Snails Are Killing Our Fish!

[puppyduck]

Snails have now overrun our tank and have been killing our fish.

Found a tetra that had been basically eaten alive by snails a while back. And today we found our poor little glass catfish Caspar had been eaten by snails within about 2 hours. He was happy and swimming around fine this morning and then when I got back from my lecture he was dead, white and covered in snails.

We dont understand. All our fish eat well and swim around happily.

And now our new peppered cory Penguin has vanished completely. In a 20 gallon tank its very hard to lose a fish.

Why are the snails attacking our fish and how do I kill them?


Our nitrate and nitrite levels are normal and ammonia is zero so we know its not our water.


Please help.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

have you identified what sort of snails they are? I've certainly never heard of anything like this, my reaction would be to take all the snails out, a good way to do this and make sure you've got all of them is to change the substrate. Get new gravel or sand and wash it well first, then remove all tank decor, net all the fish and put them in a bucket of tank water, drain the tank and scoop out all the substrate so your left with a completely clear tank and no snails, then put the new substrate back in, fill up with dechlorinated water, get the equipment back on and running until it reaches the right temp, then put the fish back in. Then go through all your decor, if you can then throw it away and start with new, if not then boil everything like rocks and wood before putting it back in the tank and put your plants in a bucket of water very strongly dosed with a copper based snail treatment, leave this for a good week or so to make sure they're all gone and the eggs are dead too (leave the bucket somewhere sunny so the plants don't die) then add them back to the tank after a good rinse.

Hope that helps and good luck!

 

[scubadoo]

This sounds very strange.

What type of snail are they ?

Are you certain that the snails are to blame, and not just the guys who get caight with their finger in the pie so to speak. It may be that something else is killing the fish and then the snails turn up for a feast.

 

[K-fee!]

If you want to get rid of the snails, place a slice of cucumber in the tank overnight, when you wake up in the morning it will be covered with them so just take it out and throw away. Repeat this until all are go. Worked for me

 

[catxx]

snails are more opportunists than murderers.
what size tank is it? could water conditions have killed the fish and the snails just thought mm free dinner!
snails poop A LOT, so if they're in a small tank with lots of fish, thats gonna mess up the water, the snails will be more resiliant to it than delicate fish.