snail problem

[Keeper]

i'm sure making good use of this website. Thank you to all that have helped me so far. I now call on you yet again.

It looks like I brought some snails home with my last 2 plants(little round brownish things). How do I get rid of them. Can I add a clown loach for a couple weeks until my new 10gal is cycled and then transfer him there?

 

[William]

Why not just leave them?

They really don't harm anything as long as their well fed.


I keep these supposed " pest snails " in 3 of my tanks. You will be hard pressed to find any algae in my tanks, nd they are also superb at getting all the bits of leftover food eaten up.

And I think their just interesting, I've had them for a long time and they are not in abundance, They breed and reproduce. However, the ammount of snails in the tank is proportional to the food they get.

 

[Menagerie]

Clown loaches do best in groups of three or more and will out grow a 10 gal.
I added mts to two of my tanks for algea help and they aerate the sand.

 

[Keeper]

So, they will do no harm to my tank. What about reproduction....do they reproduce rapidly or are they pretty controlled?

 

[Menagerie]

It depends on how many resources they have. Are these snails in a planted tank only? If there are fish around, the snails will eat the waste and excess food. They also produce their own waste and add to the bio load.

 

[Keeper]

it is a fully planted 5.5gal with 3 tetras and 3 guppies with 2 amano shrimp. Am I going to get overrun with snails or should I be ok

 

[flipz]

You can send me all of them. My puffer's snail habit is running my finances into the ground. It's like a bad crack addiction. Haha

You would be very surprised at how much waste snails can produce. A lot of people will say just leave it. Personally I have tried breeding snails in a 1.5 gallon jug I have, and you would not even imagine how much waste is at the bottom of that jug in just 1 night. And the only thing I leave in it iis the plant that they came on from the store.

Well, with that said I can't really give you any advice. haha. Most people will say to put a piece of lettuce in there overnight. Most of the snails will attach to it to eat, and then you can just take that piece out. There are chemicals made to kill them, however I don't think they are very safe for your plants or fish. So others will say to just keep them. Without a fish to control the population, they WILL breed, very rapidly. It is possible that you will be overrun.

I don't really know what I'm suggesting. It's a tough decision, especially on a 5.5 gal tank. Might be easiest to just simply try picking them out with your hands, and the lettuce idea. I hope that helps you some.

-brent

 

[William]

They will only breed and live to the ammount of food avalible.


I have them in a tank with my molly fry, they can't eat them and they don't even show interest in them. Even with direct feeding of the pest snails, despite how much they breed there are only 10 to 15 in the tank at any given time.

 

[flipz]

William,
That's why i said it's *possible* he could be overrun. Some people (such as yourself) have no problems with them. Others get infested and seem to have hundreds. I suppose it all depends on the breed, and the water conditions such as heat, SG, etc. Either way if conditions are right, they will breed, and it's possible he could be overrun. lol.

-brent

 

[Keeper]

well....I have bought a clown loach to take care of them...in 2 -3 weeks he will be moved to a much larger tank. Hope this works. Thanks to all for the help

 

[TankGirl]

I would say that if you do not want a bunch of snails then getting rid of them is the ticket. I have a tank where they have been an incredible pest, and other tanks where they are present but not a problem. I somewhat enjoy snails, but it seems that if you don't want them you are overrun with them, and if you want them (like for your puffers, which is why I got my original ones) you have trouble getting them to reproduce. The loach will make short work of the snails, but also might uproot your plants, so watch out for that.