New Zealand Mud Snails

[skgould]

Hello! I think in researching that I have an outbreak of mud snails. I’ve had my planted tank ~ 10 years and in the past year only added a few mystery snails from eBay. The first time I saw a couple, I thought I must have missed a sack of mystery eggs, then because of the pointy shell I thought Malaysian trumpet, but now there are hundreds (They are breeding) and not one is larger than a few mm.

What do I do? I have many shrimp and a few pet snails. I really hope it’s not too late. I can’t believe it hitch hiked with a mystery snail order. I’ve usually been so careful and never had this happen before.

 

[Autumnsky]

Do you vac the substrate very often? Maybe get to some regular vac'ing to help remove the gunk /mulm they enjoy. Then start manually removing any you see. I just moved a tank which had so many MTS. Which at first picked them out after draining the water.

There was sand in 2/3rds of the tank and a divided area of round shrimp/plant substrate, which got mixed together so I needed to separate it and used a strainer which helped remove even more, MTS. Most were removed but I still saw some snail trails in the sand today! If I see them I will pluck them out!

Feed less food you can probably cut the food amount in half if they are breeding so plentifully.

Then the take out a plant and remove all egg sacs. Then a rock, etc. Hopefully that will put a serious dent in the numbers. Then every week or 2 go hunting for any additional pests.

 

[skgould]

I went for the nuclear option. Removed my mystery and rabbit snails and used no planaria for 3 days. Yesterday, I did a water change on day 3 because I was getting really anxious over the effect to my shrimp when I lost a bamboo shrimp. I did a 30% water change and put carbon in the filter. I thought all the mud snails died but I see three today (I squished). My ramshorns survived the treatment, but they don't bother me. I've had them for years and they have never caused any trouble.

I can't pull out plants or really vacuum the substrate anymore. My plant growth is too thick. I pull up on a plant and the whole gravel starts to come up in one giant aquarium chunk.

I'm really bummed about this whole thing. I know you can retreat in 2 weeks, but I really don't want to do that to my tank again.