Snails Arrrrr...

[Colonel Mustard]

I Have noticed that the population of snails in my Tank has increased considerably. it has grown to numbers in excess of 20, they are just babies at the moment but even if i took out each one i saw by hand there would still be too many. i have never bought a snail so they must have come in on the plants or something, my tank is 4 weeks old.

can anyone give me advice on how to deal with my problem
thanks

 

[lilfishie]

what size tankdo you have, i think there are a few loaches that eat them

 

[mlawson]

You may be able to see twenty, but you can guarantee there'll be more hiding. As you correctly suggested, snails find their way into the aquarium mainly on plants and sometimes in fish bags. Most snails are harmless and will not eat your aquarium plants. In many cases they can be beneficial, feeding on algae and detritus present in your tank. Infact, the malaysian mudsnail (which I have thousands of) can actually be sold, these are present on plants regulary. An infestation of snails could indicate some overfeeding, feed less and see if they persist. On the other hand add some snail crunching loaches, be aware of which species you want and if they are compatable with your setup. Snail removing chemicals should be a last resort. I wouldn't be too woried with your snails. Could you describe their appearance?

 

[BINKSY]

i had the same problem with snails in my tank, i brought 3 zebra loaches and although i never saw them much too start with the snails were gone in days, and they are great interesting fish too watch


Cheers Gordon

 

[prankster705]

vietnamese loaches cleaned up my ramshorn snail infestation... beggining - over 500 snail, at least... end... maybe 1 snail, none that I can see