Snail problem yes a snail problem

[wavetide]

Hi

I have a snail problem

are clowns the only ones that eat snails? I'd get a couple but they get too big for my 55

thanks

snail problem guy

[Zagz]

LOL snail and problem go together like peanut butter and jam IMO. I'm sure there are other fish that will eat snails and I wish I knew what they were, someone will chime in and give you an answer though.

[Jchillin]

Jewel cichlids are snail lovers as well as clown loaches. If there is another, I am not aware of them.

What kind of snail is it?

[wavetide]

These have spiral shells and are usually found on the glass just below the water line in the morning when you turn the lights on. They rarely eat plants. They burrow in the substrate during the day and come out to feed at night.

[lyquidphyre]

My snails so the exact same thing!

Well, if they are really bothering you, you could get a few smaller loaches. Is your tank almost fully stocked and thats why you can't add a loach?

Some loaches, I forget their names, only get to be about 5in and they should eat the snails

[crazycat]

is your tank planted? sounds like malaysian trumpet snails which can be beneficial for stirring up the gravel, keeping it aerated and getting rid of detritus. they do multiply like crazy though. i like having them in my tank as part of my clean up crew--but i may be in the minority...

[Zagz]

You can put a piece of lettuce in the bottom of the tank, cucumber also worked for me, in the morning the snails will be all over it and you can scoop them out.

[greenmaji]

just a side note.. my green severum's(sp?) ate snails like they were candy, since the gold severum(sp?) is just a color morph I would assume they would do the same.. just my experience

sounds like Malaysian Trumpet snails.. i actually like the little guys because they stay in the substrate, keep it cleaned up, good for live plant tanks becuase i don't deep gravel vac. I only see them like you said, come out at night are early morning.

If you don't overfeed then they won't grow as fast, if you "Starve" your tank for 2 days, feed for 1 day.. that will help lower the population as well. Of course you have to do that for a while, but it won't harm the fish.

[fish_4_all]

Get a couple small loaches, botia or clown loaches. I got 2, 2 inch clowns for one tank and 3 1.5 inch botias for another and the snails didn't last overnight. If they get too large, move to a larger tnak or trade them to a lfs for smaller ones or sell them to the lfs. I plan on moving mine to a 35 in about 6 months now that the snail problem is gone in both. The 35 needs to cycle or they owuld be in there right now. Crawdads or crayfish will eat them too but they will eat your plants.

I have clown loaches but they are small and only eat teh babies.. the larger Malaysain trumpet snails have tough shells so since my clown loaches are so tiny they can't really eat them, im sure a larger clown loach wouldn't have a problem. But a lot of the snails hide in the substrate so the loaches can't really get to them.

[wavetide]

thanks for the advice peoples

i have decided to let them stay for now

since they apparently won't eat my plants

if they get too large in #, then I'll do something about it


they seem peaceful enough

[meateater540]

And they will, i thought that when i found my first one...Then the reproduced. And how dangerous could a snail be? OMG ITS HEADING RIGHT FOR US!...heh, reminded of the scene in austin poweres.

[fish_4_all]

My smaller clown loaches and botia loaches ate snails up to the size of a quarter, they simply sucked them out of their shells. I thought they wouldn't but they did. I also put 2 ramshorns in the tank that were the original breeders in my own mess and they only lasted 3 days. All I found was an empty shell in the clown loach tank. They were the size of silver dollars.

[LydiaGreen]

Malaysian trumpet snails? I could have sworn she was describing our most recent tank problem -- pond snails! We started with five "free" ones and ended up with about a hundred in a ten gallon tank. With some help from other fish-keepers, we quickly figured out that my daughter was over-feeding her tank. My son also has a handful of pond snails in his tank but he isn't overfeeding and they haven't become a problem in there. But, we also have male bettas in each of those tanks and they do eat pond snails so that must be helping to control their population as well. If they are pond snails, they breed like rabbits, you won't get rid of all of them without loaches of some type. I have three golden dojos but didn't want to stress them out (they are 8 inches long) taking them out of their 44 and putting them in a piddly 10 with a bad-attitude betta.

[zach_fresh]

petsolutions.com sales an additive called Had a Snail, i have used it and killied alot of the little snailsm but i didnt keep it in the tank long enough. i changed the water to remove it too quickly.