Snails!!!

[ElizabethJKR]

Alright, I think this goes here, it has to deal with snails.

So, I have been away at college and just came home to my nice tank. My dad had told me over the phone about a month ago that some of the live plants weren't doing too good. I figured since because the heater we had didn't work, it was because of low heat. Now on the drive home from college, my dad tells me that there are snails in the tank. So I've cleaned the tank (dad told me he neglected to clean it since we first set up the tank) and have plucked at least fifty snails from the tank. I also did a mini bleach/water bath for half the tank plants (these were floating on top and I saw all has little gel things with spots in them, which I'm guessing were snail eggs). My thing is, I don't know what to do with these snails. I don't even know what kind of snails they are. Would anybody want some snails? I'll be willing to ship (just someone tell me how to ship the stupid buggers). They are really tiny snails and look to be dark colored with lighter spots (might be translucent with dark areas and spots).

[Brhino]

sounds like what you have are pond snails. They're very common hitchhikers with live plants, and they're rapid reproducers. Since your dad hasn't been cleaning the tank there was probably lots of leftover food and decaying plant matter for the snails to eat, so their population exploded.

Since they're so common and reproduce so easily, you're not likely to find anyone particularly interested in taking any of them.

[Ringo]

Tell your dad while away at college you learned how to prepare a french dish and put the snails on a plate and serve them to him.

[ilroost]

smash some and feed them to the fish, free fish food is always good

[ElizabethJKR]

I've got I'm guessing five Danios. Will they eat the smashed snails?

[funkman262]

Is there any particular reason you're wanting to get rid of the snails? I've got 3 or so different species of snails in my planted tank (all were hitchhikers) and I love having them. They're good at stirring up my soil/sand substrate (MTS) as well as scouring for detritus and algae. My populations have never gotten out of control though. As long as you don't overfeed you ought to be able to keep them in check. It probably also helps to vacuum the gravel but I've never done it myself since I have soil.

[ElizabethJKR]

I don't want to totally get rid of them, I know they are good. It's just, there are WAY too many and they are eating the live plants in the aquarium. I'm also planning on getting a few algae eating fish so I don't want there to be any competition (if there would be. I've got no idea). Also, I'm not a snail person. Never really liked the critters. Always thought they made the tank look unkept.

[nmb7895]

If you had a puffer fish, you could throw them into that aquarium and the puffer would have enough food to last for months.

Or if you know someone with a puffer or a big loach, they could use it as a nice treat.

[Lady Hobbs]

I don't want them but thanks. LOL I go on a killing snail mission every day of my life here.