Oh my

[Zenn]

Ok, well after my tank cracked two weeks ago, i got a qoute on a new tank, same size and that...

55.80!!! O.O

I paid 31.99 the first time around from Pet at home, but they dont do them anymore, so i went to Chilten Aquatics, and they said 55.80, so i agreed into it because i cant find another anywhere else, and i am picking the tank up tomorrow...

Now this is the shocker, i was just feeding my fish and i got a shock!

WATER SNAILS!

WHERE THE HELL DID THEY COME FROM!?!?

I dont have a problem with this, but i have NEVER had water snails before, but i can only point out one conclusion here...

When purchasing two Siemese algae eaters, the sale person hooked out some weeds by accident, and i left the weeds in the tank, and i can only believe they came from the weed and now i have water snails in my tank, and they are a fair size as well, so they have been there a while...

Here is my question now though....

WHAT DO I DO???

 

[Shizat]

Get a product called had-a-snail which contains a type of copper solution which will kill snails and other crustations.

 

[Zenn]

I dont want to kill them, they eat algae dont they, so it will keep the tank clean, i was wondering what to feed them apart from algae?

 

[Phantom Thief]

Trust me, you don't need to feed them. They'll have a population explosion anyway.

P.T.

 

[sylvia]

I like snails Just keep in mind that when they do become a pest all you need to do is leave a little piece of lettuce or cucumber at the bottom of the tank over night and take the snails that gather out the next morning. Don't worry, you'll never run out unless you get something that eats them or put something that'll kill them in the tank and they won't starve as they'll eat both algae and scavenge left-overs.

 

[Zenn]

What happens if i get overloaded in the dam things? Can i sell them off or something

 

[sylvia]

"all you need to do is leave a little piece of lettuce or cucumber at the bottom of the tank over night and take the snails that gather out the next morning"

You can't realy sell them after that - no one realy wants them... If you have a tank with snail-eating fish you can feed them those. Otherwise just dump them in a pond or something. If you don't mind killing them, you could always just throw them away or smash them... I preffer to throw them in some other body of water where they will at least have a chance to survive.

 

[Zenn]

I dont like killing living things, so i might place them in a local pond

 

[Dwarfs]

Be careful when placeing them in a pond, the rate at which snails can reproduce may lead to them beating national species to food and throw off the balance of nature in the pond If it is a man-made pond however, feel free to dump them

 

[Zenn]

Yeah, it is a massive man made pond, however, for the car and stuff that has been dumped in their, there are 34 carp, 15 fresh water lobsters, and numerous other creature living in there, including other water snails...

You can see where i spent my childhood

 

[handsomeboy]

my friend, you are heading for doom.

 

[Zenn]

I know, but i dont want to get rid of these ones, there is only four at the moment, i dont believe anymore may have survived, but if i do get overloaded, i will get rid all of them, because i prefer fish to Snails really

 

[monkmartin]

You could try some shrimp - the ones with the two front claws - not lobsters or crabs mind.
My two shrimp adore snails, and the occasional neon - good job I have a large school or 'em!

Every now and then I get a dozen snails from the local pet store, and the shrimp go crazy for 'em!!

They're not algae shrimp, forgot what type they are but they have these two cute soft claws which they use to scavenge with

 

[black angel]

The problem is, 4 become 400 in a short time, which will foul your tank quicker. When they start to die off they decay in the gracvel and give off ammonia. It may sound that it wont be much but it will make a difference.
In a thread in the characins forum theres a few of us with black skirt tetras that have noticed we dont have any pest snails in the tank. May be concidence but the OP reports seeing the fish eat them.
I know of my three tanks the only one without snails or many of them is the one with the black skirts.

If you want a snail then why not one of the beautifully coloured snails from here http/www.snailshop.co.uk/html/tropical_snails.html

You can get one that needs another to breed with but most snail clutches they are easily seen so are easy to remove.