snail problem

[Roslynchik]

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of, or limit the number of tank snails? I apparently didn't rinse off some plants that I put in my tropical tank, and now I have about 60 snails in various sizes in my little 10 gallon tank. I would prefer not to go the chemical route (I was told it could harm my pigmy frogs or my plecostomus). My balloon bellied molly mommy also just had babies, so I have to watch out for them too. Any ideas would be so helpful. I hate to have to kill them, but they are seriously taking over my tank!!

 

[Megalofyia]

How hard would it be to just physically remove them? I know very little about snails other than my tank mysteriously sprouted ONE who I decided to keep and is now growing really fast.

 

[madasafish]

Welcome to AquariumAdvice!

You're in a bit of a bind...

There are many ways, but... 1) Picking them off is a little labor intesive... 2) Chemicals can be bad for your bacteria/fish/plants. 3) I *would* suggest getting or borrowing a snail-eating species--clown loaches work, as do all FW puffer species--but puffers are usually aggressive, and loaches get large (12 inches)! And borrowing is often so complicated...

Others have suggested anchoring a lettuce leaf in the middle of the tank and shutting off the lights. This should work to an extent, but won't get rid of all the snails. If you can't get them all out this way, do your best picking them out, and check back regularly. I think you're doing the right thing not treating the tank with had-a-snail etc. Your molly fry and plecs (and I'm pretty sure the frog) will be sensitive to such meds.

If this doesn't work, consider cleaning the plants individually and washing off each leaf carefully. I did this with great success. I only missed 1 non-hermaphroditic snail (which I found greatly enlarged a few months later!), and didn't see any more babies.

Sorry I don't have a miracle cure...

 

[SoCal]

I'm not sure how to rid them from your tank either (other than a complete breakdown of the tank), but in addition to picking the snails out of the tank, look for the egg sacks and get rid of them too. With that large number of snails in a 10 gal tank I would imagine there are egg sacks all over the place.

 

[ferret]

Other species known to eat snails are some varieties of Gouramis and Fancy Goldfish (Probably koi too)

These aren't necessarily bad. They'll keep the algae down and they burrow in the substrate, which can be a plus for you. If they get to bothersome, you're fairly limited to trying chemicals or a fish that eats them. Cleaning the tank out won't really work (I've tried ) unless you're INCREDIBLY detailed on it, they'll still have eggs somewhere somehow, even on the fish.

 

[TankGirl]

It is amazing how long snails can survive outside the water. I have snails in my 55 and used silk plants until my real ones filled in. Once this happened I took out the fake ones and stored them in the cabinet for later use. 3 months later I put them in a new tank to cover the heater and filter intake, and now I have snails in this tank, too! Other than the silk plants, everything in the tank was new, and consisted of calciferous rock and brand new buffering sandy substrate. I hate to boil fake plants because it damages them, so I figured a quick rinse off and a dry period would be enough. Wrong!

I am now picking snails out every day, and hopefully when my cichlids come in they will help me out. I don't think they are doing any harm, but they do add to the bioload. My husband has suggested many times that I rent out my dwarf FW puffers as snail control!

 

[ferret]

Tankgirl: Unless the snails are large, I'm fairly certain your cichlids will eat them up. They try to peck at the 2 black mystery snails I keep in my 90 gallon (They get all the spots the pleco can't get too.. the tank is crystal clear), which leaves their shells spotless. They may even kill these two eventually, they've left white patches on the shells. The two I have are fairly large though, 1+ inch across.

Speaking of surviving out of water. The housekeeper snail in my 20G was on my desk the other day, poor thing got lost and crawled out by accident

 

[Guppyman]

Snails

Greetings and Welcome to the Forum,

What I do is simply crush the snails against the side of the glass as the reach the top of the tank. Most fish will pick at the flesh. Free food, no chemicals and in a matter of days your problem is gone. Of course if you want to rid your tank of every snail it's not the most efficient means - but why would anyone want to do that? IMHO, even the lowly snail has it's own unique beauty, charm and place in the aquatic cycle of life. - Guppyman

 

[TankGirl]

I have been crushing the snails for my mollies also (the mollies are keeping the tank cozy for me until my cichlids grow out ) and they are about trained now to follow my finger along and scarf the snail meal. I was really hoping the Africans would help out with it, too. I know in my planted tank the angel loves crushed snails, and now that I put my dwarf gourami in there I have not seen the baby snail population that was present before.

I know there is some risk associated with crushing snails with your finger, and threads have been posted about the danger of this (mycobacterium marinum) but the ones I crush are the tiny ones with paper thin shells. If there is any resistance I pluck it out. I no longer have my puffers ( ) so I don't have anyone to feed them to anymore!!

 

[captainGregor]

Hey guys, some want to get rid of snails, but I want some! I just got 3 clown loaches and I want them to munch on snails. Where could I get those common "pest" pond snails?

 

[TankGirl]

Usually PetsMart has them, and many LFS will give you nuisance snails just to get rid of them (that worked for me for my puffers until I got my own crop going). Look for "mystery snails" and they should be the right ones. Many chow down on plants too, though, in case you want them in a planted tank.

 

[ferret]

The Mystery Snails are an actual shop item at Petsmart and all (Gold and Black snails, I prefer the blacks, they're actually slightly purple). (Jedi voice) These aren't the snails you are looking for.

You want the little ones that are scattered all over their tanks. I think these are those common pond snails? If you ever notice a big gold fish in some random tank at petsmart, they're using it to eat them.