snail or "little bugs"
- Thread starter Edley
- Start date
Can you give us some more details on your set up, please, then we can work out the best course of action 
We need to know how big the tank is and exactly what fish you have, for a start.
We need to know how big the tank is and exactly what fish you have, for a start.
They're ramshorn snails; very common, and will have come in as tiny babies or eggs on your live plants.
In general, snails don't cause any problems but they can look unsightly if you have too many.
The main thing you need to do it cut down on the amount of food you're giving the fish. The usual cause of huge snail populations is overfeeding. It is very easy to overfeed fish, as they don't need much food for their size, compared to mammals.
You could use traps to reduce the number more quickly and you could think about adding some assassin snails to help keep the numbers down in the future.
You're unlikely to be able to get rid of every single one, but as I said a few snails won't cause any problems and may be helpful for your set up.
P.S; you don't need to type in capitals, it can be seen as a bit rude, like you're shouting. People will come along and help you in time; don't forget we're all volunteers with lives of our own to be getting along with!
In general, snails don't cause any problems but they can look unsightly if you have too many.
The main thing you need to do it cut down on the amount of food you're giving the fish. The usual cause of huge snail populations is overfeeding. It is very easy to overfeed fish, as they don't need much food for their size, compared to mammals.
You could use traps to reduce the number more quickly and you could think about adding some assassin snails to help keep the numbers down in the future.
You're unlikely to be able to get rid of every single one, but as I said a few snails won't cause any problems and may be helpful for your set up.
P.S; you don't need to type in capitals, it can be seen as a bit rude, like you're shouting. People will come along and help you in time; don't forget we're all volunteers with lives of our own to be getting along with!
Just as an FYI... posting only in CAPS is considered shouting on an online forum.
I, too, have had a hellacious snail infestation - for a few years now. I originally thought of a copper treatment, typically a good way to rid snails from what I hear - alas, I've never tried copper because I have Amano shrimp. Just recently I stopped by my LFS (Local Fish Store) for new lighting and happened upon the Pea Puffer. The Pea Puffer it turns out it's a voracious snail eater, gets no bigger than an inch or so, and can do fairly well in a community tank - at least from my experience: 35gal. moderately planted, 7 Amano shrimp, 1 Oto, approx. 20+ various guppies (the proverbial rabbits of the aquarium world). This was far better than my original idea of a clown loach, which, turns out, would out-grow my tank rather quickly and snack on my shrimp (which are approaching at least 5yrs old).
In the past week I've seen a significant decrease in the number of snails.
So, I'd start there. Good advice on the over-feeding, tho - don't do it.
*Gorgeous* tank, BTW.
In the past week I've seen a significant decrease in the number of snails.
So, I'd start there. Good advice on the over-feeding, tho - don't do it.
*Gorgeous* tank, BTW.
I would not advise a pea puffer as a solution to snails. Pea puffers are very aggressive and nippy; Wired is going to have to watch out for their guppies, as they're very likely to be shredded, or even killed, by the puffer at some point. I used to keep pea puffers and would never have put them with any other fish.
In general we never advise getting any fish as a solution to snail infestations. Most snail-eating fish are either quite aggressive (all the puffer types), grow very large (clown loaches), or need to be in a shoal (clowns and all other loaches, like zebras). Many, if not all, of those fish aren't suitable for the general community tank, and can cause a lot of unhappiness for the current fish.
Physical methods (reducing feeding in the tank, trapping) are by far the best; massive snail infestations are nearly always caused by some sort of imbalance in the tank, and adding potentially large and/or aggressive fish is more likely to exacerbate the issue rather than solve it.
In general we never advise getting any fish as a solution to snail infestations. Most snail-eating fish are either quite aggressive (all the puffer types), grow very large (clown loaches), or need to be in a shoal (clowns and all other loaches, like zebras). Many, if not all, of those fish aren't suitable for the general community tank, and can cause a lot of unhappiness for the current fish.
Physical methods (reducing feeding in the tank, trapping) are by far the best; massive snail infestations are nearly always caused by some sort of imbalance in the tank, and adding potentially large and/or aggressive fish is more likely to exacerbate the issue rather than solve it.
My very 1st aquarium was given to me by a friend of my (then) father in law, over 30 yrs ago. The water was coal black filthy, care & maintenance hadn't been done for many months. After getting it set up, using same gravel, I discovered it full of snails & was very ugly & unsightly! I went to the fish aquarium store I initially inquired on aquarium care, told me the only way (then) to get rid of the snails was to clean the gravel with boiling water or pitch that gravel & buy all new. I boiled the gravel & it worked great
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