Stupid Question But I Have To Ask...

[Tangerinefizz]

This is what I feel to be a stupid question but I don't want to cause my fish anymore distress then I have to.

I have a 35g tank that right now, is absolutely infested with snails. I've been fighting a losing battle with handpicking them out, squishing them, etc. I even tried some of that Snail b gone crap which was basically copper drops in a bottle. (I know, I know bad, I got rid of it shortly thereafter)

Anyways, tomorrow I want to nuke my tank. I am hoping that this is feasible to do. I plan on taking the fish out, putting them into a clean tupperware box (it's huge!) with their water and then taking everything out of the tank and either scrubbing it, or boiling it.

I can't take the snails any longer. I just removed 22 of them from the side of the glass this morning, and have removed another 19 this evening. There's still more in there. I used to have gorgeous amazon sword plants, 5 of them, that are now absolute crap cause the snails have eaten them. Yes, the snails ate them. There are soooo many snails that I can actually follow the paths they take as they munch on my swords.

I want to take the fish out, nuke the tank, put the fish and rocks back in and start a plant tank in the opposite corner of my room. Once the plants are established there, I will move the fish over.

I just can't take the snails any longer. I would try some skunk botia but my tank is already at or over capacity. I don't want to push it.

Any advice? I'm assuming someone out there has done this already? or maybe has a better tip for me?

 

[SarahBravo]

You may find that you have been overfeeding - my snail population varies according to how much I feed the fish. If I notice lots of snails about I cut down.

Apparently you can disinfect existing and new plants by rinsing them in a 1:19 solution of bleach and water for a couple of minutes, and then rinsing them in water with extra dechlorinator added (apparently dechlor neutralises bleach). Are you gonna take all the gravel out and sterilise it too? Wow, don't envy you. But these things have to be done. I'm pretty lucky, mostly my snails are MTSs, and they just disappear when I cut down on feeding (I think they eat each other ).

Remember to check your filter - I ended up with a bucket full of baby MTSs last time I cleaned my filter out - they seemed to have been sucked in and were living there quite happily!

Good luck!

 

[Betta*b*Happy!]

You'll need to nuke your rocks and gravel too.

Eggs y'see.

If your plants aren't up to much, get rid. Cause you'll always miss one of the babies in the roots or buds.

Hard going to get rid of snails, as SB says, cut down on feeding. It won't harm your fish, it may even do them good and will keep the water nice and healthy for longer!

 

[kat and james]

you'll have to be carefull when you do a thorough clean, as you don't want the tank to begin another cycle.. then you'll have EVEN MORE problems!! when you wash the gravel do it in tank water, same goes for the filter.. try to keep as much of the tank water as pos!

you could always trade some fish with your lfs (if they'll let you) and get some loaches.. these will really help with your snail problem! we don't have any snails at all anymore (kinda sad about that though )

good luck

 

[rdd1952]

I had to look twice to make sure I didn't start this thread. I just went through the same problem with trumpet snails. I finally decided the only way to fix the problem was to change the sand since it was full of them. Here is a thread I did on Saturday after I finished. I am happy to say that all fish and shrimp are still happy and healthy. Just make sure your filters stay wet (keep them running in the temporary "tank" if possible) and move the heater over if possible too. I only saved about 10 gallon of the old tank water which turned out to not be a problem but I would suggest saving 2/3 of if possible, just so you don't have a big pH swing after you refill it. That would make it the equivalent of a 33% water change. If these are the trumpet snails, you will probably have to change sand too or you won't get rid of them. Good luck.

 

[nino]

i have a piece of driftwood with anubias growing on it that i wanted to put in my new sorority tank. the only problem was that it had snails on it. i checked the leaves for eggs and wiped them off. then i dropped the log/plants into a bucked of unchlorinated water, left it out overnight. the next day, the snails had dropped to the bottom of the bucket and seemed to be dead. i don't know if it was from the cold water or from leaving the chlorine in the water.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Tangerinefizz

When the snail population gets to a certain point the only thing left to do is empty the tank and start over again. It does sound like you have reached that point and once the job is over with, you'll be happy that you did it.

Once you have finished you will want to keep it snail free so plan to feed your fish less, or at least smaller portions given more frequently. Snails will increase according to the amount of food available and is a sure sign that your fish have been leaving leftovers.

Dangerous, infection causing bacteria also feed on leftover food, so if you want something positive to think about while you are doing all the work, just think about how much worse off your fish might have been if the snails weren't there to consume it.