Snails, Snails, And More Snails! They Won't Stop Coming!

[destinyxrose]

So I seem to have a major snail infestation. I had purchased a GSP sometime back and I had purchased some small snails for him to chow down on. He has then since past on unfortunately and I have since purchased new fish for my tank. The snails won't seem to go away and I am not sure what to do. Last time that I went to remove them I had over 50 in my 10 gallon tank. When I removed them I had even purchased a new 35 gallon tank and it seems I did not get them all because they are back. I am wanting to know if there is any way of getting rid of them without starting over completely with new rocks, decorations, plants etc. The tank I now have consists of 3 Platys, 2 Mollies, 3 Red Minor Tetra, 3 Zebra Danios, 2 Ghost Shrimp and 1 African dwarf frog. So as far as I am aware, if I get another puffer, 1. It needs brackish water to strive in, and 2. I think that more than just the snails will die. Is there anything I can do to get rid of them? They are black mystery snails. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks much!

 

[bagu]

you could rehome the GSP for a while, then get some assassin snails in, some yoyo loaches in, maybe a few dwary puffers?

good luck mate

 

[Kizz]

i had the same problem with snailsinmy wee 8 gal fry tank so i bought some cory's put them inthere to keep the tank going i now don't have any new snails as the cory's munch on the egg's at least that way you'll be able to catch the snails and only keep the ones you want ...May need more cory's for a 35Gal tho

 

[chesterscot]

you could always buy some snail killer med
scot

 

[Kizz]

make sure they don't contain copper tho that can be quite lethal to your shrimp

 

[destinyxrose]

you could always buy some snail killer med
scot

My Boyfriend mentioned that he heard of it and his words exactly were "Why put a poison in with fish. That's like us sitting in a poison that kills dogs"

Is there any concern for my fish by using this? Would I need to temporarily move my fish to do this? I'd rather deal with the snails than lose any of my beloved fish.

My boyfriend also said putting like a slice of cucumber in the tank and leave it over night and the next day all the snails would be on it so it would be easier to remove. I know this doesn't fix the whole problem because of their eggs but have you ever heard of this and if so is that true?

 

[destinyxrose]

i had the same problem with snailsinmy wee 8 gal fry tank so i bought some cory's put them inthere to keep the tank going i now don't have any new snails as the cory's munch on the egg's at least that way you'll be able to catch the snails and only keep the ones you want ...May need more cory's for a 35Gal tho

That's not a bad idea. Might help at least. I am assuming from your tank info that Corys are ok to be in a tank with Platys, Danios, Red Minor Tetra and Mollys? And a frog? I like my ghost shrimp but hardly see them so if they go they go they only cost me like 50 cents. I don't want to lose anything but I know that the shrimp may have some problems with resolving this issue. Could you give me some basic info on corys. I know nothing about them. Thanks for your response.

 

[markandhisfish]

a method i seen before is put some lettuce in the tank just before lights out. ( will obviously need weighting down) then in the morning it should be covered in snails. remove and repeat untill you stop getting snails.

 

[Kizz]

Corys are a peacefullil fish the grow to about 2inches in lenth and do preffer being in shoals i keep mine in groups of 3+.They shoal well together and are very fun active little fish because they do live on the bottom you need to feed food's such as algae wafers or tablets but they will eat flake that drops to the bottom or frozen or live food.Your gravel or sand should be smooth otherwise it will erode there barbells.You can keep diffrent groups of species of cory's together in the same tank they really don't mind each others company but it is best to keep them in groups of there on species ie 3bronze 3 albino etc etc. They like temps of about 22-26oC.You can also get pygmy cory's that don't grow as large i currently have 6 Peppered cory 3 bronze cory 2 albino and 6 false Julli .Theres hundreds of diffrent species others are harder to get but you should be able to pick up the 4 species i mentioned failry easy !!

Hope the info helps!!

 

[MHunt]

Generally, a cause for excess snails is excess food. Keep an eye on how much you are feeding your tank, reduce the amount for a while and look at the snail population. Perhaps you need to feed less but more often to make sure the fish get enough food and less is wasted?

 

[MermaidMel]

I had loads of baby ramshorns, I bought 1 assassin and never saw a ramshorn again after that

 

[Fats]

Will assasin snails eat apple snails and trumpet snails? i to have noticed the odd common snail after lights out which i have been just removing.

thanks
Ian

 

[Geoff1991]

I would leave a couple in, theyre good for the tank, especially if its planted.

 

[Gilli]

All you need to do is pick them out squish them and drop them back into the tank! Your fish will fight over them and they are a free source of excellent food! If you do that every day then the polulation will soon drop to almost nothing - thats what I did!

 

[coldcazzie]

I used to squish them on the side of the tank...but if you want to go for something that kills them without any effort on your part and wont kill any of your other tank inhabitants then an assassin snail or a loach might do the job. Not heard the thing before about corys eating the eggs - that's a useful bit of info!