you finish vacuming. Assasin snails are great but don't get a pair as their eggs are pretty unsightly if they breed.