Eradicating Pest Snails

[damanax]

First off, my 65l tank is plagued by Austropeplea lessoni snails. They've been destroying my plants and I really want to get rid of them.
 
- I cannot get Assassin Snails. 
 
- Dosed Copper Sulphate 3 times and each time the population bounces back. I finished dosing, did a water change a week later as the plants were looking terrible and there's already loads of them again.
 
- I can't do the lettuce/vegie leaf trick as these snails totally ignore it in favour of munching on the plants.
 
- Removing the ones I see does nothing to dent the population. I tried it initially.
 
- The tank is not big enough to get any snail eating fish and I do not want to change my stocking as of yet.
 
I can't figure out what else to try, anyone have any suggestions? If I have to go back to fake plants I may have to, I'd prefer not to though.
 
 
 
 
 

 

[mrstwalker]

Its doubtful a pet store would take them, and even more doubtful someone would buy them (worth a try though!) 
 
My suggestion would be to donate them to a local school for their science program or release those babies in a stream or pond!

 

[Baccus]

This might help, a simple home made trap like this one I made in the following photos.



 
I just used a small tub that I get fly pupae in for my birds, but you could use any Tupperware or chinese take away container. I drilled holes around the outside of the tub, big enough to let the pest snails in but not so much my fish. My shrimp are also able to get in and out of the trap without any problems. The trap in the photo also has a hole in the lid but I found that doesn't work so well as the only enterance to the trap. For bait I have been using veggie wafers designed for herbivore catfish as well as normal catfish wafers. The trap is weighed down with just a small stone which I also clean when I empty the trap.
 
On a side note NEVER release any fish/ shrimp/ snails/ plants that have been in an aquarium into any water ways. This is how diseases and pests get into our waterways, and pet owners are already blamed for too many pest creatures throughout Australia, it is also why AQIS is preventing the importation of more and more aquarium species.

 

[damanax]

I may take a look at making that trap. Do you just leave it in overnight and empty it in the morning? 

 

[Baccus]

I have been setting it morning and night and emptying it as needs be. I did have a commercially made snail trap but I found it frustrating to empty and endlers and guppies also ended up entering the trap and getting stuck along with my shrimp. So this tub system I have found easy to set and empty without getting other creatures also stuck in the trap.

 

[mrstwalker]

This might help, a simple home made trap like this one I made in the following photos.



 
I just used a small tub that I get fly pupae in for my birds, but you could use any Tupperware or chinese take away container. I drilled holes around the outside of the tub, big enough to let the pest snails in but not so much my fish. My shrimp are also able to get in and out of the trap without any problems. The trap in the photo also has a hole in the lid but I found that doesn't work so well as the only enterance to the trap. For bait I have been using veggie wafers designed for herbivore catfish as well as normal catfish wafers. The trap is weighed down with just a small stone which I also clean when I empty the trap.
 
On a side note NEVER release any fish/ shrimp/ snails/ plants that have been in an aquarium into any water ways. This is how diseases and pests get into our waterways, and pet owners are already blamed for too many pest creatures throughout Australia, it is also why AQIS is preventing the importation of more and more aquarium species.

 
I suppose here in the U.S. it isnt as big of a problem, that is why I suggested that.The only problem we really have is people releasing aquarium live plants into ponds/lakes.  I didnt know about Australia though. sorry!

 

[Donya]

I suppose here in the U.S. it isnt as big of a problem,

 
This is not true. It is not only incredibly harmful and risky to release animals into outside waterways but also illegal in at least some parts of the country. Unless the species is native to a region, it still risks an invasive introduction and there is are plenty of examples of that where non-native species have taken hold and bullied out native species. I live in a part of Connecticut right now where an invasive species from Asia is quite prevalent; it's actually really hard to find a native aquatic snail species in the lake nearest me. Similarly, crops and native snail species are under seige by invasive apple snails in other states. Native animals aren't even totally safe for re-release if they've been exposed to non-native organisms or water contamination from other regions, since there is the potential for invasive introduction at the microscopic or parasitic level. If the animal didn't come from a local waterway or has been exposed to anything from places other than that same waterway, it should not be released outside.

 

[Chad]

It is quite an issue in the US for sure. Snails in particular have been causing problems in several states waterways. Here in Arizona we have invasive crawfish and invasive quagga muscles and we're in the desert! Imagine how those places with wetlands get invaded. 

 

[the_lock_man]

It isn't an issue in the US? Erm, yeah it is.
 
http/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4313978.stm
 
This is quite a famous story, and just to warn you, it shows a photo of a python, formerly owned as a pet, which had been dumped in the Everglades, where it attempted to eat an alligator. The photo shows the resulting mess where the snake has quite literally burst open, and two magnificent creatures died.
 
I didn't realise how old it was until I looked it up. There are countless stories all over the world of non-native species out-competing indigenous species, and taking over.

 

[damanax]

Australia has such strict quarantine laws due to all the harm introduced species have done to the wildlife here. 
 
I tried that trap for a few days but these darn snails totally ignored it, I tried vegies, algae wafers and bits of plants but nothing. Woke up this morning to what felt like a hundred of them on the glass so I scooped as many as I could out, tossed the vallis and just put fake stuff in. I have a feeling that the crypt, which got off lightly, will now be hounded by the things. 

 At least the neons seem happy swimming in the fake stuff.
 
It is rather weird, I have 2 65l tanks, both with the same plants/substrate in them. One tank, the snail population exploded and the other it hasn't. The only thing different is the fish but since they're neon/glowlight tetra I don't think it matters much. 

 

[Baccus]

The only reason I can think of for the snails to not enter the trap was that they are not is such plagues that they launch themselves at the first available food. The other reason would be how small where the holes? The holes in my home made trap are approx. 12mm diameter and so far the only snail not able to enter it has been my larger Essington Snails, which I don't want to accidentially want to throw out any way.
Are the blonde snails prone to hanging about near the bottom of the tank or are they more often found near the surface? That could have some bearing too on where to best place the trap.
 
I would try the trap again with a meaty style pellet, something like catfish wafers and or shrimp pellets, none of my snails can resist these foods. Also maybe hold off feeding the tank for a day and make sure the snails do get hungry and then hunt for the food source in the trap.
 
On a side note one of my tanks had a terrible investation of ramshorn snails, which now seems to have reduced to near nonexistant levels thanks to I think my Borneo Suckers. I am pretty sure that the Borneo Suckers have been munching any snail eggs they find on the glass or other structure in the tank. I also have another tank housing a macrobachium shrimp, who I am pretty sure has been working his way through another populations of rams horn snails. The macro is safe enough in that one tank because there are no fish for it to also have a go at catching and eating.