Aquarium Snails. >:(

[ddereckl]

Hey everyone, so a couple weeks ago...i bought some live plants. And those plants (little did I know) had a couple critters hitch a ride with it . When I saw the first snail a few days later I qucikly removed it. Then more started popping up and i'm like "****". So I am currently cycling my tank and I just thought that when I do my 90% water change (im doing a fish less cycle) i could remove all the snails on the glass. My cycle was almost finished but I OD'ed on ammonia and my entire cycle restarted. So now im stuck with looking at a snail infested tank for another 4 weeks. What can I do to remove them? They are tiny snails so its impossible to remove by hand.

 

[fishfanatic]

I have never tried this but many people say that it works. They say put a piece of lettuce in the aquarium right before night then in the morning it will have attracted a lot of snails, then dispose of the lettuce.

 

[bloodlucky]

Yeah they are a pain in the ***. Get some loaches or dwarf puffers or something. They will do the job for you. I follow the instructions from this Simpsons episode where they are in Japan and learning to gut fish. It goes like this

Knife goes in
Guts come out
That's what the Osaka SeaFood Concern
Is all about!

Just follow those lines and gut away at your snails! That way you can have fun AND rid of your pond snails

 

[paytertot]

I would think that the ammonia from continuing your cycle would kill them off. They are the only inhabitants right?

 

[ddereckl]

They are the only inhabitants. My ammonia was accidentally dosed to about an 8 but they are still alive and slicking.

 

[FishontheRock]

They are the only inhabitants. My ammonia was accidentally dosed to about an 8 but they are still alive and slicking.

If there is nothing to eat they will die off. Give it time.

 

[ianeberle]

Try clipping a piece of normal lettuce to the side of your tank right before you go to bed. Some of the snails will attach to the lettuce (as they did your plant) and then in the morning you can simply put the lettuce in a Ziplock bag and throw it away (with the snails still attached). This won't remove them all, but it can help control the population.

Another possible way to control them would be to buy a loach or another snail-eating fish.

 

[librarygirl]

Do a Google search for aquarium snail trap. I wouldn't get fish to solve a problem especially if you aren't going to keep it long-term. The snails won't harm anything, they're just unsightly lol Best to just find a way to remove them naturally.

 

[ianeberle]

Do a Google search for aquarium snail trap. I wouldn't get fish to solve a problem especially if you aren't going to keep it long-term. The snails won't harm anything, they're just unsightly lol Best to just find a way to remove them naturally.

Hence my lettuce idea

 

[hcourts]

Assassin snails...I put two in my pest infested tank and it took then about 3 weeks to take them all out plus they are real pretty and don't get big

 

[ianeberle]

Do said assassin snails mate like crazy? Ironically enough, just a couple days after replying to people on this thread about how to remove snails, my tank has become infested... And infested with snail eggs all over the glass.

It was like one minute everything was fine and the next minute there were five snails on the glass. I have two skunk loaches, but they don't seem interested in snacking on them.

 

[Rivercats]

If you use lettuce be sure to run hot water over it to soften it up. It will work much better as the snails will be able to eat on it better. Be sure to get up early to take it out as some little buggers willl eat and run at first light... but if they are pigs then you can just reuse the lettuce over and over for a day and just shake the little buggers off periodically. I accidently got pond snails in a tank when we brought in some small water hyacinths for the tank. They went from 1 to 100 overnight! I actually wanted some yo-yo loaches and man do they love those pond snails! Another thing is if you have a canister filter the little buggers will get in there and lay eggs to keep the cycle going and you'll wonder where the heck are they coming from. I don't even mind now as they are a natural food for the yo-yo's and man do those little snails ever fatten the loaches up and make them grow.