Snails in tank

[trash.binh91]

Hey ya'll! I have a 5g divided betta tank with two male bettas (I know, divided 5g isn't the best, but it is still around 2.5g each side and this happened bc of an impulse buy). After cycling the tank two or three months ago I noticed one snail that was pretty large (surprising bc there were no plants but there was driftwood and some almond leaves there, so I guess it came from that, and that was on the left side of the tank). So I decided to let it live, hoping it wasn't asexual (couldn't deal with it, kinda have a fear). Well, today I moved the tank into better lighting in a better location (the tank has some floating hornwort, some planted java ferns and java moss growing on the divider on the left side, and some floating duckweed on the right side) and I looked through the tank and saw I guess hatched/deflated(?) snail white egg cases on one side of the java fern leaves, and then looked at the other side and there was a baby snail. That was the last straw for me, and I was like ok. I can't do this, or else I would be scared to maintain the tank. I don't know what kind of snails they are, the big one has a faint stripe on one side of the shell and now I would like to know how to safely (for the bettas and plants) kill the snails without having to remove anything from the aquarium.

 

[JuiceBox52]

You could use copper treatment but that could damage the fish and plants as well. You would still have to remove the dead snails as well.
The most effective way is picking them out when you see them. You could also buy/make a snail trap.
Do you have a family member who you could persuade to help you remove them? By bribing of course

 

[trash.binh91]

You could use copper treatment but that could damage the fish and plants as well. You would still have to remove the dead snails as well.
The most effective way is picking them out when you see them. You could also buy/make a snail trap.
Do you have a family member who you could persuade to help you remove them? By bribing of course

Is there any small animal that I could buy to get rid of them? I definitely would not get any fish, but possibly another kind of invert that I could get to control (that I could remove later, because we aint dealing with them critters for too long). I do know that bettas will eat snails, but like they wouldn't eat all of the snails.

Where can I buy a snail trap?

 

[CassCats]

Place some lettuce in the tank before bedtime. In the morning, toss it out with whatever snails are on it. Repeat as needed.

 

[CassCats]

OR. Get an assassin snail.

They will eat pest snails happily as their main food source... and they need 2 to breed.

 

[JuiceBox52]

You could get an assassin snail to eat the others

 

[JuiceBox52]

OR. Get an assassin snail.

They will eat pest snails happily as their main food source... and they need 2 to breed.

Same time, great minds think alike!

 

[trash.binh91]

How big do assassin snails get?

 

[JuiceBox52]

About 3 inches

 

[trash.binh91]

About 3 inches

Wow! That's pretty huge I've got to say! As I said before, there are two sides to the aquarium, so should I get two? I would, but then again I don't want them having fun through the divider...

 

[JuiceBox52]

Wow! That's pretty huge I've got to say! As I said before, there are two sides to the aquarium, so should I get two? I would, but then again I don't want them having fun through the divider...

I would just move it every week from side to side

 

[Retired Viking]

With such a small tank I would just watch how much you food you feed your Betta and let the snails clean the uneaten food. If there is not much for the snails to eat they will not multiply as much. Look at them as a free addition to help clean your tank. I have a couple in all my tanks and my turtles love to eat them.

 

[trash.binh91]

With such a small tank I would just watch how much you food you feed your Betta and let the snails clean the uneaten food. If there is not much for the snails to eat they will not multiply as much. Look at them as a free addition to help clean your tank. I have a couple in all my tanks and my turtles love to eat them.

I do get that they can be beneficial, and if they don't go away, I will definitely take your advice into mind. Though personally, that one snail was already pushing my buttons and more will definitely really get on my nerves, making it difficult to maintain the tank.

 

[Retired Viking]

I had a snail invasion a while back in my 55 gallon tank of pond snails I got them under control by watching how much I feed my fish and doing a through vacuuming every week. I just changed over my tank with new scenery and only found a few pond snails. I would use a paper towel and gently wipe off the snail eggs. I also have nerite and ramshorn snails in my tank and they all seem to go a good job cleaning and keeping the algae under control.

 

[trash.binh91]

Little problem here. So I got my dad to wipe off the eggs on the fern, but like the stubborn eggs aren't coming off. Are they naturally sticky and such?