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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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snail problem
My tank has been cycling for over 2 weeks now. About 5-7 days ago I had to remove a piece of grapevine that had something growing all over it. A friend suggested it was snail eggs but I dismissed this as I did not see any sign of snails. This evening however, I was looking at my tank and noticed a very tiny snail moving along the glass. There are also tiny tear-drop shaped things that are waving in the current, also attached to the glass. I have noticed that even though I removed the grapevine immediately whatever had been growing on it managed to leap onto my other driftwood. Now I am worried about a sudden snail explosion in my tank. I do not have any fish in my tank but I do have plants and mopani wood. I have noticed that something invisible has been eating little hole in my plants--tiny snails perhaps? Please give any advice you have.
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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sounds like pond snails. what are you planing to put in it? most Loaches (and dwarf puffers) like snails. If you have no room in your tanks for these then when ever you see the eggs take them out ( using a turkey baster to suck them up is easyest) and whenever you see a snail, crush it.
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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I was planning on a school of tetras, a ghost shrimp and possibly a common pleco (still talking over the plec w/ my husband because I know that if we do get one we would be making an automatic commitment to a 55 gal+ in the future). What exactly do the eggs look like?
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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I have to say, this is extreme;y disappointing. It looks like these snail problems are long-term once introduced to your tank. The puffer won't work because I have a gravel substrate =(. Reading about the loaches it looks like they need a long tank to really be happy because they like to swim around so much. The only thing going for me would be the slightly acidic water. I have been planning this amazon aquascape for a while...I guess I'll have to remove the snails by hand...Unless you think I could treat the tank chemically? I don't have any fish in it right now. Would I be able to flush the chemicals out of the tank afterwards? If so then I wouldn't have to worry about residual toxins hurting fish when I go to add them to the tank.
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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Hang a piece of lettuce inside the tank just before the lights go off. Next day check the lettuce and if there are any snails on there, remove the lettuce carefully and dispose of it properly e.g. put the lettuce with snails in a ziplock bag, pour some salt over the lettuce to kill the snails, seal the bag and put it in the trash.
If no snails are found the 1st day, leave it in there another day. If none in there by the 3rd day, replace the lettuce leaf with a fresh piece. It also helps sometimes if you blanch the lettuce but is not necessary.
Hope that helps
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Mentor
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Hi!
If you want a Pleco - Clown, Bristlenose and Flash all stay small and eat algae.
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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What I did with my snail problem is I first squished the snails, but then they layed more eggs, and when I was so over run with snails, I bought a spotted puffer. He ate all the snails in one day. But it seems with the fish you plan on having in the tank, it wouldn't work. So I agree with Angelfish. They can be very annoying when you get 10000000s of them so I would crush them now before its to late.
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Hang a piece of lettuce inside the tank just before the lights go off. Next day check the lettuce and if there are any snails on there, remove the lettuce carefully and dispose of it properly e.g. put the lettuce with snails in a ziplock bag, pour some salt over the lettuce to kill the snails, seal the bag and put it in the trash.
If no snails are found the 1st day, leave it in there another day. If none in there by the 3rd day, replace the lettuce leaf with a fresh piece. It also helps sometimes if you blanch the lettuce but is not necessary.
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If you aren't cycling the tank with fish food, that's probably the best way since you may only have a few snails. Keep doing this until any snails that are hatching have also been caught.
If you're now planning on a common pleco, you'll need that big tank soon before the pleco outgrows the 20gal and destroys your aquascaping. |
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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Ok. Thanks for the help everyone. Theres a place that has a dollar a gallon tank sale every spring and I plan on upgrading my tank then (55 gal for $55!!!). A pleco wouldn't outgrow a 20 gal in 2-3 months would it? I plan on buying a small one to start with.
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mcdonald.kk
Ok. Thanks for the help everyone. Theres a place that has a dollar a gallon tank sale every spring and I plan on upgrading my tank then (55 gal for $55!!!).
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Reallly!?!?!?!?!? That is awsome! |
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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=) super cool huh? Anyway....I have come to a decision. I can see what I think are tons of little eggs sprinkled all over my broader leaf plants so I have mixed up a bleach solution and am going to take the plants out and soak them in it before too many of the little buggers hatch. I have some lettuce hanging out in the tank as we speak. I'll let you guys know if this little experiment works....
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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without fish, i personally would go chemical. use some carbon to get it all out when it's done it's thing... i would be worried about killing my plants with the bleach.
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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I wouldn't want to soak my plants in bleach either.
Snail eggs aren't all necessarily on the plants either. They lay them all over the place.
With no fish in the tank, chemicals are certainly an option.
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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How well does chemical treatment work? Is it 100% certain to get rid of all of the snails? I am almost tempted to drain the whole thing and start over again. It would have the added benefit of me being able to add a real substrate for my plants making a better environment in the long term for my fish. I'm willing to do whatever it takes. Of course, even if I drained it I would still face the problem of making sure I removed all of the snail eggs from everything before putting it back in my aquarium...Would chemical treatment damage the bacteria in my filter?
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Bum
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another easy fix for snails without hurting your plants is to turn to brackish conditions for a few days. your plants will tolerate this but the snails wont. about 1.5 teaspoons of marine synthetic salt per gallon should pretty much turn them into plant fertilizer
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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Awesome! That sounds hopeful. Do you return to normal salinity by doing water changes?
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Yes and it will take a while because salt dosent evaporate. I would wait and see your sucess with the lettuce leaf before anything else
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February 24th, 2008
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Fish Helper
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Maybe I should stop looking so closely at my tank. I got home this evening and took a look to see if any more snails had hatched, and discovered extremely small, thin worm things are now making themselves at home. =0 They are so small that I thought they were white pieces of lint...except that some of them were moving. Do you think the salt will take care of these things too?
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