Slowing down the snails.....

[Logan Zoo]

Hi all and thanks in advance for your help. We have a million tiny spiral snails that come out at night. They are wreaking havoc on certain plants. When you turn the lights on the entire back glass of our 75gal. tank is covered, they begin dropping off and disappear into the substrate. What is the best way to slow them down? I read an article that said to bait and remove them but can not find it now???? What is the best bait? Thanks!

Kevin

[BrianNY]

A supposed sure fire way via MarkLehr. Place a piece of broccoli stem or cucumber on a tupper ware lid. Place in tank over night. Remove the lid with snails attached in the morning. This may take several attempts to rid tank.

HTH

[tetrin]

yay...finally someone with a big tank and a snail problem...
in addition to what brian said, do add a trio or 4 clown loaches...they would work wonders on your snail population... 8)

[Lowcoaster]

Loaches are a great way to keep the snail population down. However, I like Botia striata (also called Striped Loach / Zebra Loach / Thin Line Loach). These are just as effective as the Clown Loach, but max out at about 3 inches SL and are quite peaceful. Be careful to get this specific species because there is a look-alike called the Tiger Loach (Botia hymenophysa) that, while is also a great snailer, gets much bigger and MUCH more aggressive.