Pest snail ID

[Avidon]

I've experienced a massive outbreak of snails in my heavenly planted African Cichlid tank. They don't come out much during the day but if I turn the lights on at night you can see that they are everywhere in the tank.

I have tried using the blanched lettuce method but this cichlids always devour it before the snails get to it. I tried buying assassin snails but my Bichir kept trying to eat them. I know that Clown Loaches work well to handle snails but I haven't found any fish big enough that they wouldn't be bullied by the Cichlids. I would rather just live with the snails than kill all my precious plants with copper.

It seems like I have a dilemma here. Are there any methods of handling snails that I haven't thought of?

 

[GodFan]

I've experienced a massive outbreak of snails in my heavenly planted African Cichlid tank. They don't come out much during the day but if I turn the lights on at night you can see that they are everywhere in the tank.

I have tried using the blanched lettuce method but this cichlids always devour it before the snails get to it. I tried buying assassin snails but my Bichir kept trying to eat them. I know that Clown Loaches work well to handle snails but I haven't found any fish big enough that they wouldn't be bullied by the Cichlids. I would rather just live with the snails than kill all my precious plants with copper.

It seems like I have a dilemma here. Are there any methods of handling snails that I haven't thought of?

Those are malaysian trunpet snails. They will spend most of their time below the substrate. You can remove as many as you see by hand but complete eradication is near imoossible. The are actually beneficial but I understand alot of people dont like them. Alot of people say to ease off on feeding a hit because they overpopulate only if you over feed.

 

[Avidon]

They're beneficial? Do they eat algae or something?

 

[GodFan]

They're beneficial? Do they eat algae or something?

I think they eat algae but he also stir the substrate and eat leftover food.

 

[Fishfur]

They are actually amazing algae eaters, though you may not catch them at it. They are most active at night, and they release their young at night too, they will climb to the water surface and let several new borns go at once, they float on the water tension at first 'til they find something to cling to.

They reproduce very quickly, and numbers can get very high, but they are also very useful. Eat algae, keep glass clean, they do tend to churn up substrate to some degree when they burrow, but never enough to disturb the roots of plants, never eat plants either. They are usually in demand and you can often find people willing to pay for some, or simply take them off your hands if you want to get rid of some of them.

Edit.. what Godfan said is true too.. if you don't allow leftoever food, it will slow down their reproduction some. But they find a lot to eat just in the substrate, so they will increase in numbers, just not quite as quickly. I would not be without them, they are very hard workers.

 

[hippy guy]

Assassin snails eat other snails...


20long hitech/10gal shrimptech