how can i get rid of snails

We have a tank at school, I guess it must be about 50 - 70 litre capacity. All it has in it are one molly and about 100 ramshorn snails, so I was aware of the potential problem. I was happy with my apples, but daughter has latched onto the fact that I'm not sure about this new snail, so it has now become her favourite pet in the house, and she wants a whole new tank set up just to house the thing :roll:

It laid eggs last night but thankfully someone seems to have cleaned them off the glass this morning.

I'll err on the side of caution with the loaches for now, esp as some of my bn babies are still quite small. They all look like females at the moment, so that might be the end of my breeding era. Besides, what with them and the snails and the shrimps there's not much floorspace left, so I wouldn't want anything else living at that level at the moment, it would be too crowded.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I have loads of Assasins they have been breeding in my tanks for a few months if anyone is wanting any i can do them £1 each

trumpet snails will turn over the substrate but will also just keep breeding. Get the assassins in. you have to get the big trumpet snails out firs but the do a great job. Well for me they do

816johnv wrote:

I have loads of Assasins they have been breeding in my tanks for a few months if anyone is wanting any i can do them £1 each

JOhn,

what is the average size you sell your snails at right now.....

I got rid of my last lot at about 1inch, though thinking of getting rid of them smaller now as I am getting too many apple snails in my tank.

Must admit I really like apple snails they eat lods of algae and food the other fish leave, and are much easier to control compared to other snails.
Just right now my breeding adults are breeding like crazy...lol...

I think I will wait until I actually have a problem before I get the killers in, but it's worth bearing in mind for the future. I wonder if there can be a sort of ideal ratio - where you have enough assassins to stop the other snails from taking over, but not enough to wipe them out completely? hmm...

mooncat wrote:

I think I will wait until I actually have a problem before I get the killers in, but it's worth bearing in mind for the future. I wonder if there can be a sort of ideal ratio - where you have enough assassins to stop the other snails from taking over, but not enough to wipe them out completely? hmm...

that is a very good question, and one topic I will hasten to watch very closely...

Hey guys, Assassin are not here in Aus really, there are a few people who have them but they are generally not wanted.

On the other hand, I have been trialing a new product that has works an absolute dream for me. As some of you may know from some of my previous threads, i have a horrible problem with trumpet snails and they are now nearly all dead

THe product is call 'No Planeria'and is a product designed to kill off planeria (flat worms) while not harming any of the other inhabitance, including shrimp. I have been using it in my main tank for 3 days and i think 95% of the snails are dead. the treatment program goes for a few more days and i reckopn they will all be dead within the week...WOOHOO!!!!!

wolverine wrote:

816johnv wrote:

I have loads of Assasins they have been breeding in my tanks for a few months if anyone is wanting any i can do them £1 each

JOhn,

what is the average size you sell your snails at right now.....

I got rid of my last lot at about 1inch, though thinking of getting rid of them smaller now as I am getting too many apple snails in my tank.

Must admit I really like apple snails they eat lods of algae and food the other fish leave, and are much easier to control compared to other snails.
Just right now my breeding adults are breeding like crazy...lol...

I sell mine at about 1cm mate

u could try eating em
if not john has some nice assain snils

a new product called gastropeck kills snails with no harm to water or fish or plants.

Wow...
been trying to get rid of mine but they are just such a nightmare...
Where did you get your stuff from Bob???
Seems like we are in the same neck of the woods lol!!!

bob67 wrote:

a new product called gastropeck kills snails with no harm to water or fish or plants.

Do you mean the eSHa product HERE , eSha products are usually good but if you have a large snail population you need to be careful if there is a very large snail die-off, the dead snails will rot and pollute the aquarium water. Siphoning your gravel to remove the dead snails buried in it is also advisable (for example, the Malayan live-bearing snail abounds in substrate like gravel).

Have just bought some from ebay to have a try with...
Will keep you posted lol!!

Ok...
Just an update... i bought some of the eSHa snail sruff and tried it on 2 of my tanks and it didnt work...
Didnt even reduce their numbers by much...
Think im gonna try something with copper in it next and see how that goes...
Anyone have any suggestions on a good product to try???

dont use copper!!!!!!!!!!

Copper is the reason why we need to run all our meds at half dose...its really REALLY bad for bristlenose!

Get some of this stuff

http://shrimpdiet.info/index.php?option=com_jportfolio&cat=1&project=10&Itemid=2

Its is designed to kill off flat worms without harming shrimp, but as a side effect it also kills snails very well. I have used it with a huge ammount of success!

I saw a recommendation for that somewhere too but cant find it anywhere in the uk...
The snails in my tank have got to the ridiculous.
There are so many products on the market only to find they dont work...

Doug wrote:

dont use copper!!!!!!!!!!

Copper is the reason why we need to run all our meds at half dose...its really REALLY bad for bristlenose!

Get some of this stuff

http://shrimpdiet.info/index.php?option=com_jportfolio&cat=1&project=10&Itemid=2

Its is designed to kill off flat worms without harming shrimp, but as a side effect it also kills snails very well. I have used it with a huge ammount of success!

yay! finally something i can add to my tank which is gentle for the bn and kills the snails i have ever so slowly been setting up food in a net to scoop them out. very annoying! does this stuff kill trumpet snails? any idea where i can buy some stuff in adelaide?
cheers

Fish Bowl and Ponds has some in stock...cheeper than on the web too

It is the most effective on trumpet snails!!! :bounce:

the only ones its no so good on is the flatish ones. kills the black pest snail and trumpets so so well!

Ok am thinking now of trying some assassin snails...
Few questions though...
How many would I need for a 4 ft tank do you think???
Also would they be a problem for my bn's when they lay their eggs??? Would they eat the eggs???

I have read that Assassins will eat fish eggs, but I thought Trumpet snails will eat fish eggs I'm sure a few Assassins would not pose the same danger as the Trumpets.

as much as i dont like chemical solutions to tank issues, I think with snails there is call for it. adding snails to kill snails...seems a bit odd to me.

What would you suggest though Doug???
I cant get that no plan.... thing over here and everything else I can find has got copper in it

I haven't kept any assassins (have no probs YET with my golden apple snails, trumpet snails, spiky/red onion/zebra nerites, and random-incomers-from-the-pet-shop) so can't comment on how many you'd need.

But I have looked into them a little bit in the event that I get overrun one day.

Since you need males and females for them to breed, it should be slower than the hermaphroditic varieties of snail, and I have read that they do reproduce at quite a slow rate. Also not sure what your tank set up is, but could you introduce a fish that likes to eat young snails? There seem to be a few varieties around that might help keep all your snail numbers down.

From what I have read, your eggs could be at risk of being eaten though, unless parent fish can protect them. My male used to knock my apple snails right through the water if they got to close to his cave - it was like snail tennis if he accidentally knocked them too close to one of my other bristles and they batted it back again!

oh, re numbers, I just found this ....

In the author’s experience, controlling a runaway Malayan Livebearing Snail (or Malayan Trumpet Snail, Melanoides tuberculata) is to use 4-6 Clea helena per 60 litres (about 15 US gallons) of water. While they won’t exterminate every last one of the Malayan Livebearing Snails, the Clea helena will keep the population of them small enough that they’re no longer troublesome.

I have recently added some assassin snails to 2 of my tanks to kill mts snails. I was sifting out the excess mts, but that only worked in the tanks with sand substrate, couldn't do it really with the gravel. The assassins are making a dent in the mts populations as I am seeing empty snail shells on the substrate. Yeah!!!! One of our LFS breeds assassins to take care of any accidental snail introductions to his tanks and says it works well for him. I have not noticed any reduction in BN fry from any assassin snail predation of the eggs. If I do start to have any problems later on I will note it on this forum so you can be forewarned and take steps to remedy it.