Snail, Snail, Snail...Oh look Another Snail, Snail...

[kribbman]

Despite having been quite rigorous in my anti snail measures, quarantine, washing, inspecting, neurotic observation. I somehow ended up with a snail infestation. I suspect it happened when I changed my substrate from regular gravel to flourite. because I havent added anything new to my tank and the snails only showed up sometime afterwards.. Ive had my plants ornaments and Fish for well over a year and the flourite for since about august of last year. At first I noticed a tiny little cone shaped snail and quickly smashed it agianst the front glass, My fish didnt take any interest. Then I saw another one and smashed it as well and a few weeks later there were literally hundreds of them. I havent really done anything else as they seem to leave my plants alone and dont get into my filter or diffusor. So I decided to let them be for the time being. But now I look in my tank and it seems I have more snails than substrate. Ive got big snails Small snails, and little itty bitty snails on top of other snails. My plants seem to be doing well despite them. But what Id like to know from you guys is what I can do about them. I know this must be like the thousandth thread asking about this, so I apologize. I was thinking more along the lines of intorducing a snail eating fish in there.

Currently I have a spawning pair of kribs which you might of heard me (bragging/complaing) about in my threads named "Yippe my kribs have spawned again vol 5. this is getting old" or something along the lines. And I also have a bristle nose pleco in there. They all seem to get along in their 20 galon house. What other type of fish could I introduce..(even if only temporary) that could get along with the others

 

[jcarlilesiu]

A couple clown loaches will fix your issue and get very fat in the process.

 

[joy13]

Myself I use snails to guage my tank. If I have an explosion of snails I know I am overfeeding, they keep my live plants in shape by eating the dead and dieing parts (they live the healthy parts alone), and if I see they are trying to escape it is time for me to check my water usually it is because there is a spike somewhere nothing a PWC can't fix.

 

[fort384]

I prefer the zebra loaches. A little more difficult to find, but they don't grow quite as large as the clowns, and I really like their coloration. Since adding my zebra loach, I never see more than 1 or 2 snails at time in my entire 29 gal... The snails usually only last 1 night when they do decide to venture up the glass.

 

[KenW]

We got 2 loaches and all the snails were gone after an hour and we've only seen a few since.And since we got the loaches, no snails have survived to adulthood.

Loaches require a larger tank though so do some research with that, and they are better in pairs I am told. The 2 we have are inseparable. They're fun to watch too!

 

[jsoong]

Those look like Malaysian trumpet snails .... They are good to have in a planted tank - aerate the soil, get rid of detritus, and don't eat live plants. You might just want to leave them alone. <You can regulate their population by decreasing the amount of available food.>