Such A Problem . . .

Back in the fold · Jan 25, 2026

I occasionally read a post where someone wants to get rid of snails or how to keep them under control . I can’t seem to keep them alive . They fizzle out quick on me . I suspect one reason is my bare bottom no substrate aquariums . I siphon out the detritus leaving things maybe overly clean . It’s surprising how much fish waste accumulates in a day or two and those of you gravel vacuuming probably aren’t getting it all . I started with some nice big pond snails and Ramshorns but all I have now is little BB sized ones . I rarely see eggs and eventually they die off . Sometimes one of my aquariums gets an algae outbreak and I put a few snails in and it gets cleared up in three or four days and then they go into decline again . Maybe I should feed them algae wafers or something .

Salamandra · Jan 25, 2026

I keep mystery snails but it is a full planted tank ( no co2 ) my tap water is hard water which I dechlorinate before weekly water changes but I do feed some type green wafers or sinking green pellets daily as keep shrimp and they also eat it . I do not feed shrimp specific food .

I had a lot of luck breeding shrimp in bare bottom tank with only driftwood but when siphoned the junk out I would always siphon out tiny baby shrimp but if not for that loved bare bottom tank .

Before moving here years ago the area I lived in had soft water and only began to keep snails alive by feeding them calcium type snail food but here not needed.

I plan to buy some rabbit snails soon .

Back in the fold · Jan 25, 2026

One thing else I see is that there is little fish waste . The snails eat that too . That doesn’t seem right to me and I think they’re eating ANYTHING just out of desperation . Is that possible ?

Salamandra · Jan 25, 2026

Back in the fold said:
One thing else I see is that there is little fish waste . The snails eat that too . That doesn’t seem right to me and I think they’re eating ANYTHING just out of desperation . Is that possible ?

I have no idea is my mystery snails eat fish waste but I know they do devour the same food I feed the Corys .

I throw in either pleco algae wafer , spinach fish type pellets or blood worm wafer every day and the mystery snails love it .

With a bare bottom tank you can drop in snail type food ( any green type sinking wafer / pellet ) at night next day see if your snails ate it or watch them that night .

Mystery snails are as easy as can be but they need calcium if your water is soft and they do need to eat .

Once in awhile I see big local Apple snails in canal in groups eating dead fish , etc . I think snails even nerites will starve without food .

If you I would not hesitate to try mystery and / or rabbit snails as fascinating and now they make calcium snail food .

fishorama · Jan 25, 2026

I have pretty soft water, 2-3 Kh & 3-4 GH. My snails & shrimp don't grow well or live long. Snails reproduce but stay small, shrimp don't live long. I don't really care too much. but I was disappointed MTS & ramshorns died out fast. I like few as cleanup crew or just for cuteness.

GaryE · Jan 26, 2026

I don't have the problems I used to. My main change is using live food. With retirement, I've gotten better and better at cultivating my own food for the fish. When I used a lot of flake, I had a lot of snails.

Because of feeding, I see a correlation with fish populations. Many of my one fish per 5 gallon type tanks have few snails. I've been removing a strange one, new to me. It looks like an MTS, but is about twice the size. Possibly, it's a snail (misguided) people pay for, but I'm not growing it out to see how big it gets. I find they are secretive, but they are established in one tank currently used for quarantine and with so little food going in, they leave the gravel and can be netted out.

In my soft water, pond snails have thin, fragile shells. But these new to me ones have armour.

They're funny creatures. If they had stable populations, I wouldn't mind them. They cause problems, but that can be managed. But like anything, they can overrun their environment, and trouble ensues.

I really like fish that dig. It seems to be a trait many of my favourites have. So I won't take the bare glass route. Plus I am getting more and more into plants. I find the local club members are more planted tank than fish in tank aquarists, and their enthusiasm for scraggly green things is catching. There are so many more plants easily available than even 20 years ago, and just crypts alone are fun now. If I could grow plants as easily as varieties of snails, I'd win tank of the month every month. But plants and snails do go together, like gardens and slugs.

gimme30 · Jan 26, 2026

Snails are nothing more than water herpes. Consider yourself lucky.

Salamandra · Jan 26, 2026

fishorama said:
I have pretty soft water, 2-3 Kh & 3-4 GH. My snails & shrimp don't grow well or live long. Snails reproduce but stay small, shrimp don't live long. I don't really care too much. but I was disappointed MTS & ramshorns died out fast. I like few as cleanup crew or just for cuteness.

For me the water made a huge difference and other then using dechlorinator I do not like to tamper with PH .

PH here is high so shrimps / snails thrive even shrimp which prefer lower PH have thrived for me as have all plants , when lived in area with lower PH not as much .