Some Snails snuck in on a plant, now what do I do??

[u2_Crazy]

I read that Lettuce or Cucumber in the tank would attract them and then I could simply remove the lettuce with Snails on board, but with all great advice that seems to easy to be true, it was not very effective. I did notice a snail on the lettuce, but the rest were happily sliming the glass and other parts of my tank, so on to Plan B. Bring in an exterminator. I haven't added any fish to my tank yet but I was planning on acquiring 4 Tetra's tomorrow. My final stock list was supposed to be 6 Tiger Barbs, 4 Tetras, 4 Cory's, 2 Gouramis. I have read that the clown loach likes to suck snails from their shells but they will get too big for my 29ga tank and they weren't in the stock list I chose so, are there any smaller alternatives or is there any other snail erradication tips?

 

[bosk1]

Yo-yo loaches. If your lfs doesn't have them, they are common enough that they should be able to order them for you. I have seen posts here about yo-yos loving snails as well.

 

[Guest]

what kind of snails? What do they look like?

Even with a snail eater... you are pretty much stuck with them. YOu can also pick them out one by one the ones that you see.

 

[bosk1]

Even with a snail eater... you are pretty much stuck with them.

Well, I wouldn't say that. He could always drop a small French man into his tank for a few days with a bowl of butter and garlic. I'm sure that would do the trick.

 

[u2_Crazy]

The snails are very small and white (almost see thru). I think you would need quite a few to make a small Frenchman with butter happy So Loaches enjoy snails, but they don't really fit into my stock plan, are there any Corys or Cat fish that eat snails? otherwise, I guess snail hunting one by one is the only way to go.

 

[bosk1]

Sorry that doesn't fit into your plans. I don't know whether cories would do the trick or not. But I do know that once you get a snail infestation, it is almost impossible to get them out just by handpicking them because they breed like crazy, and you will never be able to find all the eggs.

Oh, and just to clarify in case this wasn't clear from my previous post: The butter goes in the bowl. You don't actually butter the Frenchman himself. He might like that; he might not. Just want to make sure that was clear.

 

[Guest]

Pond snails:
http://re2.mm-b1.yimg.com/image/956293726
Trumpet snails
http://www.fishpalace.org/M_tuberculata.jpg
http://re2.mm-b1.yimg.com/image/912671340
http://www.wrraquatech.com/images/snail2a.jpg
Ramshorn snails
http://re2.mm-b1.yimg.com/image/873862645


which one do they look most like? Loaches will eat the pond and ramshorn snails. They will try to suck out the Trumpet snails... but i like the MTS because they keep the substrate clean and i use them in my 10 gallon with sand to keep the substrate agitated.


Oh btw... cories don't eat snails, i don't think they can crunch the shells like the laoches do.

 

[JB]

Even with a snail eater... you are pretty much stuck with them.

Well, I wouldn't say that. He could always drop a small French man into his tank for a few days with a bowl of butter and garlic. I'm sure that would do the trick.

How about trying an old American trick,
and just "Napalm" them?

 

[u2_Crazy]

I think they are pond snails. So the final option would be a chemical option I guess, any suggestions that way?

If I chose to go with Loaches, would one Loach be suffiecient or would I have to get 2 or more? Also, would there be enough food on the bottom for 2 loaches and 4 corys? or could I skip the corys and get 2 loaches and 2 other cats?

I am so confused now, I had a great stock list all picked out and now it's out the window again! damit, friggin snails.

 

[rich311k]

You can try it manually first. Put a lettuce leaf or some vegetable in the tank. Anchor it to the bottom. In the morning it should be covered in snails. Do it for acouple of nights in a row. Try not to overfeed that will help control the population as well. Those snail killing chemicals can be dangerous, and lead to ammonia spikes with alll the dead bodies in the tank.

 

[Guest]

Don't use the chemical option... especially if you use copper you can never get it out of the aquarium. What size is the tank? If i were you id just go with your initial stocking plan... pick out the snails whenever you see them... and maybe add 2 loaches to the plan. You can always feed sinking food for the bottom feeders.

 

[bosk1]

I would try Rich's solution first. If you do go with some loaches, you could just go with one or two and reduce the number of cories to 2. They are more fun in larger groups, but I have seen plenty of tanks with just one or two. Or just maybe get one yo-yo loach, make sure you go with one of the smaller varieties of cory and stick with your plan of 4, and just make sure to keep up on your water changes. You might be pushing the limits of your bioload a bit, but not by too much since these fish aren't big polluters. You might even bump the number of tiger barbs down to 5 or even 4 if you are concerned. As I'm thinking it out, maybe that's your best bet: replace one of your intended tiger barbs with a yo-yo loach if you can't get the snails out manually. Sure, he won't be as happy as if you had a group of loaches, but he'll be fine until your MTS kicks in and you get another tank. But seriously, hope that helps.

 

[u2_Crazy]

Well, I think I'll stick with my original plan for now and try to catch as many snails as possible manually, if it gets out of control then I'll bring in a piar of loaches. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[zach_fresh]

i had a major snail problem and i still have a small one here is what i did-

before you put any fish in, buy something called Had a Snail, it will kill them, but it uses copper. i used some of it but stopped because it made my hatchet throw up

for a couple of days i feed hardly anything, this seemed to work the best.

i also sometimes will wait until the lights go out and then vacum the snails out, that works great too.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Striped (Zebra) Loaches are awesome for ridding snails. Yoyo's do a pretty good job too, but with mine, the Striped Loaches seem to find them first. I sometimes put pest snails free from the lfs in my tank for the loaches. And quite often I end up cleaning out empty snail shells that are floating on the surface.

For a 29G, you can go with either yoyo's or Striped (Zebra) Loaches. My preference is Striped, as they stay small, under 2.5 inches.

 

[QTOFFER]

If you go snail hunting at night and squish the snails with your fingers or a clean sponge, the fish will eat the remains. A few nights of this should bring the snail population down dramatically.

 

[Xzap]

I stopped trying to fight them and started using them as food. Every morning I just squish the ones at the top of the tank and somebody eats it.

Dave