What to do about pest snails

[lahlumdi]

I had a stowaway snail that came with the plants. Now they are multiplying rapidly. I can't remove them fast enough.

I cannot tell where else to post this question. I've done a search, and looked around the site.

I saw something at our local general store in the pet section called "snail be gone" or something like that. Good idea? Bad idea? Any other idea?

[Lab_Rat]

Overfeeding is the main reason for snail population explosions. Cut back on how much you feed and that should help. When they're small you can also squish them on the glass, then most fish will eat them once the shell is broken.

I do an alum dip on my plants before adding them to the tank to prevent pest snails.

[lahlumdi]

Thanks. Hmmm. I will try cutting back on feeding.

[Northernguy]

Hand grenades! Nuclear war fare! These are the best ways!
You can also stick a fork in some lettuce and place it on the bottom at lights out.Remove it with a net not to drop any passengers and discard.Do this for a few nights and you will thin them out.
I tore my tank down and changed all my substrate and plants.I bleached my driftwood but that took ages to rinse out.The wood did look pretty bright afterwards!lol
Labrats idea is great for feeding the fish and killing off the some of the population as well.Be ready as you turn on the lights.You can net them out than too ut you have to fast.

[Mith]

Warning: If you use one of those chemicals to kill them, read the warning on the label. Apparently some of those (if not all) are poisenous to shrimp and similar creatures.

[wolf_eyes]

Warning: If you use one of those chemicals to kill them, read the warning on the label. Apparently some of those (if not all) are poisenous to shrimp and similar creatures.

Mith caught it before I did. The problem with chemicals is that it kills any and all inverts in the tanks. Snails, shrimps, some of the helpful worms in your substrate, etc.It may even harm fish fry. If I remember correctly, this stuff usually has copper in it as an active ingredient to kill the inverts... but it kills indiscriminantly. I recall reading that unless you clear and clean the tank, you won't be able to have any inverts in the tank for a very long time. It's good if you don't plan for anything but fish, but I personally follow the belief of "the less chemicals the better".

I would try the lettuce/cucumber trick in combination with less feeding and you will see a significant drop. I hate the little buggers myself, and squash them for my cories to eat. They do, however, give plants nutrition from their constant waste and take some of the algae off the plants/gravel/glass. Unless a plant is already sick and dying, they will never harm a plant. They're annoying and unsightly, but they do some good for a planted tank

[Mith]

Mith caught it before I did.


(Mith puffs out chest thinking that now maybe someone will think he's smart.....)



Naaa.... that ain't gonna happen (Mith goes back to the intro section to welcome more members (no thinking required))

[jaysee]

Thanks. Hmmm. I will try cutting back on feeding.

There is no "try".... I can't remember the rest of the star wars quote.

[Girl Got Mojo]

"No! Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." (I could've sworn there was a good star wars smilie to put here)

[Mith]

Ummm....try you will not, DO you will do!

Snails, gone they will be....

LOL.....here's where I post a picture of Yoda, but mmmm, on my phone I am and post pictures it will not do...

[jaysee]

"No! Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." (I could've sworn there was a good star wars smilie to put here)

Awesome !

[Lady Hobbs]

I stick a piece of zucchini or cucumber on a fork and drop it in the tank. Every few hours remove it and knock the snails off. I take my wood out of the tank constantly, scrub the snails off with a brush and put the wood back until next time. They love laying their eggs on that wood so I get rid of eggs as best I can.

I was feeding my corys shrimp pellets and the snails just exploded so no longer using the pellets.

[Mith]

I stick a piece of zucchini or cucumber on a fork and drop it in the tank. Every few hours remove it and knock the snails off. I take my wood out of the tank constantly, scrub the snails off with a brush and put the wood back until next time. They love laying their eggs on that wood so I get rid of eggs as best I can.

I was feeding my corys shrimp pellets and the snails just exploded so no longer using the pellets.


I don't mean to sound stupid, but is this a, "Salad" fork, or a "dinner" fork?

Thanks for your cooperation in this matter. :22:

[lahlumdi]

Thanks for trying to clear it up, Mith! Actually this morning I wanted to put a cucumber slice in the tank. I wondered why we should use a fork, and was going to ask.

Well, I dropped the cucumber in. Lo and behold... it floated at the top. Voila. I discovered for myself why a fork!

Alas, so far it has been hours in the tank and not one snail has found it. Not sure why. I need to spend a little time with my neglected fish as I've been out of town.

LOVED the Star Wars banter. So did my son! He knew the quote as soon as I mentioned "try" to him.

Cut back on the feeding I did. :1:

[mrs fishpatrick]

depending on the type of snail, you could try an assasin snail (anetome helena) if it is ramshorn snails you are trying to irridicate these are not too effective.

[lahlumdi]

I have Noooooooo idea which kind they are. They are little brown snails... lol.

Well this afternoon I decided to do some smash the snails business. My serpae tetras were so excited! Fresh meat! And it seems the corys made a feast of it too. Maybe this is a good thing to do with all those snails. New food for my fishies! A rather high maintenance way to feed them though.

I am of the mindset also to add as few chemicals as possible, so I don't think I'll go the chemical way.

[wolf_eyes]

Do they look like
a) http://www.bettatude.com/Snails/pond-snail1.jpg

b}http://www.teresasplants.com/ramshorn.jpg
or

c)http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug_S98.jpg

[Owlbehere]

I would not go the chemical way. It says on the bottle to remove ALL dead snails. This is because it will cause an ammonia spike. BUT how are you supposed to know if you got ALL the dead snails... I don't see how if they are hiding in the substrate and such. Just not a good idea to create a mass die off... it can also be bad for your plants too.

BTW I have snails... How do you tell the difference between the pond and ramshorn. Mine start out looking like a but grow to look more like b... They become more round and lose the little spike.

[lahlumdi]

Thank you for the three samples, Wolf Eyes. According to the three pictures you sent, I have the pond snails.

Well after smashing a bunch yesterday - this morning I had a bunch on the cucumber. Then I smashed a few more. My poplulation of POND snails is much lower now! Without any chemicals!

I really need to pull out the wood and scrub it off sometime soon. Will be good to do at the next water change.

Wow, I love this forum! Great advice!

[bushwhacker]

your doin great gal, they'll make ya a mod before ya know it....

[lahlumdi]

Thanks for the little word of encouragment! One of these days I need to post some pics in the contests... just for the fun of it. I enjoy this forum so much, and have found it so helpful, I do wish to participate more!

[Chazbot]

Good luck!! I'm having the same problem you are. However my Angelfish and Gouramis have become spoiled rotten now that they regularly feast on snails. :hmm3grin2orange: Unhappily, I don't think the Cories are getting much to feast on. The other fish grab the squished snails before they sink!

[lahlumdi]

I'm so glad I discovered that my snail problem can become food! This is so much better than adding a chemical. As long as you can get past squishing the slimy things and feeling the crunch between your fingers! On the other hand... there is a sort of happiness in seeing them dissapear like pulling weeds. Except that weeds just get thrown away.

[Mith]

Side note, I had been squishing my snails in the tank and letting the fish eat the debriis. I quit doing that because if you thing about it....if you squish a female snail WITH eggs, you MAY be dispencing them right into your tank!

So if you're using the squish method, I reommend you squish them OUT of the tank LOL

[Northernguy]

My fish never allowed any snail leftovers to hit the tank floor when I squished but it does make sense!Good point Mith!thumbs2:

[lahlumdi]

I'm not sure at what point they start reproducing. Many of mine are pretty small. But then, they are multiplying. For now, there aren't too many after my squish party.

[Lab_Rat]

I saw Fintique has assassin snails listed on their stock list. You may want to try a couple.

[lahlumdi]

Fun! Thanks, Lab Rat. I was planning to go there Saturday!

[lahlumdi]

I recently came back from Fintique. As I said in a General post, they convinced me to buy a Badis Badis fish instead of an assasin snail. Curious and curiouser.

They said their observation has been that the assasin snails they have, they put in tanks with snails, but they don't seem to be eating them much. But the Badis Badis fish goes for the snails well.

They say as far as they know, techincally it is not touted as a snail eating fish, but that is what they have seen.

I was hesitant, as I don't like to buy a fish without research. So now I shall be observing and reporting what my experience is with this.

I also did a water change today before adding the new fish. Guess what, I took apart part of my filter (I have a power head filter with two filter housing units underneath). I clean one housing unit at a time so I don't destory a bunch of the good bacteria.

The filter I took out to rinse was FULL of snails. A veritable snail hotel.

[lahlumdi]

My latest report is... 5 days after getting a Badis Badis that they tell me eats snails... I'm not noticing a big difference in the snail volume of my aquarium. In fact, he looks at the snails, but I haven't actually seen him snatch one. I'm not sure what he's eating because he doesn't eat my flakes.

[vegas2k]

I will have my Snail exterminating squad soon(tank of goldfish) :hmm3grin2orange: . Cute exterior, but on the inside, plotting and evil..they are.

[lahlumdi]

Cute way to put it! Thanks for giving me a smile.

[Eileen]

I had a snail problem also. I think it is Ramshorn snails. I was told to get a yo yo loach. The fish store told me that I could get a couple for my 55 gal. and they after the snails are all gone they will buy him back (cheaper of course) They said that alot of people do that. I decided to get Assassin snails. I'm glad that I did because i discovered that I have Mylansian Trummpet snails from some plants I got from a friend. These Assassin snails are great. As soon as I put them in I noticed snail bodies. Snails eaten and the shells are empty. I got 4 assassin snails. They eat about 1 snail a day. Once the snails are gone you need to give them something with protien like bloodworms. They were burying them selfs in my sand to get at the adult MTS. They are really pretty snails drk. brown stripes with yellow stripes. They can not repoduce with out the male. Females are bigger and have wider stripes, males are smaller with thinner stripes. These are easy to rehome as anyone with pond snails or ramshorn snails will want them. Ramshorn are their favorite as they are easy to get into the shell. They have been know to take out Apple snails also but go for the easier one with out a trap door.

[Rue]

...I'm also experiencing a 'pest snail' outbreak in the 25g...usually things look after themselves and I don't butt in, but this time it was getting out of hand...

I've just been scooping them off the glass and into a net...I've taken out hundreds this weekend...and there are hundreds more, lol...but I'm finally making a dent...

[Scrup]

Never had Badis-badis, but my loaches have eaten almost all my pond snails. they leave the trapdoors alone for the most part (they have eaten a few babies that didnt get the door shut in time) but the only time I see pond snails is when they hang out above the top of the water.

I trained my goldies to associate snails with food by crunching them up, every time pulverize them a little less, until they made the connection. Now there is not a snail to be seen in the goldy tank.