Snail Infestation On An Empty Tank

[benthyer]

So I managed to pick up a 130l cubed tank for my mum for free. The person who owned it before use to have cold water set up and kept snails.

Having given it a good clean and filled it ready for cycling etc we have noticed a massive outbreak of snails. There must of been some left in the internal filter.

Seeing as the tank is empty what is our best course of action from here? I have advised her about putting lettuce leafs in and cuts off cucumber but what other options do we have?

 

[the_lock_man]

What kind of snails are you talking about? Can you post a piccy?

 

[benthyer]

I have a feeling it's pond snails, I had them in my tank but no where near as bad as what my mums is, the inside of the glass is just littered with babies.

I will ask her when she is home to send me a pick and I will upload it.

I have just bought some assassin snails and it looks like 2 of them might be mating already so when I end up with a few more I plan on giving her some

 

[the_lock_man]

If the tank is not cycled, then I would not leave the assassins in there, assuming you are going to do a fishless cycle. The ammonia levels will probably kill off a lot of the snails anyway. Once the cycle is complete, then pop the assassins in, to take care of any remaining pond snails.

 

[benthyer]

No I wasn't going to add any snails until it was cycled and ready to go.

Seeing as we have nothing in there could we not add something that would kill the snail population and remove it with carbon?

 

[benthyer]

I should've mentioned as that I have mature media that I will be putting in her filter when she is ready to get some fish so no need to cycle

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Personally, I think its better to do 'natural' treatments for the snails, rather than using chemicals.
 
 
As for the mature media and skipping the cycling, I'd recommend adding the media and then doing a test dose of 3ppm to make sure that its ready to go.  That would verify what level of bacteria you actually added.  (Just to be safe, rather than sorry.)

 

[sawickib]

You can try putting iron into the tank to kill them all but then they will rot and cause major spike in ammonia.

 

[Wildbetta]

The problem with using a chemical in the tank even if there is nothing in there but the snails right now is that most chemical snail killers contain copper.  Although running carbon will remove some of it but it does tend to get into the silicon. This means that there is the possibility of it staying in the tank and then leeching into the clean water later on which can harm any invertebrates that you might add in the future.  Trapping with the vegetables, not feeding, and manually removing what can be is the best way to remove them. 

 

[benthyer]

Ahh ok I will avoid that then. I don't like using them anyway but thought that seeing as it was empty then maybe it would be ok.

This is what confuses me there is nothing in the tank for them to feed on so why are they multiplying so fast!? We keep putting lettuce leafs in and removing them so will carry on.

We are thinking about stocking with some loaches once it's fully cycled.

As for the mature media and skipping the cycling, I'd recommend adding the media and then doing a test dose of 3ppm to make sure that its ready to go.  That would verify what level of bacteria you actually added.  (Just to be safe, rather than sorry.)

We will do the media has been running in my tank ready for a while now so would be shocked if it's not good to go!

 

[Wildbetta]

Was the substrate left in the tank from the previous owners?  

 

[benthyer]

Nope, when I collected it he had just finished emptying it. It was completely cleaned out and scrubbed as best as possible. We also didn't fill it for about a week. Only thing still in it is everything that was in the internal filter....which didn't work.