View Full Version : Snail Overload
gwenkat
07-30-2006, 07:29 PM
Help!! I have a 10 gallon tank with guppies in it. The pet store suggested that I get a snail to help keep the tank clean. I am new to all this and the snail was cute. Now I have 20+ snails and my original snail has died. Because I have guppies and a 10 gallon tank I didn't think a clown loach would be the answer. I have tried chemicals and the snails are still here, and there are more eggs! What can I do to get rid of them? I really don't want to have to pick them all out....Last time I did that I had a small cut on my finger that ended up with a nasty infection!!! Please help!!!!!
William
07-30-2006, 08:22 PM
you can try this.
Put a small plate with some food in the middle of it in the tank after dark. the snails will feel the smell head for the food. than you can just remce the plate with the snails on it.
This can help keep the population down. I also recommend that you remove all the eggs you can find.
gwenkat
07-30-2006, 08:41 PM
Thanks for the advice. Any thoughts on what I should do with all the snails I catch on my plate? Somehow throwing them away seems cruel.....
William
07-31-2006, 03:04 AM
Well you will have to kill them unless you are going to setup a snail tank. "Human" wasy of killing them including putting them into the frezer or boiling water.
gwenkat
08-01-2006, 11:27 PM
Thanks for the advice. I appreciate all the help I can get. :)
kimmers318
08-02-2006, 03:00 AM
A cucumber slice works really well at attracting loads of snails overnight, which I found out when I first offered one to my bristlenose pleco. Now, that is my way of catching a bunch when I want to drop a load into the dwarfpuffer tank before weekends away so they have plenty to hunt while I am gone!
MagickFish
08-08-2006, 08:41 AM
I did not know sainls could breed like that, and all from one snail?
William
08-08-2006, 10:03 PM
Yes. the snail was fertilized before he got it.
Fun fact. most snails are both male and female
MagickFish
08-09-2006, 08:24 AM
So if I get a little snail to my tiny aquarium I could end up whit the same problem? So sanils can fertilise themself?
kimmers318
08-09-2006, 10:55 AM
Snails breed like crazy....the only things I have found that seem to keep the numbers in check is platy fry and neon tetras....and I don't want to keep their numbers down because I feed them to my dp's. I had snails "breeding" in a tank that I put some platy fry into and their numbers dropped rather quickly, couldn't figure out why until I saw the fry nibbling on eggs. Same thing happened with the neons, and, although I get a few snails a month in the tank they are in, I don't see the population explosion like my other tanks.
William
08-09-2006, 11:55 AM
Most snails need a partner but they fertilize eachother which means that each mating results in atleast two batches of eggs. And many species can save sperm so that one mating is enough for a long time.
MagickFish
08-09-2006, 03:40 PM
Ok thank you for the information. I was thinking of adding a snail to my aquarium but I think perhaps not then. As a side note by the way, if I do get a snail and it run away, how long can they live outside of the wather?
William
08-09-2006, 10:39 PM
untill they dry out.
gwenkat
08-10-2006, 12:54 AM
I am certainly seeing a population explosion! My husband cannot believe the number of snails all friom the original one. I have basically given up on reducing the number. I tried "Had a Snail" from my lsf but it did NOTHING! I recently bought a dojo loach and he is eating the eggs, so there is hope that the snails will be controlled. Otherwise I guess I will learn to love them. :)
MagickFish
08-10-2006, 07:12 AM
Well they are cute, but if they breed so fast, woult it soon be no food for them and no room for the fish?
gwenkat
08-11-2006, 12:31 AM
It might, but by the time there are that many I will have my bigger tank set up and the small one can be just for the snails. Or I can get rid of them by tearing down the tank.
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