Snails

[simbob]

hello i have an empty tank but is full of little snails! Ive heard these can give anglelfish illnesses and as i want to get some angelfish i want to get rid of them, and i find them very unappealing! So any ideas on gettin rid of the things? thanks

 

[mark.w.jones]

hello i have an empty tank but is full of little snails! Ive heard these can give anglelfish illnesses and as i want to get some angelfish i want to get rid of them, and i find them very unappealing! So any ideas on gettin rid of the things? thanks

Have they come in with live plants? And what are they feeding on as there shouldn't be any food waste if you don't have any fish in there. Are you fishless cycling the tank ready for fish at the moment?

 

[dave1987]

i have snails in with my angel fish for nearly a year and havent had any problems yet there alright they eat all the left over food and algae in your tank

 

[simbob]

the tank has been running for nearly a year with lots of fish that have come on gone. At the moment it is empty waiting to be restocked thanks

 

[Zeoth]

There are alot of chemicals that LFS sell for getting rid of pesky snails. As well, there are fish too that eat snails,(thought can't remebar the name at the top of my head at the moment , some one here has mentioned it before... ) .

 

[vancouver]

Snails cant pass disease to fish, so don't worry about that happening.

Angelfish will probably try to eat them, so they might disappear anyways.

Personally, I wouldn't add any chemicals to kill them.. Seems a bit risky

 

[Thirdfloor]

Chemical treatments to get rid of snails typically contain copper. Copper is bad for your tank for a few reasons. If your tank has silicone holding together the glass, the copper will seep into the silicone and slowly leech back out over time. Once you use a treatment that has copper in it you probably wont ever be able to keep inverts in it again as the copper will poison them.

There are a few methods for getting rid of the snails that I know of:

1) Depending on the size of your tank, you can get a few loaches. There are several varieties that will eat snails like candy, but be warned, loaches like to be in groups of 3-5 (most people will say 5) and can get fairly large.

2) Remove them by hand. Yes, its tedious, but it works.

3) Some people say that putting a piece of cucumber in the tank overnight will attract a bunch of the snails and in the morning you can just chuck it out. Do this a few nights in a row and your snail population should drop.

4) Some people may get fired up over this suggestion, but when I get baby snails that I don't want, I just quickly euthanise them in the tank between my fingers and watch all my tetras go into a frenzy for the snack. Its a self propogating source of free food and excellent nutrition. It's a bit odd at first, but you get used to it, and I don't see it as inhumane since its immediate.

Actually, a few snails are good in your tank (as long as they dont eat your plants up) since they are amazing janitors

Other members may have better suggestions

 

[madgap]

I wouldn't want snails in my tank either. Put in your situation, a stockless tank, I'd be tempted to completly clear the tank out. Start from scratch, such is my distaste for snails.