some questions about olive snails

[Rachelinwy]

Hi everyone..

I bought some olive snails at the fish store a while back. Because I was told they would not reproduce (acclimated to freshwater blah blah blah), I put two snails in one tank. Sure enough, they started reproducing, and I pick out about 2 baby snails every day. I have now removed one of the original snails from the tank.

So...

1) Does the lone snail need a bubbler for her new tank? She's in my office at school right now.

2) I've been scraping the eggs off the side of the tank, and removing the babies. Any other ideas? I only have a 10-gallon tank (1 betta), and I'm not too keen on buying another fish just to take care of this problem. How long should I expect it to take before I get rid of all the snails?

Thanks for the help!

 

[theotheragentm]

Place a piece of lettuce in the tank. The snails will go to it to eat and you can more easily remove them at once time by taking out the lettuce. Unfortunately, this will never get rid of all of them.

 

[Rachelinwy]

Thanks... I found that info back about 10 pages.. I'll try it tonight.

 

[Mosaic]

Whoa, olive snails? As in Nerites, or is that a name for something else I'm not familiar with? I'm guessing they are nerites because of your FW acclimated comment. You either:

1: Do not have nerites
2: You have nerites but also have another species of snail in the tank that is actually doing the reproducing
3: You have magic nerites that breed in FW. Don't toss out the babies! Offer them here! A lot of us would like some

 

[Rachelinwy]

Well, these other snails have more of a conical shape (with a point at the end) than the olive snails do. I guess it is possible some other snail came in on the live plants I bought a while back... especially when I consider that the snail problem started at the same time.

 

[SparKy697]

Like this or more like this?

The first one is a pond snail and the second one is a malaysian trumpet snail.

 

[leoslizards]

Ahh yes I had some of those pond snails before. They came with the live plants. They where a pain in the a**. They where taking over my tank and eating some of my plants so I got a pair of clown loaches and within a month they where all gone. Even my mystery snails. :? Now I don't have a single snail in my whole tank. I was thinking of buying some just for my clown loach to enjoy.

 

[tropicfishman]

I've never heard of an olive snail....do they go by another name or something????

 

[toddnbecka]

Olive nerites, a salt (or brackish) species that's adaptable to fresh water. The eggs won't hatch in fresh water, and apparently are nearly impossible to raise even with brackish or salt.

 

[Rachelinwy]

Thanks for the pics. Apparently I have pond snails. I take back all the bad things I said about my other snails.

 

[leoslizards]

Thanks for the pics. Apparently I have pond snails. I take back all the bad things I said about my other snails.

Get a pair of clown loaches and they'll take care of all your snail problems. Be aware that they do get about 6" to 11" and they might eat some of your wanted snails though.

 

[WaterPond]

i am not a beleiver in buying fish if you have a problem with something. Besides, slown loaches belong in 125gal+ setups and get way to big for the average aquarium.

I suggest usung the lettuce meathod... put a peice of lettuce in before lights out, then remove it in the morning when it has the snails on it. More simple... and cheaper.

 

[SparKy697]

I've also had great luck with placing an algae wafer in a sideways turned glass in the bottom of the tank at night. The next morning I'm rewarded with a glass full of snails.

 

[Rachelinwy]

Thanks for the responses, everyone... I only have a 10-gallon tank for each betta, and don't want to add more fish, especially ones that will get large. I'm trying to cut down on the biomass, not add.

Thanks again!