Snail Problem

[blue musketeer]

Hi all, about 4 months ago I bought a couple of mystery snails.... I was really pleased to see that they were increasing in number. But over the last 2 weeks I have noticed some empty shells and a rather horrid smell which does not abate even with 20% weekly water changes. I removed 1 snail hoping to cease the reproduction, but they are continuing to multiply. I dont know why I thought removing 1 adult snail out of loads of adolescent hormone loaded snails would work!
In desperation I have done a complete water change today and really cleaned through the sand... to say the least the smell has improved
However, as I came across each snail I dropped it into a separate container.... I know I didnt get all of them, but at the last count had over 200!
It is only a 10 gallon tank, so I dont want to put a Clown Loach in there... what else can I use to control the population?
At present I have 3 Mickey Mouse Platys, 1 Sailfin Molly and a Guppy.
Help please!!!

 

[blue musketeer]

I had thought about relocating the snails to a local pond, but I am unsure whether that is an irresponsible reaction? Will the snails proove to be a pest in the local environment? I even thought about chucking them down the waste disposal.... but I think I would feel a little guilty about that! Perhaps the toilet?

 

[Tessla]

I chuck pest snails in the garbage bin, sticking them in a pond is a bad idea as they'll take over (you've seen how they breed!) Check out the pest snails pinned topic in the invertebrates forum, it covers several methods of control. So long as you don't plan to keep any invertebrates in your tank, the quickest method is to use a chemical solution.

Dwarf corydoras may help to control the population a bit if you're after a biological solution, as will kuhli loaches if you can find them but neither species will be able to eat larger snails like a botia species of loach would. Unfortunately, there aren't any botia species that will fit in your tank. I have two tanks of your size, one with dwarf corydoras, one with kuhli loaches and both with pest snails. I take a bunch of snails out weekly to feed to my puffers, but the numbers seem to stay down considerably from what I've experienced without the corys or loaches.

 

[rdd1952]

A severe increase in snail population is a prime sign of overfeeding. They are scavengers and clean up excess food. The more you put in that lays on the bottom, the happier they are. Cut back on how much you feed. What they can eat in 5 minutes, once a day is plenty. Vacuum any excess out after that time. After a few tries, you will know how much that is and won't have to vacuum.

 

[FishySarah]

I found that if you don't overfeed you can live with a moderate colony of small snails. A clutch of snail eggs came in on my java moss in my 29 gallon and they quickly multiplied. I would estimate there are about a hundred now (they are very small and hard to count because they hide in my java moss) but their numbers have stayed constant for the past nine months. They have never been a problem, in fact, I enjoy watching them. There are two kinds, small ramshorns and the mini-pond snails that I have heard a lot of people have a problem with but so far so good. I am very careful with my feedings, twice a day what the fish can eat in about one minute. I also put in a few algae wafers and sinking pellets for the barbs and platys to pick on for a while. The barbs especially are good at getting up every bit. I also have a large (about the size of a golf ball) apple snail competing with the little ones for food. Of course, my tank is alot bigger than ten gallons, but you may be able to manage them naturally rather than resorting to chemicals.

if you do put something in there to kill them, keep in mind that a large number of dead, rotting snails will cause your ammonia to spike and may kill your fish. Make sure you do alot of water changes with dead snails lying around...and test your water if you have a kit....

 

[karmagl]

The best way to deal with unwanted snails is to buy a clown loach or 2 depending on the size of your tank. My was taken over a while back with them I mean they were everywhere and they just get worse even if you throw some out. I bought 2 clown loaches and haven't seen a snail since. When I vacuum the rocks a lot of empty shells come up but no snails.

oops just read the 10 gallon part lol

 

[loachman]

You can go with some species of small freshwater puffer. Some stay very small and will feed almost exclusively on snails. They should also do well solo.

 

[J4MES]

Hey would you mind sending me a few of those?


J4MES

 

[blue musketeer]

Hey would you mind sending me a few of those?


J4MES

I would be glad to, but I don't know whether I could get them through customs It is a long way from Phoenix to the UK!!!


Thanks for all the info guys.... I have plenty of options to look at. But first, the fish are on a diet so that there is no surplus food in the tank

 

[catxx]

dwarf corys don't eat snails, and the puffers would rip your current tankmates to pieces!

can you identify the snails you have? "mystery" snails are usually apple snails, which lay eggs above water, and are easy to remove, and only breed when theres more than one snail in there as they're male/female. plague snails are ones such as Ramshorns, i had like 500 of them at one point!

the best method is to keep picking them out whenever you see them, and get rid of the large ones. check under every leaf and bit of wood for egg sacks (if you have a snail like a ramshorn or pond) and squish the eggs. just keeping picking out and squishing. the fish will eat any squished baby snails or egg sacks.

eventually you'll get on top of it, won't be immediate however!

 

[loachman]

dwarf corys don't eat snails, and the puffers would rip your current tankmates to pieces!

Good point. I missed the other fish in there.