What is the easiest way to control snail populations?
I have a 55 gallon deep tank. 30" w, 18 d, 24 h(odd shape). The snails hitched a ride on a plant. That is where I found them 2 weeks after the tank was started. There was a good 25 of them under the substrate(gravel) around the roots. I don't mind snails, they do a great job on algae and I would be okay with some but these are spreading really quickly. I am pretty sure they are the Ramshorn snails. Some are red, orange, brown or black and pretty small. I have searched around the web and it looks like my options are traps, tools, chemicals(don't like that), assassin snails, loaches or manual methods like lettuce and cucumbers. And then there is cutting down on the food. I have live plants. My water parameters are, ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and the nitrates 20ppm. PH is 7.4. I don't want to mess up the parameters.
6 red platies adults (3 male, 3 female - mistake)
2 baby red platies from them mating(not sure of sex yet)
8 zebra Danios
2 peppered corydoras
2 albino corydoras
and many snails.
I should have purchased one kind of corydoras, but the LFS said they would be fine. I feel bad. Also I wish the LFS would have given me 4 females and 2 males on the platies. Would have been better for the females.
I have a 55 gallon deep tank. 30" w, 18 d, 24 h(odd shape). The snails hitched a ride on a plant. That is where I found them 2 weeks after the tank was started. There was a good 25 of them under the substrate(gravel) around the roots. I don't mind snails, they do a great job on algae and I would be okay with some but these are spreading really quickly. I am pretty sure they are the Ramshorn snails. Some are red, orange, brown or black and pretty small. I have searched around the web and it looks like my options are traps, tools, chemicals(don't like that), assassin snails, loaches or manual methods like lettuce and cucumbers. And then there is cutting down on the food. I have live plants. My water parameters are, ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and the nitrates 20ppm. PH is 7.4. I don't want to mess up the parameters.
6 red platies adults (3 male, 3 female - mistake)
2 baby red platies from them mating(not sure of sex yet)
8 zebra Danios
2 peppered corydoras
2 albino corydoras
and many snails.
I should have purchased one kind of corydoras, but the LFS said they would be fine. I feel bad. Also I wish the LFS would have given me 4 females and 2 males on the platies. Would have been better for the females.