Avoiding Snails Again

[poisongirl]

In my small tank I have quite a bad infestation of snails! I can only assume they arrived on my live plants which I admit I did not rinse as I was in a rush and just put them in.

I do not want any snails in my big tank when I get it up and running, what is the best way to avoid bringing them in? Will just rinsing live plants in water work??

I'm not taking anything from my small tank apart from my two platys and plec. The tank is then going to be stripped down and cleaned thoroughly and new gravel etc once the big tank is sorted the small tank will be getting a fighter and something else not sure what.

 

[three-fingers]

Do you have a phobia of snails or something?

Because otherwise, there is no reason to avoid them, they are beneficial to tanks, and can only follow the laws of physics and multiply based on how much food is available to them lying around in the tank.

Just think, for every snail you see, that's less uneaten food and detritus just lying around in the tank and decomposing.

And it's a myth that they eat live plants, they only eat decomposing and very unhealthy plants, they simply do not have the strength in their bit to eat healthy leaves. So if your plants are dying and you think it's the snails, you need to re-address how you have planted your tank.

The best way to avoid snails if you don't like them is to clean the tank as often as you can and don't overfeed.

You can leave the plants to soak in anti-snail treatment before putting them in, if you like messing around with chemicals harmful to aquatic life that is.

 

[poisongirl]

Well I'm not scared of the teeny ones but the bigger ones freak me out a little!
Plus I just don't think they look very nice in my tank.

Will rinsing plants in water not wash off any tiny snails that might be hiding?

 

[Bebobb]

I don't know about your area, and if they sell plants, but at Petco they sell aquatic plants that are kept in small containers without water in them. They must mist them because there is always fog in the tank. I would not reccomend to buy any fish from Petco though, just supplies. They have some nice tanks and stands though. Also they can keep everything elese fine like their hamsters and gerbils, and herps, but not the fish. It is weird. But I would look around for those. I would rinse and check the plants for snails before I add them to the tank if you are worried.

 

[saltynay]

1 part bleach to 10 parts water solution soak them in that for 5 minutes and the snails will die and the plants will be clear.


Pond snails and red ramshorn snails eat some plants 3 fingers however they normally eat very rapid growing plants leaves and the holes are so small they are hardly noticeable. I have elodea in my tank which is supposedly one of their favourites but the plant has little damage 3-5 slightly ragged ended leaves out of 200+

 

[three-fingers]

1 part bleach to 10 parts water solution soak them in that for 5 minutes and the snails will die and the plants will be clear.


Pond snails and red ramshorn snails eat some plants 3 fingers however they normally eat very rapid growing plants leaves and the holes are so small they are hardly noticeable. I have elodea in my tank which is supposedly one of their favourites but the plant has little damage 3-5 slightly ragged ended leaves out of 200+

Not healthy plants, seriously, these guys have very weak mouths. I have thousands of them and have never noticed even the slightest damage on even the most delicate plants, and just letting them crawl over you hands should demonstrate how weak their mouths are.

If they could eat plants, then you would see a lot more of them in planted tanks.

 

[lokkochaa]

1 part bleach to 10 parts water solution soak them in that for 5 minutes and the snails will die and the plants will be clear.


Pond snails and red ramshorn snails eat some plants 3 fingers however they normally eat very rapid growing plants leaves and the holes are so small they are hardly noticeable. I have elodea in my tank which is supposedly one of their favourites but the plant has little damage 3-5 slightly ragged ended leaves out of 200+

Not healthy plants, seriously, these guys have very weak mouths. I have thousands of them and have never noticed even the slightest damage on even the most delicate plants, and just letting them crawl over you hands should demonstrate how weak their mouths are.

If they could eat plants, then you would see a lot more of them in planted tanks.

Wish i had a snail problem - free puffer food

 

[saltynay]

Not healthy plants, seriously, these guys have very weak mouths. I have thousands of them and have never noticed even the slightest damage on even the most delicate plants, and just letting them crawl over you hands should demonstrate how weak their mouths are.

If they could eat plants, then you would see a lot more of them in planted tanks.

I know but they definately do eat elodea, I have healthy plants and plenty of snails as I actively feed them as opposed to just allowing them to scavenge food so I have loads. If I drop my nerites in there and don't feed the snails because of the depletion of algae they move onto the elodea as a food source and so it takes a serious hit. A quick google will show you more evidence of elodea (anacharis) beating eaten by hobbyist accounts.

http/animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/plan...s/anacharis.php

 

[three-fingers]

It's cool, I'm not saying your lying or anything. I know some people think they eat plants and such, but simply don't believe it's possible myself and don't believe any of the accounts to be accurate. Find me a video or show me it happening in person then I'll believe it.

Having thousands individuals from 5 species of "pest" snail in my tank, and keeping them with elodea as well as lots of other far more palatable species of plants with them for years, I've never once experienced it happening. Doesn't happen in my pond either.

My reason to believe they don't is their very weak mouths which I simply dont think could physically bite into healthy Egeria densa leave.

 

[chipster55]

If you want to get rid of all your snails, buy a clown loach..I got one and my snails were gone in a week..The down side is they get too big for the average aquarium.