help...SNAILS!

[abstract]

well my 10 gallon planted tank is beginning to become completely infested w/ snails. i know loaches love snails, but what kind, if any could i get for such a small tank? i know they all get 3-4+ inches so i'm pretty weary.

are there any other types of fish that enjoy eating snails (besides puffers obviously) and that stay fairly small?

 

[emo]

I don't know of any small snail eaters... someone else might.

On the other hand, when I started my tank, some snail eggs came in on the plants
I got told to put lettuce in the tank just after you switch the lights off, then remove it in the morning... with snails attatched!

This didn't work for me at all, I tried it a few times... the snails didn't touch the lettuce.

I had to remove them all manually, I luckily got them all over a period of 2 weeks before they managed to lay too many eggs and wreak havock!


Good luck

 

[fishy_blue_bubbles]

lucky you lol I had a snail prolem in my 5 gallon, like at least 100 little snails lol we just could not get rid of the things! when the tatrs in the tank died we had to complety restart the tank scrubing out every last peice of gravel to make absolute sure that they would NOT come back! lol what worked best was floating the snails out, gravel is heavy, snails are light, I removed all the plants and stired the gravel around, scooping up the snails with a strainer as they floated to the top.

 

[newfishies]

a few of my bettas will eat them if they are small enough, i just dropa few in their tanks and find the empty shell later. i tries the lettuce/cucumber trick, but it didn't work too well...

 

[dwarf-puffers]

get a dp they love snails

 

[pnyklr3]

And here I am wondering where in the world to get small snails from to feed to Dwarf Puffers! One man's trash is another man's treasure!

 

[dwarf-puffers]

go buy any plant from pets mart and dont wash it before you put it in your tank

 

[dwarf-puffers]

that if u wants snails

 

[dwarf-puffers]

only 1 dp kause othere wise dop will eat you fish they say 3 gallons per fish dps also need other food like brime shrimp

 

[pnyklr3]

You really didn't need 3 posts to say that. If you think of something else to add, then just use the edit button. And abstract said "What would eat them, besides puffers obviously."

I don't want the plants from the stores, just the snails that come on them. And besides, my lfs is generally snail-free. I have had one snail in my tank, and that came from an online order.

I just thought it was funny that I'm looking and you are getting rid of!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi abstract

Many of your fish would enjoy a meal of crushed snail if you want to go to the trouble to pick them out of your small tank for them.

However, my guess is that you just want to get rid of them completely. If the infestation is bad, there's really not much you can do except take the tank apart and either replace or boil the gravel and then rinse, rinse and rinse some more. Never, under any circumstances, use a chemical product to kill them.

But there's something else to think about. The snails can only reproduce to the point where they have enough food to eat. If they are increasing fast, it's an indication that you are overfeeding the fish in the tank. Perhaps you might want to try feeding less to see if they will decrease over time.

This is important because uneaten food is likely to spoil and provide food for harmful bacteria as well as the snails.

 

[abstract]

thanks for the replies everyone....i have been feeding the fish in the tank VERY little actually - i believe it is the algae that the snails are thriving off of...i'll use some of your advice and see what i can do..thanks!

 

[Aylana]

I have heard that Malasian Trumpet snails are carnivorous and will eat other snails, but don't reproduce as quickly. I am also having a snail problem and am going to try this next.

Good luck

 

[Joby]

My blue rams love snails

and also some of my bettas eat them too

 

[Fiori]

I've found that if I squish the snails when they're on the glass, my angel will munch them up when they fall.