OMG Major Snail infestation

[Mondego]

i have multiple species of ugly snails that probably came in with some plants i bought. at first i was just taking them out when i saw them, cause there was so few. i neglected for a few days or more and now they are everywhere! i know if the snails die the water hardness skyrockets.

last weekend i took 1 cup (8 oz) of snails no larger than 1/2" in diameter, most were smaller than 1/4") i just can't stop the spread.

i bought Had-A-Snail before i realized how much copper was in it, so i haven't yet used it. How do i know if the Cu content will destroy any fish or plants?

i have a bichir, red-tail shark, otos (newborn ones too, they had babies), blue rams, and an algae eater. i also have 5 species of plants, from large swords, to wisteria, some bunched, a kind of anubis, and 2 species of crypts.

will the Cu in the Had-A-Snail be safe to use? it is in a 75 gallon tank.

 

[WILDER]

Dont use the med with the oto dosn't take much to finish them off, try a lettuce leaf when they hop on remove them, or put some lettuce in a bottle.

 

[Mondego]

Dont use the med with the oto dosn't take much to finish them off, try a lettuce leaf when they hop on remove them, or put some lettuce in a bottle.

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good idea, except i have no idea how many otos i have. i have 4 adults (3 one species, 1 another), and countless babies. i can't count them because the large tank is also heavily planted with rocks and driftwood to complement it.

even if i remove them, i have no where to keep them while the tank is being medicated.

 

[Rodders]

I must of had 50+ of them. They did a great job of eating algae but started to destroy my tank after a while.
So income the clown loaches that ate all the little critters up!!! yay

 

[oMIKEo]

I did the same, i was picking out about 30 every other day from my small ish tank and I was loosing the battle. Went to my LFS today and got 4 clown loaches there doing a great job already

 

[emma12321]

Wilder means if you weight down a lettuce leaf the snails will hop on and can easily be removed. Loaches are good at eating snails.

Emma

 

[Mondego]

i may have to get some loaches. will all loaches eat them?

and will they eat them to extinction? that is what i'm worried mostly about. how big do the snails have to be before the loaches will eat them (small enough that the snail won't reproduce a few times first i'm hoping)

Wilder means if you weight down a lettuce leaf the snails will hop on and can easily be removed. Loaches are good at eating snails.

Emma

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yea i know, my problem is i can never know if i have all of the otos out, because i have many babies, and there are FAR too many "hiding spaces" they could be in. that and i don't have a place to put the otos while the tank is being medicated.

 

[fish_keeper2]

more than likely you have lots big enough to breed. if so then there could be hundreds of egg sacs hidden from view. so then if you get a loach ull want to leave it in there for a long time or permantly if possible. so if you get a loach, if they eat them i would get a couple of kuhlis as clowns get real big and like to be in groups. another solution: get a puffer and buy a seperate tank of course. ull have plenty of food with all those snails.........lol if you chose a puffer be sure to research them a lot if you dont know anything about them.

 

[Mondego]

more than likely you have lots big enough to breed. if so then there could be hundreds of egg sacs hidden from view. so then if you get a loach ull want to leave it in there for a long time or permantly if possible. so if you get a loach, if they eat them i would get a couple of kuhlis as clowns get real big and like to be in groups. another solution: get a puffer and buy a seperate tank of course. ull have plenty of food with all those snails.........lol if you chose a puffer be sure to research them a lot if you dont know anything about them.

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thanks. i really don't want a puffer though

you say some scary things about snails. man that is not what i wanted to hear i just checked the side of the tank by viewing it from the glass vis-a-vis to it, and there are just tens, maybe hundreds of tiny dots on the glass, no doubt the tiniest of baby snails.

this sucks royally. i should just get rid of the tank altogether. i will have a hard time parting with my bichir though.

 

[morgan]

Loaches do eat snails, unfortunately they will destroy your plants by digging. I bought two Yoyo Loaches to deal with the problem and they have absolutely ruined the plants in my tank. So I had to buy some more plants and in came some more snails.......

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

I had a large snail outbreak in one of my tanks. It takes a bit of patience, but you can get most of them out if you keep at it.

You need to take out the things snails like to adhere the eggs to, like rocks and wood and inspect them for eggs. When you see the jelly things rub them off in the dirty tank water in your bucket and then put the rocks/wood back in the tank. Also, I use a siphon tube (without the gravel vac attached) and suck them off the glass with that.

Also - check your filter if you have a Penguin or any other HOB type. They like to hang out in there, too.

It took about two weeks to get rid of them. Even now, I still find one or two once in awhile - but they are easy to spot and take out now.

Don't get rid of your tank -- you can beat this!!

 

[Mondego]

I had a large snail outbreak in one of my tanks.  It takes a bit of patience, but you can get most of them out if you keep at it.

You need to take out the things snails like to adhere the eggs to, like rocks and wood and inspect them for eggs.  When you see the jelly things rub them off in the dirty tank water in your bucket and then put the rocks/wood back in the tank. Also, I use a siphon tube (without the gravel vac attached) and suck them off the glass with that.

Also - check your filter if you have a Penguin or any other HOB type.  They like to hang out in there, too.

It took about two weeks to get rid of them.  Even now, I still find one or two once in awhile  - but they are easy to spot and take out now.

Don't get rid of your tank -- you can beat this!!

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thanks squirrel! i have a marineland canister filter.

i have never seen any jelly things in my tank though, so i'm not sure what you mean by that. i'm pretty sure they like to stick the eggs onto the plants, as occasionally i'll see very small snails there too. taking the plants out is not going to happen. they are deeply rooted in the substrate and for every root that breaks, i will have that many leafs killed. i can take out all the smaller ones but the large swords cannot be extirpated no matter how careful i try.

i have only a few rocks and driftwood so that won't be too hard to take out, except for the wood is on a slate base, held down by the gravel. i REALLY don't want to be removing any oto eggs in the process, but i guess the parents will have to suffer some collateral damage when it comes time to clean.

when i stir up the gravel there will be a biblical amount of dirt coming out, blocking the filter. my filter is already running at like 5% what it used to, i think it may have a broken magnet inside. i will replace that first, and then go to town with cleaning what i can.

good idea with the siphon tube. i'm gonna try that out. i just fear i'll inadvertantly suck out a baby oto in the process. they come out of nowhere.

thanks again

 

[GuppyDude]

iv got a small colonie of ramshorn liveing in my tank, but fortunately just as many die as they make so it hasn't been a problem yet, but if it becomes an issue ill get a clown loach or a puffer, they love those things

 

[IMCL85]

put in a few zebra loaches they will clear it up for ya.

 

[riogal_11]

I had the same problem with my grandpas tank that I mantain. First I tried to handpick them out, but just kept discovering more and more as I lifted things. They had even gotten into the filter and started to clog it. I then tried lettuce, and it worked pretty well. It didn't get rid of everything, but they aren't taking over the tank anymore. Snails are such a pain in the butt. I will definitely wash any live plants VERY well next time. And as for the gel-like eggs. I can almost guarantee that they are there somewhere. I had them hooked onto everything. Check on ornaments on the filter, and on plant leaves.