They're back :(

[PUNISHER VETTE]

I thought i was in the clear with my new 110g. I had all the plants from my old tank and my loach in there for at least 6 weeks. Loach died during the oxygen crisis of april 08. Today during a cleaning i saw 2 snails and eggs...

I'm sure there are TONS already crawling around in there. I just don't see how the loach didn't wipe them out during the 6 weeks he was alive and in there. I know there wasn't a lot since i hadn't seen any forever and know there wasn't many that got transfered.

I guess maybe the new fish i put in could have transfered the eggs. Thats the only thing that makes sense right now.

Stupid little bastards. Get your own tank!!

[smaug]

That IS there tank:c11: You just keep there water clean for them:hmm3grin2orange:

[PUNISHER VETTE]

Well i just crushed a huge one and 2 other tiny ones today. So they've been in there a while.

I just can't believe there aren't other options i can do to get rid of them.
I Don't really want another loach and i've tried the had-a-snail stuff..all it did was hurt my Vals.

I just don't think crushing them every day is the answer or even a solution. And i sure as hell can't live with them....nasty little suckers.

[houie925]

red claw shrimp? If they are compatible with your fish they are supposed to be good about keeping the snails in check at least

[PUNISHER VETTE]

so far they're few and far between so i'm hoping that in this tank it'll be different then my last 30g. In there they just spread like crazy until it was out of control.

Maybe in this one they will stay in a manageable condition. Or a variable has changed to keep them that way.

[country_boy454]

Try putting a glass jar in there and putting an algae disc in it. Come back a couple hours later and remove the jar. You'll be surprised how many of them you can get this way. Did it to my 29 gallon and now I rarely see a snail.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

The only reason a snail population will explode like that is because there is plenty of food for them to eat. If you are only feeding enough food for your fish to eat in 2-4 minutes and you are doing proper tank maintenance then you shouldn't have an exploding population of snails. Snails are not entirely bad, they can be a great benchmark for the quality of the environment. The higher the quality of the environment, the fewer you will have. I have a few snails in my planted tank and they don't ever seem to explode.

Also, you really don't want to crush the snails in the tank. A dead snail can really foul your water pretty bad. One every now and then probably won't hurt too much, but a lot of them in one shot would be a bad thing.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

i crush them with my grabbers in the middle top and the fish usually dispose of them by the time they get to the bottom.

[country_boy454]

The only reason a snail population will explode like that is because there is plenty of food for them to eat. If you are only feeding enough food for your fish to eat in 2-4 minutes and you are doing proper tank maintenance then you shouldn't have an exploding population of snails. Snails are not entirely bad, they can be a great benchmark for the quality of the environment. The higher the quality of the environment, the fewer you will have. I have a few snails in my planted tank and they don't ever seem to explode.

Also, you really don't want to crush the snails in the tank. A dead snail can really foul your water pretty bad. One every now and then probably won't hurt too much, but a lot of them in one shot would be a bad thing.

I don't mind the ramshorn snails I have in there its the pond snails/mystery snails I got from a person who gave me some guppy grass. Thats why I did the whole glass jar deal. I haven't seen a pond snail in about 5 months. Knocks on wood.

[Commodore 64]

I really don't understand why people get so crazy about snails. If they are in your tank, making a living, then they are doing you a favor--just like spiders in your house.

I've got malaysian trumpet snails in my 55g and I rarely see them unless it's night-time. They help keep my glass clean. Between them and the nerites, I've never had to scrape my 55g glass...and that is a fair trade off for me.

Article on Malay Trumpet Snails (http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug,%20Snails,%20Malaysian%20Trumpet.htm)

[Adrian]

I dunno if this will help you, but "if" and I say if, you don't have a planted tank, you don't mind doing a water change after treatment, and you don't have other inverts or scaleless fish, get some coppersafe and add that. Just follow the directions on the bottle. I guarantee you that you will not have any snails left.

You will have to do several water changes afterwards and add some charcoal to help remove the copper, but it will do the trick.

Otherwise, adding salt at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water help deter them as well. They don't like salt.

Just a suggestion.

[kkevvy]

I have snails in my 20 gallon. They just eat the algae, they've never touched the living plants, as long as you have a healthy tank the population stays low.

[PUNISHER VETTE]

I dunno if this will help you, but "if" and I say if, you don't have a planted tank, you don't mind doing a water change after treatment, and you don't have other inverts or scaleless fish, get some coppersafe and add that. Just follow the directions on the bottle. I guarantee you that you will not have any snails left.

You will have to do several water changes afterwards and add some charcoal to help remove the copper, but it will do the trick.

Otherwise, adding salt at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water help deter them as well. They don't like salt.

Just a suggestion.

I bought Had-a-Snail for my old tank which is basically a copper solution and i didn't see any of the snails being affected and it just melted my vals. Plus my tank is even more planted now then it was in my 30g so it wouldn't work. I could try the salt trick but right now it isn't too bad yet to worry.