exponential pond snail growth control ideas?

[tomherndon]

Any tips on reducing/controlling a snail bloom?

pond snails have run amuck in my 10 gallon with some neons and a cory. Their appetites/activity have started to damage plants. I enjoyed the action of a pond snail or two, but the horde is overwhelming. (cute to terrible in three weeks)

The one cool part, I've finally witnessed a snail sailing inverted across the aquarium surface. . .

there's the "plier" method described on an earlier post, but I'm interested in some less mushy alternatives - and I've got a toddler in the house that I don't want to give ideas. . .

I have a feeling I know the answer, is there a method to keep some pond snails without having dozens in small tanks or do I need to make plans to eradicate the lot of them?

 

[NoSvOrAx]

Control the amount of food and you can control their amount of reproduction.
I've heard that kuhli loaches, the smaller snake like loach, will eat the eggs.

 

[JeffreyL]

If they are eating plants, then you unfortunately have one of the less desirable pond snails. Some leave plants alone. I have dealt with a plague of small ramshorns in several tanks. They are harmless, but will breed like rabbits. lol

First, pull out all you can catch. During waterchanges I like to suck them out. Or just wash your hands and grab some when you see them.

Reducing food, as, NoSvOrAx, suggested, will help a lot. Uneaten food will cause the numbers to go up.

Remove any eggs you see. Usually a small, flat, pale white or clear mass. Obvious benefit. lol

Avoid any chemical warefare. These typically use copper, which will stay in your tank a long time. Poisoning any future invertebrates.

This should get your snail population down to a manageable number. About the only good way to eradicate them is to strip the tank, and effectively sterilize everything. But the plants will likely harbour a few. So short of tossing all the plants ........

HTH and Good Luck!!!!!

 

[Alshain]

Manual removal is probably your best option. Turn you lights off after sun down and wait an hour or two. Turn the lights on and start grabbing all you see. Its painstaking the first time but after that, just remove them every time you see them. It will be easier on a 10 gallon.

As Jeffery mentioned, your last resort option is a complete and total breakdown. I don't really recommend this at all, as manual removal keeps them manageable. But if you do decide to do this, know that you will have to empty the tank, bleach dip the plants & equipment & tank, replace or oven bake the substrate. Then once your certain you have killed all the snails and eggs, you have to start your cycle from scratch. It is not a pleasant experience.

 

[bra_van_drakh]

i think as long as they dont bother ur plants its owkay, dont u think ??? they help to clean up a bit. ..reducing food will be effective, but if u keep tetras, something like cardinals, then it'll be hard not to let any food to end as a waste on the substrate. . .picking them up will be fun enough^^

actually, when I'm kinda bored of my fish sometimes, it's always enjoyable to see my fast moving flying snails, ha44. . .

 

[JeffreyL]

I agree, a few snails are useful and neat to watch. But when they get out of hand or you get the kind of pond snails that are not good neighbors ...... time to become The Snailinator!!!!!

Okay, I could have resisted that.

But why?

 

[patryuji]

haha, I have a problem with the snails not multiplying fast enough!

I keep them in a 10gal planted community tank (with some neons & a variety of shrimp) and my kids like to fish them out to put them in the bigger tank which has loaches. My 10 gallon can sometimes go 2 weeks without a single snail in sight but my loaches look happy!

 

[Skyrmir]

The trick I used was algae wafers and having sand for a substrate. I dropped in a few wafers just before lights out, and about 20 minutes after that, turned the lights back on. Scoop the writhing mass of snails into a fish net and shake the sand out. Disposal method after that is up to you. I scooped them through some salty ice water, then threw them away in a ziploc bag.

I tried the lettuce leaf thing a few times, but didn't have a lot of luck with it. The scoop method cut down the population much better. Now my clown loaches actually have to search for snails. The occasional click-crunch in the dark lets me know they're still finding plenty of late night snacks. Other than that, I barely see snails in there, even though I know my sand is pretty much a living mass.

 

[Phoenixphire55]

you could get a dwarf puffer or two in a new tank and periodically transplant as many snails as possible into that tank for the puffers to eat

 

[tomherndon]

Thanks for all the advice. We're not set up around the house to expand the aquaria or populations within, I think I've got them at their limit. So I'll have to follow a more hands on removal/population limiting method. I don't think the neons are aggressive enough to make the plier method workable.

 

[SparKy697]

food = snails.

You can use lettuce or algae wafers to attract and trap the bulk of them. The bottom line is that if you have leftover food, you will have more snails.

 

[7Enigma]

I'm the one that mentioned the plier method, and have been using it ever since I first posted with great results. It has helped to keep the population in check and my fish fight over the falling crushed snails like caviar!

As for your particular problem I would say manual removal is really your best bet. If your tank has been set up for a long time a good cleaning of the substrate may be required to curb the growth. A lot of food/rotting debris can get into the substrate depending on the type and no amount of water changes can prevent all the food that has worked its way into the cracks.

What you want to do then is systematically remove the substrate and clean it. You can try to keep the beneficial bacteria by cleaning with dechlorinated water, or you can clean part of the substrate at a time.

I have a diatom filter and so can clean substrate in a bucket without having to worry about harming the bacteria and it works great. You would be surprised just how much junk can build up in such a small amount of sand/gravel!