Attack of the snails!

[QuietPlotter]

An unexpected guest arrived with my hornwart. A small, no larger that 7 millimeter snail.


Will it reproduce? I would love the opportunity to add Assassins. Will it eat my plants though?


What WILL it do? Lol


QP

 

[Gemstar]

They take over your tank in a matter of weeks unfortunately!!! I had to rinse my entire tank to get rid of them!! I am also interested in an assassin snail, sounds like it could be a great idea to keep the numbers down

 

[nedge85]

I have the problen and i have 4 assassins and they r wrking. I know u shouldnt buy one thing to solve another but the are great once they get goin

 

[QuietPlotter]

Unless they eat my plants, it's no biggie. Do they?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Usually if you don't over feed you won't have a huge population of snails. I just squish the ones I find.

 

[Witt2002]

I, too, had a "1 snail turned into dozens of snails" problem. I tried picking them out and taking them to the neighborhood pond as I saw them, but I couldn't keep up. Aquarium Adventure suggested getting a clown loach fish, and he seemed to do the trick. I only see one or two snails at any given time. Snails are treats for the loaches.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

See, the problem is with clown loaches is they get big and by that I mean huge! They also need schools of at least 6 of their own kind. If you have heaps, get a piece of lettuce, leave it in the tank overnight, in the morning it will be covered in snails. Remove it, put it in a bag, then freeze. Then chuck it in the trash.

 

[Witt2002]

See, the problem is with clown loaches is they get big and by that I mean huge! They also need schools of at least 6 of their own kind. If you have heaps, get a piece of lettuce, leave it in the tank overnight, in the morning it will be covered in snails. Remove it, put it in a bag, then freeze. Then chuck it in the trash.

Okay, I may have some other kind of loach then. The fish store said I only needed 1 and he wouldn't get any bigger than 3 inches or so. I like the lettuce idea though. That sounds like it would work really well. I wish I thought of that!!!!!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Okay, I may have some other kind of loach then. The fish store said I only needed 1 and he wouldn't get any bigger than 3 inches or so. I like the lettuce idea though. That sounds like it would work really well. I wish I thought of that!!!!!

I think all loaches need schools. Can you post a picture so someone can ID him for you?

 

[Witt2002]

Can you tell from these? He got shy when I got the camera out.

 

[Witt2002]

I just researched it a but and think its a dwarf loach. They get to 2.5 inches, which sounds about right. I'm concerned 'cause it too says to keep it in a school with a minimum of 5. What happens if a schooling fish doesn't have a school?

 

[Derekkaine]

How do you squish a snail?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I just researched it a but and think its a dwarf loach. They get to 2.5 inches, which sounds about right. I'm concerned 'cause it too says to keep it in a school with a minimum of 5. What happens if a schooling fish doesn't have a school?

Does this look like him?
http://www.aquariumdomain.com/viewSpeciesFreshwater.php?id=63#

 

[Mumma.of.two]

How do you squish a snail?

With your finger! When you hear a crunch you know you got it right

 

[Mrscbennett]

The loach that you have looks like a Botia Kubotai. You are cheating yourself by not having a school! They are very active and fun to watch.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I just researched it a but and think its a dwarf loach. They get to 2.5 inches, which sounds about right. I'm concerned 'cause it too says to keep it in a school with a minimum of 5. What happens if a schooling fish doesn't have a school?

If he doesn't have a school he will hide more, feel nervous, stress and may not live as long as he should. If you don't have the room for more you should rehome him.

 

[Witt2002]

The loach that you have looks like a Botia Kubotai. You are cheating yourself by not having a school! They are very active and fun to watch.

That's definitely him! Thanks to you and mumma.of.2 for finding him. I should go write that down so I don't forget!!

 

[Witt2002]

If he doesn't have a school he will hide more, feel nervous, stress and may not live as long as he should. If you don't have the room for more you should rehome him.

Thanks. He's been quite active, and the fish store said having 1 was ok, so I never gave it any thought. But, I overly obsess about the happiness of my fish, so I'll have to look into it!

 

[Hholly]

That's a cool looking fish!

 

[Sharkbait54]

Yep common name yoyo loach.