Where Have These Snails Come From

[charlton]

my tanks been set up since just after christmas and has a few real plants, i first noticed a snail about a few months ago but after getting a few out i thought they where gone forever. But after doing a weekly partial water change last night i'ver just found three more, where have they come from ? I know this can be a common problem, and some even like them but i don't and i want rid of !! I've read about putting in a lettuce leave and they will be attracted but is there any type of fish can make a nice meal of them and therefore eliminating my problem ?

cheers

charlton

 

[murphyk32]

umm not sure about the lettuce thing, but basically they probably came in on ur plants, and if left in will prolly spread like crazy causing an infestation. Loaches are famous for getting rid of snails, just watch some sizes as clown loaches get massive, most others are good tho.

Murph

 

[charlton]

umm not sure about the lettuce thing, but basically they probably came in on ur plants, and if left in will prolly spread like crazy causing an infestation. Loaches are famous for getting rid of snails, just watch some sizes as clown loaches get massive, most others are good tho.

Murph

thanks for the quick reply, what loaches would you advise cos i don't know anything about them, something that stay reasonably small cos i'm close to being fully stocked !! They have to be compatible with opaline gouramis, rosy tetras copper harlequins and cory julli's !!

cheers in advance on any help you can give

charlton

 

[kewskills]

Once you have nails its virtually impossible to get rid of them unless you use a chemical and kill them all, a fish like a loach could be used to control them.
However usually they do very little harm and are quite a small bioload, to control them to a certain extent is to make sure you do not overfeed your tank.

 

[eldomingo]

my tanks been set up since just after christmas and has a few real plants, i first noticed a snail about a few months ago but after getting a few out i thought they where gone forever. But after doing a weekly partial water change last night i'ver just found three more, where have they come from ? I know this can be a common problem, and some even like them but i don't and i want rid of !! I've read about putting in a lettuce leave and they will be attracted but is there any type of fish can make a nice meal of them and therefore eliminating my problem ?

cheers

charlton

once you get them it's virtually impossible to get rid of them because they're asexual so they reproduce on their own. i'd say a clown loach.

 

[kewskills]

once you get them it's virtually impossible to get rid of them because they're asexual so they reproduce on their own. i'd say a clown loach.

hold on, how big is your tank first, clown loaches get really large, there are plenty of smaller botia/loaches to pick from.

 

[charlton]

once you get them it's virtually impossible to get rid of them because they're asexual so they reproduce on their own. i'd say a clown loach.

hold on, how big is your tank first, clown loaches get really large, there are plenty of smaller botia/loaches to pick from.

its a 25 gal with some real plants and sand and the fish are

rosy tetra x 9
copper harlequin x 6
opaline gourami x 2
cory julli x 6

what do you suggest then cos i know i'm close to being fully stocked

charlton

 

[murphyk32]

yea as i stated above clowns get massive and work best in small groups,, im gunna say you prolly dont ahve the room for clown loaches. Go with a smaller loach, check out loaches.com

Murph

 

[charlton]

yea as i stated above clowns get massive and work best in small groups,, im gunna say you prolly dont ahve the room for clown loaches. Go with a smaller loach, check out loaches.com

Murph

cheers much appreciated, i'll have a look !!

 

[charlton]

thanks for all your help everyone, i've just been to my lfs and after talking to a sales assistant who was trying to tell me to buy some clown loaches (after i said they grow quite big he said said they've got some small ones, and take a long time to grow big, I felt like saying to him that my tank won't grow any bigger though) i found someone else who seemed alot more helpful and suggested Golden Zebra Loach (botia histrionica). I bought three of these and love them already, i hope i made the correct choice. Even if they don't sort out the snail issue (which i've read up that they should help) i'm more interested in watching these play than noticing any snails anyway !! Let me know what you all think of my latest addition !!!

cheers

charlton

 

[kewskills]

Well i know they get to about 4-5" in size usually kept in 3-5 at a time. Peaceful and very active even in the day.

Seems a suitable choice