Unwanted

[Barry P]

Hi, i recently helped set up a large tank for a friend, we bought all the fish from the same shop and no issues up until recently, there are approx 100-150 small snail like creatures in the tank (possibly snails hehe), on the glass, on the plastic plants, on the filter and when i looked closely they take up most of the gravel on the bottom ....there are way too many to take them out by hand, can anyone advise on the best way to resolve this ....Whether it be a poison or a fish that will eat the snails, thanks.

 

[evilchild]

puffer fish will eat them so will many of the laoches. but that is a lot of snails! where did you get the gravel from? and was it was through?

 

[Barry P]

Would any loach suffice.? Like a few Clown Loaches...?

 

[dragons_shadow]

Hi, i recently helped set up a large tank for a friend, we bought all the fish from the same shop and no issues up until recently, there are approx 100-150 small snail like creatures in the tank (possibly snails hehe), on the glass, on the plastic plants, on the filter and when i looked closely they take up most of the gravel on the bottom ....there are way too many to take them out by hand, can anyone advise on the best way to resolve this ....Whether it be a poison or a fish that will eat the snails, thanks.

hi barry

i to have this prob in my tank though not as menny as your geting
try reading though the post i started about this prob it might help ya

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Barry P

How large is the tank?

 

[Barry P]

Hi, as i said, its not actually my tank, its a friend of a friends and i help set it up, im guessing its 240 gallon!!!!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Barry P

That's a big tank, alright! I can understand why you wouldn't want to try to pick them out by hand.

Your friend is lucky if he doesn't have too many fish, because that tank would be nice to keep a few Clown Loaches in. It's a fish that, because of its size, not many people can accommodate properly. I think they might need to be kept in a small group too. Why not ask for more specific information here:

http/www.fishforums.net/category/29/Cypr...and-Atherinids/

One thing he should avoid doing is using any product to poison the snails. They will still need to be picked out, and any that are left will pollute the water.

 

[Barry P]

Its practically an empty tank with a handfull of guppies (dont ask!!!) and a few Blue Gouramis, so i have suggested that he buy a large shoal of Clowns, im lucking froward to organising this for him, so do you reckon the loaches will eat the snails live or should i crush them first.? bare in mind that there are a lot of them!!!!

 

[evilchild]

Its practically an empty tank with a handfull of guppies (dont ask!!!) and a few Blue Gouramis, so i have suggested that he buy a large shoal of Clowns, im lucking froward to organising this for him, so do you reckon the loaches will eat the snails live or should i crush them first.? bare in mind that there are a lot of them!!!!

Just let them do there job, i think i'm right by saying they will eat shell and all?

 

[Meds081603]

IME yes they eat shell and all.

 

[fall-apart-dave]

I had a HUGE snail problem in my 80 litre tank, a carpet of the little buggers! I borrowed three young clown loaches (each less than 2 inches) for 2 months from a friend of mine and I am happy to say that within two weeks, every single snail was gone and the clowns were actively digging the substrate looking for more. Then they ate my large apple snails. And now I can't get them out of my tank because there are too many hiding places (planted tank with LOTS of rocks etc in the bottom) so I will wait until they grown too big to hide and then net them.

I would say that clown loaches are DEFINATELY the most efficient none-chemical solution to your problem. I have heard that they like to be in groups of 5 or more, though they also seem to shoal with tiger barbs (guessing because they look similar), but if you put a few of them in there they will go on a "seek and destroy" mission and you will soon be free of snails!