Humane Way to Get Rid of Pest Snails???

[GuppyPerson89586]

Im just wondering, but is there any way to get rid of freshwater pest snails without killing the other snails? thanks!

 

[Sgooosh]

Im just wondering, but is there any way to get rid of freshwater pest snails without killing the other snails? thanks!

they will decline naturally if you feed less, and clean your tank more often.
you can feed them to larger fish as well to make a use out of them

 

[CherryBerry670]

If your other snails are large and not too numerous, you could pluck them out, toss them in a spare tank, and possibly get clown loaches if it’s a big, understocked tank. Or, if it’s smaller and stocked, put a copper medicine in and wait for it to kill them all.

You can also ask someone to board your fish, like a local pet shop, break down the tank entirely, and re-cycle a new tank for your fish. You could also keep your good snails in that scenario.

I will say if the pest snails are MTS, you’re probably better off going with the other opinions, as those snails don’t eat plants and naturally die off with food source.

 

[GaryE]

If your other snails are large and not too numerous, you could pluck them out, toss them in a spare tank, and possibly get clown loaches if it’s a big, understocked tank. Or, if it’s smaller and stocked, put a copper medicine in and wait for it to kill them all.

Clown loaches can live two to three times as long as dogs and get very large. Buying them to use them to pick off snails is the kind of short sighted approach that gets a lot of us into stocking trouble, and that needlessly kills fish.

The only way to eliminate pest snails doesn't affect other species. The chemical approach involves poisons that don't discriminate. So that's out. But as awful as it is, picking those snails off one by one, with no mercy, and using traps to make that manageable are the only routes. I am a snail hater when it comes to my tanks, and I have never been able to get to 100% clear. I have a lot of tanks and don't like squishing living creatures. But that is the only way. I have seen planted tanks with no snails, but they were hunting grounds for humans.

 

[CherryBerry670]

How do you trap pest snails? I’ve only ever used tissue culture plants, so I’ve never had to deal with this problem.

 

[GaryE]

I put a pellet in a brine shrimp, fine weeve net, then scoop it out when it's full. Do it enough and it makes the awful task of squashing them and bastering out the bodies less of a job. It never works on its own.
Pest snails eat the eggs of the fish I breed, so it's war when they get in.

 

[sharkweek178]

Sometimes when I'm doing my water change, I'll scoop some pest snails out, wrap them in a paper towel then put them in a plastic bag and step on them. Or I'll squish them individually.
Never get a fish to do tank maintenance for you. Whether it's killing snails, controlling algae or eating leftover fish food. At best, you'll probably be disappointed because a fish can't possibly deal with the root causes of those issues. At worst, the animal suffers because it's needs aren't being met.

 

[sharkweek178]

How do you trap pest snails? I’ve only ever used tissue culture plants, so I’ve never had to deal with this problem.

You can leave a piece of lettuce or spinach in your tank and then when some snails have gathered on it, take it out and deal with them.

 

[seannx]

My tank had a huge infestation of small bladderwort snails. Scooping them out (sometimes 20-30 a day) or squishing them (which I didn’t like doing) didn’t work. There are lots of cherry shrimp, and a couple of nerite snails so chemical treatment wasn’t an option. I added 6 assassin snails and that solved the problem. They left the shrimp and nerite snails alone.

 

[sharkweek178]

My tank had a huge infestation of small bladderwort snails. Scooping them out (sometimes 20-30 a day) or squishing them (which I didn’t like doing) didn’t work. There are lots of cherry shrimp, and a couple of nerite snails so chemical treatment wasn’t an option. I added 6 assassin snails and that solved the problem. They left the shrimp and nerite snails alone.

One caveat about assassin snails. They can be pretty effective in controlling pest snails. But, they will prefer to eat leftover fish food to other snails. So if someone is overfeeding, not only will that cause pest snails to proliferate, the assassins won't do as much about it.
And also, assassins don't eat the shells. Another member told me once that when he let the dead shells accumulate, it affected his water hardness.

So I guess that's actually two caveats.

 

[seannx]

In my case the invasive snails were so small (3/8”max, and most much smaller as they would appear as babies) that shells weren’t a problem. I never noticed them when vacuuming during water changes. Some were in the filter section of my tank with the sponge, and the first assassin snail went there. I added a couple more to the tank (32.5 gallons), finally reaching a total of 6. I feed minimally so leftover food wasn’t available to them. After a few months I rarely see them as my tank is heavily planted. They were really a last resort as I was feeding minimally, and got tired of squishing them. It just didn’t feel good.