Big Tank Problem

[Fishkeeper4567]

Hi everyone. My current biube tank is not looking it's best. About a month ago I introduced some live plants. I checked them carefully for snail eggs and put them in. About a month baby snails were seen. I stupidly decided to keep them as they were very good as the ottos are at removing algae. Now here I am with lots and lots of them crawling all over my tank. The other problem is that as the Ottos had done such a good job at removing the algae I have to feed them algae wafers.. Trouble is my ceramic media is marble sized and the wafers simply get caught and rot allowing the snails to get to them but the ottos go hungry. I have lots of pebbles for the algae wafers to stay on but the snails get to them and drag them down. All this produces ammonia and I have payed the price. Two ottos have passed away and one of my prize guppy's. Mould is all over the plants. The tank is looking horrible. I carried out a major maintenance session and got rid of all the real plants and gave the tank a good scrub removing as many snails as possible. It's looking much better but still tens and tens of snails crawl up the artificial plants. I only have three fish. What should I do now? Thank you .

 

[Tizer]

Sell the tank, its a piece of crap and get a propper one.

Sometimes being brutally honest is the best way

 

[Fishkeeper4567]

Its a good tank and the fish are very happy in it. Just with some good advice it will look good again. I know some people with them and they have been very successful. Sorry not selling.

 

[amy1994]

The same thing happened to my sister

How big is your tank?

 

[micko]

weigh down some cucumber and leave it there. next day it will be covered in snails. take it out and throw it away. keep repeating the process and squash any snails you can. it will probably be a long process though

 

[amy1994]

By doing that there will always be some snails left.....and then it will start all over again

What we did is we tryed to get as many snails as we could, and unfortunately for the snails bought a couple loaches to catch the rest.
You have to be careful what loaches you buy as they may be too big for your tank.

 

[Tizer]

There is no room in that tank for loaches, do not add more fish to cure a snail problem. This is one of many problems with this tanks filtration system, the gravel itself can provide a home for small snails to breed and grow and you cant do anything about it because the gravel is holding your biological bacteria.

Seeing you have already managed to kill a few fish already, i hope you change your opinion on these tanks a bit quick before more suffer.

 

[micko]

By doing that there will always be some snails left.....and then it will start all over again

What we did is we tryed to get as many snails as we could, and unfortunately for the snails bought a couple loaches to catch the rest.
You have to be careful what loaches you buy as they may be too big for your tank.

its worked for me.

 

[Fishkeeper4567]

That about an assassin snail?

 

[amy1994]

By doing that there will always be some snails left.....and then it will start all over again

What we did is we tryed to get as many snails as we could, and unfortunately for the snails bought a couple loaches to catch the rest.
You have to be careful what loaches you buy as they may be too big for your tank.

its worked for me.

Lucky

 

[Fishkeeper4567]

A shame my tank os just to small for loaches. Maybe. An assassin snail will work.

 

[micko]

weigh down some cucumber and leave it there. next day it will be covered in snails. take it out and throw it away. keep repeating the process and squash any snails you can. it will probably be a long process though

That about an assassin snail?

its the first quote

 

[amy1994]

weigh down some cucumber and leave it there. next day it will be covered in snails. take it out and throw it away. keep repeating the process and squash any snails you can. it will probably be a long process though

That about an assassin snail?

its the first quote

It's aways worth a try

 

[Fishkeeper4567]

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[ATK!!!]

Don't sell it! There are plenty of ways of dealing with these snails. For months now i had them but I HAVE TRIUMPHED

If your going to try assasin snails then one wont work, they are rather slow and only eat roughly a snail per day at the most. I'd say get 5. This will guarantee that you get rid of as many as possible. Also you can always sell them off later. As Micko said, a piece of slighty gone off cucumber (lettuce worked better for me) will attract snails overnight, then simply pick them off. I have a long pair of tweezers that can reach right down to the bottom of the tank, you dont have to buy these but they can be a real help. Oh, don't try chemicals either, they are rather harmful too ALL tank occupants. Instead, reduce your feeding regime (how much do you feed at the mo?) by having a day where you don't feed the fish, and only feed twice a day at the max.

Good luck mate!