another snail sufferer- sorry that my post is kinda long :)

[Lakota]

Hello all. I need help.
I started off, as many, with a few ram's horn snails and trumpet snails that were hitch hikers along with the fish, and my pleco was taking a toll on the numbers. But, he out grew my 30 gallon and I gave him to a good home. Well, needless to say, I'm over grown with snails of both types now.
I have kuhli loaches to try to tame the numbers(6 of them to be exact) but they just aren't doing it for me, the snails are overwhelming me and the loaches. I have to kill at the very least 10-15 each day, which I hate doing. But, at least after I crush them my other fish eat the flesh, so it's not that bad, but I don't wanna keep killing them in this manner. So, long story short(too late) can anyone give me a good natural fish that can help me with my epidemic?
Now what you may need to know is my tank consists of mostly guppies, cories, one swordtail, two neons, a striped raphael, 2 platies. Mostly livebearers, anyway, what fish can I get to take care of the snails and one that one wreak havoc on my happy lil tank? Any opinions on the matter.
Oh yeah, I've tried the plate thing, where you put food in between two plates, with a space for them to climb into, but the trumpets live in the gravel and eat what's in the gravel so they do not readily go to the plate.
Again, I'm sorry this is so long, but any advice would greatly be appreciated. Thanks for sticking out the long topic

thanks-Lakota

 

[fishyrican]

Hey, another Virginian! THe first fish that comes to mind is the clown loach. Unfortunately, although clown loaches are slow growers, they do grow to about 8-12 inches.

Another factor will be your feeding habits with the fish. Snails need food to live, and will continue to thrive as long as there is sufficient food. If the food supply dwindles, the population will trim itself down as the snails compete for less available food.

 

[Jchillin]

I have to agree with fishyrican but I have to throw in another step. Ramshorns are asexual and reproduce like the dickens.

Continous searching for their egg laying locations and removing them manually will also help. I have ramshorns in my 75 gallon by choice and in my 30 gallon by accident. I pluck them out (especially the 30 gal) every week or whenever I see em' climbing on the glass. A good place to start looking is under leaves of plants and other decorations.

It'll take some time but you once you get them under control, you can then eliminate them.

 

[Guest]

As you mentioned the Malaysian Trumpet Snails stay in the gravel.. so why worry about them? They are beneficial.

Now the Ramshorns i can see why you want to get rid of :? I accidently got one in my 55 and then that 1 turned into 6... i pull the Ramshorns out every time i see one but I have clown loaches who eat the baby MTS and baby Ramshorn so they haven't gottne out of control yet. Of course my Clown loaches are TINY so they don't eat the big ones. I threw 4 of the Ramshorns into my 1 gallon betta tank just to see how fast they would multiply in there and so far they haven't produced, i think its becuase they don't have the excess food like in the 55 gallon.

 

[Menagerie]

If the mts are annoying, try adding a piece of lettuce or other veggie at night. Allow the snails to gather and then pull out the food supply withe the snails attached. You can do this at night, or keep the tank lights off and the room dark to make sure the snails come out.
Personally, I like mts in the gravel and the population of both snails can be controled by limiting the food source.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I've got snails as well, and introduces striped loaches to see if they help any. Clown loaches get too big for my tank, so I'll see how the striped loaches do.

 

[meateater540]

botia mogesta did it for me, it's been 2 weeks and i can hardly see a snail (1 or 2) before i had 50+ in there.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

hi again...

http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/botia_striata.html

The Botia Striata (Striped Loach) should be kept with peaceful species and likes its own company of about 4-6. These loaches aren't that often seen in shops although they are common in some areas of the world. Retreats should be provided for this species to hide on occasions. This species likes to school during the day. Younger specimens have slightly less dense stripes than adults. The Botia Striata is commonly confused with Botia hymenophysa and sometimes Botia helodes. This fish also destroys unwanted snails and other unwanted water pests. Some common names for this loach are: Zebra Loach, Tiger Loach, Thin lined Loach and Yellow lined Loach. Plants are appreciated by this species as it will most likely hide in them during the day. This Botia is most friendly with Clown loaches, Dario loaches, and sometimes Botia Lohachata. The maximum size that I have kept this species at is 3 inches. Soft substrate is preferred for this fish to search for food. They will accept flaked foods, sinking tablets (also sinking wafers), and frozen and live aquatic worms. I would not recommend to kept this Botia species alone. Botia Striata make a wonderful addition to any community aquarium. On occasions, this fish will chase or lightly fight against each other. This is not serious as they are not usually aggressive. I hope this information will help people in the future to learn about this great type of Botia.

 

[Lakota]

I do indeed keep my feeding level to a minimum. They just seem to come out of the wood work, it's freaky. Now, Lonewolf, will these botia striatas injure my guppies or other livebearers? And, they only get 3 inches you say?
And Ms. Ashley Nicole, I really don't want to get rid of the MTS's, but, there is a limit to how many I have safely for the fish. I'm afraid of the death problem. You know, if the MTS dies, and it's in the gravel, it's going to cause possible water problems for me and my fish See, so it's not the MTS's as much as it is the ram's horns your right, the MTS is a great snail, and I love them, but, sometimes you can have too many

And, thanks Lone wolf, I'll check up on the botia you suggested, learn about them, then the hard part, hoping my LFS has them and it sucks. My LFS has no really good fish. For instance, I bought a hatchetfish, under false pretenses that they were fine living as loners, come to find out, I get home to learn about them, and find out that they are schooling fish. NOW, I try to go back to my LFS and they have no marbled hatchetfish left, I even tried to get some Silver hatchetfish(cuz ya know, some kinda friend is better then none and I was told that they get along well) with no luck. This was at least 6 months ago, and they still have no hatchetfish of any kind. I would go to another LFS, but I live in Bumbfudge Egypt and it's the only one other then Petsmart and Petco. And, the Petco around here is a nightmare for fish lovers and the fish alike. Yikes. Anyways, thanks for the help. If anyone else has any other fish(cuz I really really do not like killing them myself, I need someone to do the dirty work for me ) I'd really appreciate it. Thanks again
Lakota

 

[youronlysin]

Deffinitely one of these. I'll let you know how he does. Noticve I have plenty of snails myself...Hes only been in the tank a few hours now.

 

[Toirtis]

Noticve I have plenty of snails myself...

Now that is an understatement!

 

[youronlysin]

I tell ya, Ive been plagued with them since I brought the first one home on a plant from the lfs. I pick them out when its easy to do so, but the tank is pretty heavily planted, so its just impossible to get them all. There are literally thousands of them in that tank. Lets hope Mr. Loach has a healthy appetite.

 

[Toirtis]

With a buffet like that, Mr. Loach is going to triple in size by X-mas!

 

[youronlysin]

With a buffet like that, Mr. Loach is going to triple in size by X-mas!

Ahhh, you see, but that is another secret weapon in itself! He will no doubt outgrow his current home and require a new one. Now, any sort of speak regarding the addition of more tanks to the household is usually a sore subject with the Mrs. My tactic here is, quite simply, that I know of one of the Mrs.' weaknesses. She refuses to allow a creature to suffer in this house. Of course, I never mentioned that I was aware that this guy could quite possibly reach almost a foot a length...that would have been the end of my diabolical plan.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

They won't hurt any other fish....

 

[Zagz]

I used a small glass jar, put a piece of zucchinni in it so the fish couldn't get into it overnight. In the morning there were tons of snails inside the jar. I removed the snails and the jar, reinstalled the zucchinni, and did it over again.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yup, that's another great way to get a hold of the snails. I just noticed that my striped loaches are doing the job, found some empty shells. Still got lots. Maybe I'll put a piece of cucumber in and let the snails come to it, and let the striped loaches have a feast.

 

[Zagz]

It's amazing how many snails there are you can't see. I have dark substrate in the 15 gal. I have been removing them manually with the cucumber and zucchinni for 3 days and probably have removed over 100 of them.

 

[youronlysin]

Just to update....my tank is now snail free and has been for about a month. The loach did the trick and now I am supplementing his diet with sinking food. It worked!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Not snail free, but under control. I moved my loaches to the 55G ang guess what? The loaches will keep them at bay, but if you remove the loach, they may come back. They do wonderful, don't they?