Snails snails and more snails = lots of snail poo

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natebob

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Aug 18, 2004
Messages
8
Location
Aberdeen / Seattle WA
Hey people,

I've got quite a snail population boom in my 10g tank now and they show no signs of slowing. I'm assuming they are just the simple pond snails that hitchhike on the plants. I don't mind a few snails but now there are too many and they are quite messy. Snail poo everywhere...they even manage to make a mess out of my bubble ladder.

Is there anything that can be put in the tank to take a bite out of the population (literally)? I know clown loaches like snails but they will get too big for my tank. Currently all that is in there now is 1 oto, 1 clown pleco and 2 ghost shrimp.

It is heavily planted with lots of fast growing stem plants to help thwart algae growth but the green stuff is still hanging around. Sure wish the snails would eat some algae

TIA
 
Dwarf Puffs are great for this (my breeding efforts CANNOT keep up - even at optimal conditions), but I'm afraid they'd find your shrimp very yummy. Your best bet is to cut down on the fooding of the fishies.

I've found snail populations to be easily controlled. If you have a lot, you're feeding too much. No need for a new addition.
 
I have heard of dwarf puffers having an appetite for snails (and shrimp unfortunately).

I actually do not feed my fish anything. There is plenty of algae for all the algae eaters to keep busy munching on.
 
There really isn't anything you can add for a 10 gallon. I know that clown loaches love snails and can easily get your snail population down, but your tank is too small.

All you need to do is place several lettuce leaves in your tank either on a vegie clip or just floating in your tank before you go to bed and by morning you can remove them. I guarantee you, that depending on how many there are you will have a good amount of them on the lettuce and all you need to do is scoop them up and toss out. Repeat as necessary.HTH :D
 
I agree that the method Fawn suggests is going to be the only option, in addition to regular picking. If you set up another 10gal and make that a dwarf puffer tank, you can keep the snails you currently have and use it as a snail spawning tank. Dwarf puffers are delightful, aggressive nasty things and are totally fascinating fish!
 
I've tried the lettuce thing once before. I set a pretty large piece of iceberg lettuce near the bottom of tank and let it sit for approx. 18 hours. When I checked it in the morning there was only one snail on it! I think they prefer to cruise around the plants more than the lettuce.

Should I have tried a different kind of lettuce (do I have finicky snails that want the fancy stuff :) )? Sounds like I may have to resort to just picking them out one by one. And trying to find all their eggs...they've left them everywhere...it'll be like an easter egg hunt.

Thanks for everyone's help so far
 
I would buy a whole new tank!!!!!!!!!! I would love to have snails, just not with fish (But not pond snails... Well, In a different tank, maybe...). Hey, I'll take 'em off your hands! He he, no. What I would recommend would be to try buying a couple oranges, peel one, invert it and stick it in your aquarium before you go to bed, the same as the lettuce. Or, you could peel one orange, put it in your aquarium, eat the orange and wait. Haha. Or you could try selling them on eBay. I just bought 20 Malaysian Trumpet Snails off of eBay today!
Another theory is that you can throw some pennies in the tank. The copper is supposed to kill the snails. But first, find another tank or something large enough to fit all your creatures comfortably in, put the copper in, and wait till their dead. But make sure to wait and test your water before you put the others back in, and be sure to take the pennies out!! HTH! 0X
 
Smoosh them and feed them to the fish. All my fish love a fresh smooshed snail. Escargot!!
 
I bet they are trumpet snails. I have them in my tanks and they are great cleaners. I wouldn't worry about them at all. Another thing about them is that they eat any extra fish food that sinks to the bottom and I think fish poo as well. Basically, if you are feeding your fish too much and/or not cleaning your tank enough, you will end up with a ton of snails because there will be more food available.
 
You can buy some assassin snails. I just happen to have some too. ;) You wouldn't have to pay for shipping, since we live so close together. We could just meet up some day, and I can hand them off. I am only charging $2/snail also.
 
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