Omg I'm Being Invaded By Snails

[nightlite]

Hi all,

All of a sudden i seem to have an outbreak of snails... small roundish ones... dunno what they are but how am i to get rid of them...

 

[Themuleous]

First reduce the food you give your fish, if it carries on, get a loach, the dwarf chain loach only gets to 2.5"

Sam

 

[fozziebear]

and pick out any ones you see n burn em alive just to aleiviate your worries

 

[nightlite]

any dwarf loach eats snails? or must it be only the dwarf chain loach....

 

[Themuleous]

Most loach species will eat snails, just recommended the dwarf chain as is doesn't get very big as most people have an already full tank

Sam

 

[iroc]

I have had snail issues in the past and have found many things that work

1st off if you have any plecos (or anything else you feed alge wafers to) then getting rid of snails is very hard as they LOVE the wafers, however what I did is take a small cup and place a couple of wafers inside right before you turn off your light for the night, then 1st thing as the light comes on the cup will be filled with snails and you can CAREFULLY remove the cup. Doing this a couple of times with some gathering of the obvious snails (i.e. with a fishnet) can get rid of most of them or as least help a great deal to control them.

The other thing I have noticed lately is I got some Tiger Barbs, and by feeding them a little less, they will eat the young snails. I donno if this is common but I do know they have cleaned up what I missed very well.

Loach's are great for this as well as Sam meationed however as he brought up it really depends on your tank size and what you already have.

 

[loachman]

any dwarf loach eats snails? or must it be only the dwarf chain loach....

Any of the Botia or Yasuhikotakia species of loach will eat snails. The dwarf chain loach mentioned is Yasuhikotakia Sidthimunki. The Pangios (Kuhlis) wil eat snail eggs and maybe small snails, they aren't as effective but are also well suited for most communtiy aquariums of ~20gal+. Just about all loaches appreciate being in groups though, and some can get to be a fair size so check www.loaches.com for more info.

Clown loaches are commonly sold for snail control but are probably the worst ones to get in most aquariums, they can get up to a foot in length .

 

[Themuleous]

Clown loaches are commonly sold for snail control but are probably the worst ones to get in most aquariums, they can get up to a foot in length

I was suckered into that when I first started with tropical fish, but it has given me an excellent excuse to spend £100's on a massive tank

Sam

 

[nightlite]

I have had snail issues in the past and have found many things that work

1st off if you have any plecos (or anything else you feed alge wafers to) then getting rid of snails is very hard as they LOVE the wafers, however what I did is take a small cup and place a couple of wafers inside right before you turn off your light for the night, then 1st thing as the light comes on the cup will be filled with snails and you can CAREFULLY remove the cup. Doing this a couple of times with some gathering of the obvious snails (i.e. with a fishnet) can get rid of most of them or as least help a great deal to control them.

The other thing I have noticed lately is I got some Tiger Barbs, and by feeding them a little less, they will eat the young snails. I donno if this is common but I do know they have cleaned up what I missed very well.

Loach's are great for this as well as Sam meationed however as he brought up it really depends on your tank size and what you already have.

algae wafers? sorry i don't know what they are........

i have 9 cardinal tetras and about 6 ottos.... a doz shrimp and a pair of leopard cory's
I feed them a bit of novo tabs.. (they are meant for bottom feeders).... whatever food i put in to lure the snails, won't my fish just eat it?

 

[iroc]

algae wafers? sorry i don't know what they are........

i have 9 cardinal tetras and about 6 ottos.... a doz shrimp and a pair of leopard cory's
I feed them a bit of novo tabs.. (they are meant for bottom feeders).... whatever food i put in to lure the snails, won't my fish just eat it?

Novo tabs seem to be the same thing, and I have found that the rubblips I have in my tank don't eat them from the cup ( I don't know why) but within an hour the cup is filled with snails.

 

[nightlite]

thanks all... i will give it a go with the novo tabs