Snail Infestation

[Cynic]

Hi all,

I have a friend who is currently experiencing an ammonia spike presumably as a result of a snail infestion I am partially to blame for (I purchased two anubias on driftwood for her which presumably held the eggs).

I'm a bit confused as to the correct course to advise her, at the moment the plan is to remove the fish into temporary QT tanks in order to reduce their exposure to ammonia and to treat the tank with some form of copper sulfate.

There does appear to be a lot of warnings about using copper sulfate but from what I have read this is mostly in regards to the prolonged danger for invertebrates in the tank.

If the tank will be empty and will not be housing any inverterbrates is there any reason not to proceed with a copper sulfate treatment?

Cheers in advance

 

[somethingsfishy]

I'd say to stay away from chemicals. How high is the spike? Put in lettuce to gather the snails and the dispose of them. Chemicals make me nervous. Do you use prime? If so dose immediately and do a 50% water change to keep the levels down.

 

[Cynic]

From what I've be told the ammonia is at 8.0 and she uses a dechlorinator but not Prime brand

 

[GodFan]

From what I've be told the ammonia is at 8.0 and she uses a dechlorinator but not Prime brand

Holy cow are you sure thats not ph?! If that is ammonia then a HUGE water chance is needed ASAP! Then in a couple hours another water change!
As far as the snails go I have gotten rid of a large infestation by emptying the tank and then killing all the babies I saw whenever I saw them.

 

[somethingsfishy]

Not to doubt anyone but is her tank cycled? That size spike would require a ton of snails. Is the at tank established? Best thing may be to remove the fish

 

[GodFan]

Not to doubt anyone but is her tank cycled? That size spike would require a ton of snails. Is the at tank established? Best thing may be to remove the fish

True. That is a crazy spike.

 

[Cynic]

Holy cow are you sure thats not ph?! If that is ammonia then a HUGE water chance is needed ASAP! Then in a couple hours another water change!
As far as the snails go I have gotten rid of a large infestation by emptying the tank and then killing all the babies I saw whenever I saw them.

I can't be sure of the results but I know she uses an API Liquid test and am pretty sure we are dealing with an ammonia problem. A 50% water change was apparently done this morning and we'll do another one this afternoon.

Not to doubt anyone but is her tank cycled? That size spike would require a ton of snails. Is the at tank established? Best thing may be to remove the fish

It's a strange one...I certainly wouldn't have attributed such a spike to the snails but I thought that because her filter was literally crawling with them they may have eaten the her bioload.

As for cycling what she actually did was run her cannister filter for one of my tanks for around 3 months before transferring it over to her tank (I think I scared her off fishless cycling by seeing her watch me stare at an empty tank for 2-3 months).

This was around 6 months ago I would say. I guess it is possible she has overloaded her biolfilter by adding too much stock to quickly which could have caused an ammonia spike? It's such a high reading it's strange though.

 

[angel4335]

How big is the tank and what fish are in it? when was the last time she added fish?

 

[Cynic]

How big is the tank and what fish are in it? when was the last time she added fish?

Now you're starting to strain me

It's 200L (4' / 50G)...

Her stock is, to the best of my knowledge...

1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 Pictus Catfish
2 Dwarf Gourami
2 Paradise Fish
1 Glass Catfish
2 Chinese Algae Eater
4 Balloon Molly
4 Guppy
4 Molly

The following fish have been added over the past two months...

2 Paradise Fish
1 Glass Catfish
2 CAE
4 Balloon Molly

Hope that helps