Snail infestation

[lucavicini]

Hello,

I have a 40 litres aquarium that I use as a nursery for mollies and guppies. Few weeks ago I discovered few tiny snails in the aquarium. I cannot understand how they got in there since I quarantine everything (plants included) before adding to the tank.

To make it short, they are growing exponentially in number and they are ravaging the plants. Even at adult state they don't grow larger than few millimetres. I tried to identify the species and I believe they are Physa fontinalis but I am not certain.

I tried to get rid of them "manually", but after a week I realised that it won't be easy to eradicate the infestation.

Is there a way (a chemical for example) to get rid of the snail without harming guppy and molly fry?

Cheers
Luca

 

[James_in_MN]

You could get an assassin snail or two to keep them in check.

One thing I'd suggest before going that route is identifying why they're enjoying such a population boom. Typically, you can keep them in check by not overfeeding your fish.

I can't imagine that there would be any chemical you could use that wouldn't harm your fry, so I wouldn't even consider going that route.

 

[eco23]

Hello,

I have a 40 litres aquarium that I use as a nursery for mollies and guppies. Few weeks ago I discovered few tiny snails in the aquarium. I cannot understand how they got in there since I quarantine everything (plants included) before adding to the tank.

To make it short, they are growing exponentially in number and they are ravaging the plants. Even at adult state they don't grow larger than few millimetres. I tried to identify the species and I believe they are Physa fontinalis but I am not certain.

I tried to get rid of them "manually", but after a week I realised that it won't be easy to eradicate the infestation.

Is there a way (a chemical for example) to get rid of the snail without harming guppy and molly fry?

Cheers
Luca

Sounds like pond snails I've never had a snail problem, but I've heard of a great trick to get rid of them. Turn off the aquarium light and drop a nice piece of lettuce in there. Wait a few hours and when you come back the lettuce will be covered with snails...then you can do with them as you please. I also have heard loaches love to munch on them...and assassin snails eat them...hence the name.

 

[lucavicini]

Assassin snail! I like that. I didn't know they existed are you talking about "Anentome Helena"?
I will do a bit of research about the species.

Thank you guys, this is a great tip. I was thinking about the "final solution" i.e. Move the fries to another aquarium and bleach the tank, but your idea is much more interesting.

Cheers
Luca

 

[Rokuzachi]

My aquariums are extremely densely planted and I used to have physa fontinalis snails (along with mystery, nerite and ramshorn) that came in on plants - they never touched the plants though. Many snails won't unless your plants are dead or dying. It helps to use a bleach dip on plants that can handle it when you buy them. I've dipped plants that I did not think had snails on them, and in the bottom of the container after the dip, there were 10-20 tiny dead snails.

I think one should avoid using chemicals to fix a problem in the aquarium unless all other options are exhausted and it is truly a severe problem. One of the best weapons in combating unwanted snail population is to limit feeding and keep the tank pristine. I constantly removed dead and dying plant matter and excess food from the tank, and my fontinalis population is almost non existent now.

The trap method that eco suggested is also a good one with many variations. Whatever you do, try to avoid adding chemicals to fix the problem - especially since its a nursery.

 

[lucavicini]

I think my identification must be wrong and it is not physa fontinalis. The snails in the tank are attacking healthy leaves. In particular they are fond of the new leaves on top of the plants.

I clean the tank twice a week, removing dead leaves and food rests. I maybe tend to overfeed a little bit and this is what is probably supporting the explosive population growth.

I will follow your advice and stay out of chemicals solutions. I will probably go down the assassin snail path.

 

[numbo81chris]

I had a similar issue regarding a snail infestation, I added some clown loaches into the aquarium and after they settled in for a few hours income back and notice they were chowin down on the snails
Was instructed not to feed them until the infestation was nearly gone, now they make a nice addition to the aquarium, even tho they enjoy playing dead....

 

[Mogurako]

To the OP the lettuce method works pretty well can take a little to get them them all. When i had my community I would always just put one or two of my loaches in the tank and no snails in a couple of days.

Roku what plants can't be dipped and what water to bleach ratio do you use?!

 

[lucavicini]

Just ordered a couple of Assassin Snails. They will arrive Wednesday morning.

 

[lucavicini]

Assassin Snails... or maybe better... Phlegmatic snails.

When I bought my two assassin snails, from the name I would have expected to put in my tank two voracious hunters. In reality as soon as I put them in the tank they burrowed in the sand with just the tip of the shell and the little snorkel out of the sand. In 48h they moved maybe 3 or 4 cm.

Am I doing something wrong here? Do I have to wait more that they get acclimatized to the new environment?

 

[fishnewbe420]

I had a mts problem I'm my kids tank (29 gal) I droped two assassin snails in there that night they took out 4 mts now they take 1 out every other day but I have never seen the assassin's bury themselves its all ways the mts that do that

 

[eco23]

Did you try the lettuce trick?

 

[lucavicini]

I just tried the lettuce trick.
It works fairly well for capturing 10 to 20 snails at a time. By continuing like that I will probably curb the infestation within few days.

In the mean time the AS are on top of each other. Maybe mating?

 

[Philly33]

I bought a Yo Yo Loach and in 2 days all removed. Just have to vacuum out the shells.

 

[lucavicini]

It's a nursery tank.
Very likely a yo yo loach would complement the snail diet with guppies fries...

For now I will use the lettuce trick to control the snail population, waiting that the fries reach maturity.
After that I will move the fries and the two AS to another tank and bleach what is left behind.