Snail Problem

I am new around here and dont really know where to ask this question. I have several tanks and most of them have live plants in them but i have noticed my breeder tanks that have nothing in them but fish and some caves are also starting to have Snails somehow tranfering by themselves. I would like to know how to rid all my tanks including the ones with live plants in them of all the snails without killing everything or having to strip my tanks?

snails are a pain. The snails get moved around by using the same nets and equipment. there are several ways to get rid of them.

The best method is to get a loach of some description. they will smash down most of the snails and their eggs. Clown or pakistani loaches work best tho all the loaches will eat them.

I have heard of using Dwarf Gouromis also but every time I get them they are either hit or miss or they over eat themselves and die.

i had a lot of luck with using a clown loach, you can never really get rid of them all but the loach will certainly help control the population

As previously said, loaches are good for snail control, I use zebra loaches myself, as they stay quite small.

Only thing to watch out for with all the loaches, is that they will snack on any escaped wrigglers and small fry if they get the chance.

Other option that I like is Assassin snails. They do a god job anddon't hurt your young.



Jon

Thanks Jon I think I might have to look into the assasin snails because of the fact all my tanks have little ones in them at any given time. but you say snails eat snails? lol

Assassin snails do exactly as it says on the tin, they assassinate. Excellent pest snail remover and algae cleaner.

jcvdjj wrote:

I think I might have to look into the assasin snails because of the fact all my tanks have little ones in them at any given time. but you say snails eat snails? lol

Exactly that the Assasin snails eat the other snails. And then when they breed you can sell them back to your LFS....



Jon

I somehow ended up with an infestation of snails in my tank. Fortunately, I also ended up with snail-eating leeches, which disgusted me at first, but seemed to do the trick...

Willow Midnight wrote:

I somehow ended up with an infestation of snails in my tank. Fortunately, I also ended up with snail-eating leeches, which disgusted me at first, but seemed to do the trick...

Snails can come in through plants from your LFS. Really hard to get the little invisible eggs from them, unless you want to use chemicals. But that should just be a last ditch effort as it all contains copper or some other nasty chemical that could harm your fish, especially your fry.
Marty

best way to avoid future snails is to QT your plants before you put them in your tank. I use a 5g tank with just an air stone and add snail kill to it for about a week. Then rinse well and add to tank. But Assassins work very well at keeping pet snails under control.

mpfsr wrote:

best way to avoid future snails is to QT your plants before you put them in your tank. I use a 5g tank with just an air stone and add snail kill to it for about a week. Then rinse well and add to tank. But Assassins work very well at keeping pet snails under control.

I agree about the Assassin snails, they are the best soloution to most snail problems that you will find in your tank.
Marty

Hi,

assasin snails or most botia loaches especially a group of striata's will clear up snail problems easily.

Chris

L-666 wrote:

Hi,

assasin snails or most botia loaches especially a group of striata's will clear up snail problems easily.

Chris

Definetly those work best. But try not to use both at the same time. Otherwise your loaches will eat your assasin snails.
Could get expensive.
Marty

will the clown loaches go after pleco eggs?

100% yes

Chad.C wrote:

will the clown loaches go after pleco eggs?

Yes they will.
Marty

aw damn! okay, one more question:will assassin snails harm plants?

Chad.C wrote:

aw damn! okay, one more question:will assassin snails harm plants?

No; they will leave all plants alone. They are carnivores and feed on snails and the odd left over food.
Marty

okay,cool,thanks a bunch for the help

Chad.C wrote:

okay,cool,thanks a bunch for the help

No worries !!!!
Have fun with the Assassin snails and let us know how they go.
Marty

its like the other snails know theres assassin's in the tank with them,because all of a sudden the nuisance snails are out of their dark spots and hiding places its kinda funny,already seen some empty shells

Chad.C wrote:

its like the other snails know theres assassin's in the tank with them,because all of a sudden the nuisance snails are out of their dark spots and hiding places its kinda funny,already seen some empty shells

"Don't you love it when a plan comes together"
Marty

i had a problem with trumpet snail in my breeding tank assasin snails got them under control only ever see small ones now even got some im gonna sell back to fish shop

TheJediCouncil wrote:

i had a problem with trumpet snail in my breeding tank assasin snails got them under control only ever see small ones now even got some im gonna sell back to fish shop

Wow, well done apparently they are not to easy to breed. Apparently they need optimal conditions in order to do so.
Marty