Soon to be Major Snail problem!!!

[briggsy43]

I have had little tiny tiny snails reproducing in my tank for a few months now. when ever I would see one I would try to pick it out. In the last week they have been doubling populations almost daily it seems. I already have 2 clown loaches in there. But they dont seem to be touching them like I presumed that they would. The tank is heavily planted, with quite a few pieces of driftwood in it also. Is there anything that I can do to try and keep them under control. If I got a assassin snail would he take care of them? the tank is a community tank with 2 loaches, 2 angel fish, danios, tetras and gouramis. The last thing that I wanna do is a complete tank tear down, ANY help or ANY suggestions is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[dkpate]

Yes, the assassin snails will take care of them, I have a TON of assassin snails. Where do you live? Just wondering because I can sell you some and ship them if you like.

 

[Neene]

Hi, I used to have tons of tiny snails, conical and round ones. But I got a little pink frog and 2 catfish and now the snails are gone. It's a 20g planted with sand substrate. The only plants I have are Hornswarts. Here is a video of my tank (the big clump on top is because the Danios had just had babies, so I left it alone when I trimmed the plants.) YouTube - Aquarium 9/2010

 

[neilanh]

I'm surprised the loaches aren't attacking them, honestly.

Usually when you see large outbursts in snail populations it's due to overfeeding. Too much excess food from feeding your fish can cause the snails to get breeding fever. Consider cutting your feedings in half to prevent the explosion to continue.

You can also place a whole leaf of lettuce in the tank. Give it a few hours and the snails will flock to it. As they're all hanging on it eating, just remove the leaf, toss it out, and replace with a fresh leaf until the numbers are down. Then, by controlling your feeding, you shouldn't have overpopulation issues.

 

[briggsy43]

Thanks Guys, I think im going to try the lettuce leaf thing. the only problem that i can forsee with that is that the snails are kind of only inhabiting a certain area of the tank. there are about 100 on one piece of driftwood, and then there are a few all over, they dont seem to move that fast at all. is it safe to leave that lettuce in over night?

 

[neilanh]

yeah, it's fine. They'll find it wherever you put it, you'll see.

Personally I don't leave any veggies in longer than 12 hours.

 

[toddnbecka]

Unless the tank is huge the clown loaches will eventually grow too large for it. Given proper care and conditions they will reach well over 12", though they seldom live long enough in aquariums. They're also social fish and really need to be kept in groups, not as a pair. If you're feeding enough for the snails to become a problem the loaches are likely too well-fed to bother with them. Assassin snails are a much better snail controller for smaller tanks, and certainly prefer them over flakes or pellets.

 

[warthog76za]

Sometimes assassin snails will take their time getting rid of those snails. Have 3 and they took their time with things got three more yesterday and one got down to business as soon as I put it in the tank. By this morning, that area it was in was scattered with empty shells!

As Neil says, most of the time its overfeeding I was guilty of that at first but got some good advice on this site and got the snails under control.