Snail problem

[Dusty280]

I have a 30 gallon planted tank with neon tetras, Oto cats, and Amano shrimp, and I am guessing on one of my plant purchases I got some pond snail hitch hikers. Arghhh. Any suggestions on how to best deal with them without medication or chemicals?

 

[Tiburon]

Clip a piece of lettuce too the glass before going too bed.. Scoop up
whoever's eating in the Morning.. I'm sure there are fish that would
give there Right Fin for a snail dinner..

 

[kc2ped]

Assassin Snails
I put three in my BioCUBE 14 and don't see any other snails now but the Nerite Snails which are too big for the Assassin Snails to eat
I moved one of the Assassin Snails over to my Chi and he mostly keeps the snails in check but can't get ahead of them so think I need to move another one over until the tank is cleaned up then let a single Assassin Snail maintain it
I wasn't able to find Assassin stalls locally and had to buy mine from another forum member but last week I was in Petco and they had some
They are not cheap, especially given their size
When I find Pond Snails near the surface I slightly crush the shells and let them fall to the substrate and watch the Ghost Shrimp come running
Most snails don't even reach the substrate before the shrimp are feasting on them

 

[LyndaB]

I agree, assassins are the way to go.

 

[Fdsh5]

+1 on the assassin snails. They do a good job and they are cool looking.

 

[alLexX]

ghost shrimp eat them,well at least mine do. if your having a problem its probably because your overfeeding

 

[Dusty280]

Thanks all


I was thinking about trying the assassin snail solution and then I did some reading on them. It looks like they need a sand substrate in the tank to burrow in. My tank with the snail problem had Eco complete substrate. Not sure if that would be good for these snails?

 

[kc2ped]

My Chi has small pebbles as the primary substrate with Flourite in the planter box. The Assassin Snail has no trouble disappearing in the gravel. I am not sure I have ever seen him partially buried in the Flourite though. The only time I have seen the snails in my Biocube, which has an all Flourite substrate, they have always been above ground. If the Eco complete is those little black balls I would think they could get under it juts fine. It would be somewhere between their preferred sand and my small pebbles.

 

[Fdsh5]

I have assassins in all my tanks and have all different gravels. They seem to do just fine in all of them. They will adapt to whatever substrate you have

 

[Dusty280]

Thanks all. I will give them a try. Do they bother Amano shrimp.

 

[kc2ped]

No problem with Bamboo Shrimp, Amano Shrimp, Ghost Shrimp, Red Cherry Shrimp or even young Red Cherry Shrimp
Not sure about Ghost Shrimp larvae though

 

[Fdsh5]

If they can catch them they will eat them. My shrimp hitch a ride on the snails and clean their shells.

 

[Dusty280]

I purchased three assassin snails last week online. I put them in my planted 30 gallon that was over run with pond snails. One week later lots of empty (sucked clean) pond snail shells. Dam those assassin snails are good!

 

[Batt4Christ]

Assassin snails are very cool! Not so expensive around here...when you can find 'em. They do a great job of hunting down those pesky pond snails.

 

[kc2ped]

I purchased three assassin snails last week online. I put them in my planted 30 gallon that was over run with pond snails. One week later lots of empty (sucked clean) pond snail shells. Dam those assassin snails are good!

Congratulations. I know the tank looks much better without those black dots crawling all over the glass.
Just out of curiosity, what did they cost?

 

[Dusty280]

I bought three for $18 online. That price included shipping

 

[kc2ped]

I just bought 5 at Petco for $2.99 each