atmmachine816

Never heard of that shrimp

Luniyn

Not heard of a shrimp that does that, but a freshwater puffer will. Of course you can't have anything else in the tank with the puffer, but still it will eat all the snails you toss it's way.

tan.b

shame i cant rent a puffer for a week!! itd have a feast in my tanks!!!! lol!

Sparkling Diamonds

I read that ramhorns are the bad kind. They're transvestites and can multiply on their own. They also eat live plants. I'd keep it contained for a while and would think long and hard about putting it back into the tank with your betta.

sirdarksol

Male ramshorn snails dress like females?
Yes, they do reproduce hermaphroditically. However, many places sell them as aquarium snails, because they are typically helpful. They do eat plants, but they also eat nearly anything else, including various bits of detritus on the bottom of the tank, lowering the amount of decaying waste. Also, critters that reproduce asexually tend to produce fewer young than those that need another to fertilize their eggs.
But it is a good point. They do, apparently, eat live plants.

Sparkling Diamonds

Haha I did mean hermaphrodites. ><

tan.b

snails with clothes on would be funny!

Gargoyle

I have snails in one of my tanks that I am wondering about... I found some eggs today on the glass and vacuumed them up while I was doing the gravel vac just to be safe. Where can I find pics of snails to find out if these are good or bad ??

Also what kind of fish will eat them but still be good community fish ?

Thanks!!

tan.b

as flbettacouple informed me yoyo loaches will! here's a link for more info

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-almorhae

also weather loaches, but these get huge! http://www.loaches.com/species-index...guillicaudatus

found this useful link too http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/snails.htm

also...this has loads of info on loads of loaches http://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/databank_list.php, unfortunately it seems most are shoaling, big and aggressive ! it seems our snails are here forever! (i even tried the copper preperation from lfs....it had NO effect at all on my snails along with the luring tactic, also my snails werent fooled!) if you find a solution to this prob, be sure to share it!

good luck!
tan

genie

Thanks for the advice, but my tank is too small for any loach. It is my betta tank. AHhhh I guess I will be pulling them out forever. Lila ate one of the baby ones though.

tan.b

shame! my tank mates wouldnt like any loach, so i'm stuffed too! lets hope lila enjoyed her snail and may eat some more!

Phloxface

That snail pic is a common pond snail and one of the worst you can have in your tank. I highly recommend you kill them. Just drop them in boiling water. They are pests much like cockroaches. They have been known to kill Bettas. I've seen it before several times. They swarm all over the sleeping Betta and suck on it's slime coat until it's dead. It's horrifying to watch! I have suddenly had an outbreak of these pests in Lava's tank. Yesterday I found about 12 of them crawling all over and quite close to where he always sleeps. He even tried to eat one that was floating. He got the entire thing in his mouth but couldn't chew it and spit it back out. Had he swallowed it it would have killed him as he cannot digest the shell. I wasted no time it pulling every one of them out and killing them. I would never think of keeping them in a separate tank alive. It would be like saving roaches... Never dump anything into lakes or rivers. Not even plants as they upset the ecosytem.

genie

OK, now I am terrified!! I have been killing them left and right-- crushing the shells and throwing them away, but now I am afraid for my babies! Is there anything I can do other than tearing down the whole tank to get rid of them

Gargoyle

I was thinking about fish to eat them but I don't think loaches would be good for my tank.. I have fry in there as well as shrimp. So I think they would munch on more than the snails to be honest. Plus I keep the temp pretty high. Around 79 most of the time since thats what I set the A/C at in the summer time.

So besides chemicals and the endless attempts of manual removal or complete teardowns is there another way ??

Gargoyle

I found this info....

__________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

Controlling Pest Snails in Your Aquarium

Now that you have them, how can you get rid of these pest snails? Here are some steps for trying to remove snails from your tank:

* Spend a little time every day, once you first find the snails, trying to find a few more and pull them out. If you crush their shells, many fish will will swarm over to eat the dead snail, or you can just throw them away.
* Copper additives can also reduce the snail population, as copper is toxic to most invertebrates. Some people will add pennies to their aquarium to increase copper levels, however this can be dangerous to your fish since you do not know what might be on a penny...
* Snail eating fish can also be helpful. Freshwater puffers (most of which are actually brackish water fish and need a little salt in their water and are typically very aggressive) will eat snails, as will some cichlids, and most Botia. The Clown Loach, Yo-Yo Loach, Dwarf Checkered loach, Skunk Botia and the Bengal Loach are all Botia that will usually do all right in a community tank and eat snails. Remember, when adding a fish to the tank to help with a problem like this, that the new fish does contribute to the tank population.
* You can remove the snails in larger groups by tempting them with food. After the lights go off for the night, and the tank is dark, place a saucer on the gravel at the bottom of the tank, place a piece of sinking fish food on the saucer and leave for about 25 minutes. When you come back there will probably be several snails on the saucer and they can be easily removed with the saucer and food. You can similarly use lettuce, spinach, scallions (green onions) or other fresh vegetables to do this, if you have a way to anchor the vegetables in the tank.

If you perform several of these tasks with diligence, you should be able to easily keep your snail population under control, if not eventually eliminating it. Remember, none of these will get rid of all of your snails in short order, but over time, they should become much less of a nuisance.

genie

Thanks-- these snails are going to kill me. I have killed at least 15 today alone!

tan.b

i can sympathise! i kill about 30 every couple of days!! using more live food and less flakes seems to have helped as there is no food spare for the snails! they cant catch the daphnia! snails are pointless critters! they need birth control!
tan

genie

guppies need birth control as well!