Snails Came In On Plants

[KrystaK]

Yeah, same old story Bought some live plants for my home tank. Brought them home and planted them. A few days later a snail appeared on the glass that hadn't been there before (I had no snails before) I thought cool, snail (Since the last ones I had died ) But anyways. Since then 4 more have appeared, all around the same size.
Suddenly this morning there was a very tiny little one in my fry trap.
How can I get rid of them before they really start screwing things up? And in a non chemical way, I have fry that a breeder is coming to pick up one of these days and I don't want them dying or anything...

Thinking of getting mystery snails after this, watching the little invaders reminded me how amusing snails can be. But anyways, how do I deal with the present intruders?
Please help, thanks. (my LFS doesn't sell assassin snails, in case thats the only option, and I dont know where to get them)

 

[UKSPEED]

Buy 3 or 4 assassin snails online? They are great workers! I had an infestation and they cleared it within a few weeks. A nice snail to watch and look at also.

 

[mike455555]

Buy 3 or 4 assassin snails online? They are great workers! I had an infestation and they cleared it within a few weeks. A nice snail to watch and look at also.

iv got the same problem. but dont the snails eat shrimp as well

 

[KrystaK]

I don't like ordering live animals through the internet. Shoes and clothes, duh, but not living things. Is there any sort of home remedy I can try or anything?

btw just found the first batch of snail eggs - how do I get rid of those?

 

[safire_eye]

Assasins are available in a lot of lfs, they may be dotted around various tanks though so you should ask. They're very attractive snails, slow breeding and I can vouch for their pest snail removal skills!

Ps get the eggs out asap!

 

[sarah40011]

if you order on ebay they will send them tracked and next day delivery clearly marked live snails and protected in a container they will be fine. i find 6 or more usually do the job, they really are great things as chemicals are not often recommended and snail eating fish are unsuitable for most aquariums. I have seen once and once only a snail eating a shrimp but it was a fully grown one and possibly old/dying/dead, shrimp can get out of the way easy and mine happily breed hundreds of shrimplets living alongside assassins.

 

[walkers101]

Wondering why no one has tried to advise about the cause to these snails rather than just killing them

99% of the time you will get an infestation of snails due to over feeding cut back on the food and the number of snails will also decline

 

[ZoddyZod]

iv got the same problem. but dont the snails eat shrimp as well

nope.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Steps to eliminate snails.

#1 - stop overfeeding. Snails are prolific reproducers when conditions are favorable, but when they are not, they don't reproduce. Feed only the amount that the fish can eat in 30 seconds. Fast the tank at least one day a week, probably feeding every other day until the snail population is under control would be the best solution.

#2 - place some bait for the snails at night. A large lettuce leaf or similar will draw the snails to it every night. A few hours before the light of day hits the tank, remove the lettuce (and all the snails attached). Repeat until you aren't getting sufficient snails on the leaf to warrant the effort.

#3 - Remove all snails visible during water changes by merely sucking up into syphon tube. Discard snails. Repeat.

#4 - Smash all snails seen at other times. Your fish will love the fresh meal. Repeat.


You will never be "rid" of the pests, but this will keep their numbers under control. Do not look to add a chemical or another animal to your tank to deal with something as simple to deal with as snails. Removing them is YOUR job, and preventing their return in numbers is also YOUR job. Personally, I find a few are a good thing in the tank, but if the numbers start creeping up again, repeat the above procedures, as needed.

 

[TwoTankAmin16]

I don't like ordering live animals through the internet. Shoes and clothes, duh, but not living things.

Here is the thing, almost anything we keep in our tanks both fw and sw does not come from local waters. Most are from much warmer to tropical climes. So exactly how do you think these live critters make it to our tanks without having been shipped/posted several times along the way?

I buy almost all my fish shipped in to me and not from stores. In many cases I know the breeder or importer personally and know what their practices are, something I can not say about most stores. I would guess that over the past 11 years I have had shipped to me or I have shipped to others between $20,000 and $25,000 worth of live fish, shrimp and snails.

If you are worried about the quality of the fish etc or are uncertain about the reputation of a seller, I am sure there are plenty of folks on this site who can recommend a reliable vendor. Assassin snails are a good way to deal with pest snails and if your assassins reproduce you can sell them on.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I understand your point, but why pressure her to do something that she is uncomfortable with?

There's no sense in trying to get someone to do something they are uncomfortable with. While I'm sure she understands that the fish have to travel a long distance to get to her LFS, that doesn't mean it has to travel a long way FROM the LFS to her home, nor does it mean that she has to purchase a fish sight unseen. Once it has arrived at the LFS she can inspect the stock for herself and is probably far happier buying a fish that she has seen than a fish she hasn't seen.

Each person is different in how comfortable they are with certain practices. You enjoy ordering over the internet, sight unseen. Other people don't. Besides, I think the idea of adding one creature to your tank, specifically to deal with an unwanted creature is a pretty poor reason for getting it. If you like the look of the assassin snails, that's one thing. But she doesn't sound keen on snails, period, regardless of species and seems to want manual removal methods.

 

[tribalbrit]

clown loach they'llshift em.

send me some I'll feed to my clowns.

 

[Chug]

clown loach they'llshift em.

send me some I'll feed to my clowns.

please dont get a clown loach just to eat snails. not a good suggestion in my mind.

clown loach they'llshift em.

send me some I'll feed to my clowns.

please dont get a clown loach just to eat snails. not a good suggestion in my mind.

 

[the_lock_man]

clown loach they'llshift em.

send me some I'll feed to my clowns.

Whilst it is true that clown loaches will eat pest snails, you cannot be sure that they are suitable for the OP's aquarium. You don't know whether the OP has the space for a shoal of clown loaches (and they do get very big, and need to be in a shoal of at least 6), and you don't know whether the OP has any incompatible species in the aquarium.

 

[creeker]

I don't like ordering live animals through the internet. Shoes and clothes, duh, but not living things.

Here is the thing, almost anything we keep in our tanks both fw and sw does not come from local waters. Most are from much warmer to tropical climes. So exactly how do you think these live critters make it to our tanks without having been shipped/posted several times along the way?

I buy almost all my fish shipped in to me and not from stores. In many cases I know the breeder or importer personally and know what their practices are, something I can not say about most stores. I would guess that over the past 11 years I have had shipped to me or I have shipped to others between $20,000 and $25,000 worth of live fish, shrimp and snails.

If you are worried about the quality of the fish etc or are uncertain about the reputation of a seller, I am sure there are plenty of folks on this site who can recommend a reliable vendor. Assassin snails are a good way to deal with pest snails and if your assassins reproduce you can sell them on.

While I have no problem selecting fish for others and shipping them, I just prefer to pick out my own specimens. It's part of the fun of fishkeeping for me. I can see where op is coming from here. There must be an easy way to rid a plant of snails or any nastys before putting it in your tank. I haven't had any come in on my plants, just because I closely examine the tanks they come from, and don't purchase from tanks with any small snail species in them.