midnightwolf

i have a 55g tank and have counted 11 snails, how can i get rid of them are their some fish that would eat them or should i say go hunting for them? the fish would have to be compatable with guppies, platys, mollies, swordtails, ottos, and gourami ( pearl or dwarf ) also the fish sould be under 5 in and cant be a schooling fish. if there is a fish like this and you could let me knoe that would be awsome!

KyWildFish

An assassin snail if you can find it, or some kind of loach but you would need to research compatability and size issues. Yoyo botia (loaches) are what some have recommended to me in the past.

Llama

Otherwise, tie a piece of cucumber to a weight, and leave it overnight. The snails will surround it, making it pretty easy to catch them.

midnightwolf

thanks for your replies, i think ill try the cucumber first

rainman

Good idea. Also as a treat for your fish, crush any small snails that you see your fish will love you for it.

midnightwolf

i dont know if i would have the guts to do that but well see.

LetDiceFly

LOL, I have an 18 gallon tank, and I could probably collect 100 snails and not even put a dent in the population. If I put a loach in there it would be so fat he'd outgrow the tank in no time. They sell stuff called "had-a-snail", but alas, they won't ship it to California. Trying to catch them with cucumbers is like trying to bail out a boat with a thimble. Anyone with any more clever ideas let me know.

babyblu

We are now having the same issue. Snail POP rose over time, but there they are, in full snail-force.

We have a betta tank and can't really put anything in there to kill the snails off... vegetables didn't work (got maybe 4 baby snails) and the lettuce we put in there agitated our betta.

Sorry to step in on this thread, but since it's here... will betta's eat snails too? (sorry if that is a silly question) Not that I have the guts to do that either, but...

LetDiceFly

Seems the shells stop bettas from doing much to snails. I had a female I think ate the littlest ones, and a male that would knock them off the glass and harrass them, but nothing that made much of a difference.

agabr123

lol, that's not always the case. my female betta hera hunts snails like it's her job, she'll just pick them right out of the shells! granted i dont think that's the case with most bettas as none of my others have done that, but there's always a few out there

babyblu

Thanks. My betta boy loves to pick them off the glass and chase them after doing so. He isn't eating them though. I just wondered if I crushed them, would he eat them, but I'm sure the amano would have a bite or two.

What is the assassin snail

midnightwolf, did you get success with the cucumber?

midnightwolf

my mom dosnt want me to waste a perfect cucumber slice on some snails but shes gone now, what a great oportunity.

midnightwolf

we dont have cucumber so im trying lettice and ill tell you how it goes.

NaCl

I'm also having a snail problem. They had to be stow aways on a plant but they are small enough that I've only seen one. They have really done a job on a broad leaf sword!

I thought I saw on another thread where Ghost Shrimp will eat them. Any confirmations??

Also, I was wondering if aquarium salt would work & if so, how much for a 36 gal. It's stocked with angels, blk skirted tetras, dwarf gourmies, cardinals & a pleco. I dont' think salt will bother any of the fish.

Thanks,

Llama

I don't think adding salt to a freshwater tank is the best idea... it'll probably kill the snails, but I don't think the fish will like it either - not to mention you might mess up the plants.

NaCl

I was hoping that by adding the salt it would kill the snails. I want to get rid of them. I I was told by an LFS that they use salt in some of their freshwater tanks for the fish, that's why I was wondering if I could use it to kill the snails.

LetDiceFly

some freshwater fish like a little salt, but for most it is dangerous. luckily the snails don't seem to eat my plants, perhaps because they never quite run out of algae.

I have thought of removing the fish for awhile and putting something in there to make the pH acidic, which is not good for snails, I know it will eat away at their shells, not sure if it will kill them. But since I don't know if it will work I haven't bothered with it, a lot of trouble to take the fish out for any length of time.

midnightwolf

ok i tried the lettice and the snails act like its not even there so i need to find a fish that will eat them because im tired of catching snails every day and i found more eggs!

babyblu

same happened to us.

I'm considering moving our betta boy to a holding tank while we put a clown loach in there for a feeding frenzy... and then returning the clown loach to the LFS.

midnightwolf

hmm... good idea. but i dont think they would give you your money back unless they died.

babyblu

Well, if they did take the loach back and gave me my money back, that'd be great, but at this point I'd pay someone for loach time, so I think we'd be even steven if I just get one in that tank! lol.

Sarkazmo

I got a random snail with some miniature duck weed. I plopped him in and immediately one of my two ghost shrimp yanked it outta the shell and down the hatch it went. Dunno if the snail was alive or dead though. It wasn't here long enough to tell, heh.

Sark

midnightwolf

all i can say is wow.