Dang, I found snails... now what?

[jimenezlee]

Hi all,

So I got plants for my 55g tank in mid March and had not seen any snails before, but recently I've been finding the little buggers left and right in my tank. I think they are little pond snails. I've read from a lot of people that they're usually unwanted and incompatible but its my first experience with them.

I have 3 adult angelfish, 5 chinese algae eaters and one crayfish in the tank.

Do I need to worry about them? What are the pros/cons of leaving them vs removing them? What would be the way to go about getting rid of them? They are hard to grab being so small and many times I end up dropping them into the substrate and having a hard time finding them there.

Thanks for your input!

 

[fred]

Hi all,

So I got plants for my 55g tank in mid March and had not seen any snails before, but recently I've been finding the little buggers left and right in my tank. I think they are little pond snails. I've read from a lot of people that they're usually unwanted and incompatible but its my first experience with them.

I have 3 adult angelfish, 5 chinese algae eaters and one crayfish in the tank.

Do I need to worry about them? What are the pros/cons of leaving them vs removing them? What would be the way to go about getting rid of them? They are hard to grab being so small and many times I end up dropping them into the substrate and having a hard time finding them there.

Thanks for your input!

Yes the dreaded snails... I have the same issue however have grown to like them. I have one Ramshorn snail and about 5 trumpet snails. Although some people think their a pest I have noticed that they are excellent at eating up algae and dead plant leaves. So far my tank is not completly infested however I will use the lettuce method to remove them. If you want them gone, you can put some lettuce (blanched) in a bottle or cup and leave it in your tank overnight. Apparantly the next day your snails will be in on the lettuce and all you to do is remove the trap. If you decide to leave them be sure not to overfeed your fish, they're good at eating up left over food too!

 

[rich311k]

They will hurt nothing. I rather like them. They help clean up and if the population starts to explode you will know you are overfeeding. I rather like them and they are in all my tanks. They do not eat live plants only decaying plant matter.

 

[herp_mommy]

I would leave them. I think they're great at cleaning up algae and removing dead plant matter. BUT if you want to get rid of them, put some blanched zucchini in there and wait about an hour, they should all be on top of the zucchini and you can simply remove it.

 

[jimenezlee]

Cool, thanks for the responses! I will leave them for now then as I cannot see any damaging effects yet. I may just control their populations with the lettuce or zucchini method if they get out of hand.

 

[Fdsh5]

My crayfish love snacking on the snails. I find shells all over the place

 

[jimenezlee]

That would be great, if my crayfish starts eating them I may just get another one or two.

 

[Fdsh5]

My crays will actually climb up the plants and pull a snail down with them.

 

[sudz]

Also, you could get a clown loach - They love snails!

 

[fred]

Also, you could get a clown loach - They love snails!

I wouldn't recommend a clown loach unless you plan on upgrading your tank. They get very big and are not recommended for anything smaller than a 125g. Believe me, I have one in my 55g (he came with the tank) he has reached 5-6 inches (and could grow up too 13 inches). I'm currently looking to upgrade as he gas outgrown my tank. As well they like to be schools of 5 or like to be with tiger barbs. I have 8 tiger barbs with my loach. Just a thought

 

[sudz]

Haha, they probably like being with tigers because they have complementing "paint jobs"

I think that lfs's sell Clown loaches to ANYONE. I had one in my 10 gallon which they sold me, and then transferred to my 44 gallon. sadly, he perished when my heater took a crap 2 years ago. (not when the "new" heater died 2 months ago)

 

[fred]

Haha, they probably like being with tigers because they have complementing "paint jobs"

I think that lfs's sell Clown loaches to ANYONE. I had one in my 10 gallon which they sold me, and then transferred to my 44 gallon. sadly, he perished when my heater took a crap 2 years ago. (not when the "new" heater died 2 months ago)

That's what I've been told...he pals around with them all the time . It's a sin that any LFS will sell a baby loach to someone who has a 10g, they grow so fast in the first few years. Very sad .

 

[jetajockey]

another thing you can do, if you are up for it, is just smash them, the fish will appreciate the treat :]

 

[jimenezlee]

I just got two more crayfish. I hope they will take a liking to the snails.

 

[Fdsh5]

Like jetajockey said, when you see some baby snails on the glass smoosh them against the glass. The fish will eat them and hopefully that will give the crayfish a taste of the snails

 

[alLexX]

your crays should keep the population in check,if not demolish it.ghost shrimp help to,i have seen mine swim up to pull one off the glass.

 

[jimenezlee]

Behold the snail smasher!!!

Lol, snails can actually be a lot of fun! It's a weird sense of power over them...

 

[jimenezlee]

Haha, I haven't seen them eat snails yet, but these new crayfish are already keeping things interesting... I started hearing a noise just a bit ago that I dismissed... Heard it again a couple of times and finally got out of bed to check it out. I'm glad I did, one of these guys climbed out of the tank and was checking out his new residence!!!

Luckily there are hardwood floors and that's why I heard the ruckus... The excitement never ends with this tank.

 

[jimenezlee]

I'm going to call this crayfish Papillon, after the guy that kept breaking out of prison. I found him upstairs last night, he must keep sneaking out through the openings for my filter hoses... I can't find him right now and I'm on my way to work now. I just hope he doesn't end up dead and stinking under a couch somewhere...

 

[Fdsh5]

I've heard they are escape artists but haven't lost one yet. Years back I had the same problem with dwarf frogs. I used to find them crispy in the morning all over the place.