Removing Snails...

hey guys,

does anyone have a tried n tested good method for ridding their tank of snails? I know ultimately nothing is going to be a cure, but still...

I have my mollies who eat them as and when they find them, which helps, but @ the moment i'm having a bit of an "outbreak".

at the moment, i've weighted down a bit of courgette which i'm going to leave overnight and remove tomorrow... i'm also going to cut back a little on their food... any other ideas!?

andy

 

Cutting back on the food and a good gravel vacuum should help but it won't be an instant solution. Snails usually multiply in proportion to the food available to them baiting them is also a good idea. There are also chemicals for killing snails but I cannot recommend them as they will some times damage your plants, kill your fish and cause your tank to have a big ammonia spike because of the dead snails. A fishes stomach is about the same size as one eye so they really don't need as much food as we think they do
Carol

 

yeah, that's pretty much all i'd planned to do... just wondered if anyone had any magic tricks up their sleeves!

and id never use solutions to get rid of them... I know a friend tried that once, and the next morning - dead fish!

thanks hon!

 

if anyone finds a cure......i'd love to know too! most of my tanks are under control, but I must be pulling out 30+ a day at the mo out of my galaxy tank. i'm sure its cos I can't guage their food yet. my other tanks are fully stocked, so food doesn't get to the bottom !!! I was considering the chemical route, but i've decided def not now!!! I'll stick to a net, a spare hour, and a pot of boiling water (sorry, I have no compassion for pesky pond snails, so its a quick death. can't release them, can't keep them, so that's the answer). I find morning is best as the tank light is off and the sun comes in so the room is light and they cover the front glass, so they're easy to catch and wipe a few out then! they seem drawn to the light.
also yoyo loaches will eat them up for you if you've space and they're compatible with your other fish?
tan

 

a guy I know who works at petsmart did an experiment. He took 50 pest snails from the plant display tank at petsmart and put them in his tank. he let them multiply and then put a couple clown loaches in there. within 2 days EVERY SNAIL WAS GONE. those loaches really go crazy he said. hope that helps a bit

 

a guy I know who works at petsmart did an experiment. He took 50 pest snails from the plant display tank at petsmart and put them in his tank. he let them multiply and then put a couple clown loaches in there. within 2 days EVERY SNAIL WAS GONE. those loaches really go crazy he said. hope that helps a bit

wow!!!! if only I could rent one for a couple of days! tan

 

well you can always bring it back. I think they hav like a 14 day gurantee or something. I don't know if they will giv you a complete refund... but as long as you keep the reiept..you can try it.. or like call your local petsmart and ask them about it.

 

that's true!!!

 

is the 14 day only for dead fish? it'd be great if it was a full refund - go rent a fish to get rid of snails and then return it

 

yea I think so.... but maybe try calling them and try to work something out.

 

They should have a "rent a loach" service. :

 

lol write a letter ;D

 

I am re-doing one of my tanks and it has 100's of malaysian trumpet snails I already picked most of them out but how can I get rid of the remaining? I need the substrate so I can't throw it out but I'm upgrading the tank to a dirted aquarium and the snails will dig down and destroy the substrate.

 

If you don't keep shrimp and don't intend to keep them in the future, hit the tank with some copper. Cupramine for 2 weeks or more should do it. It's also a bit rough on fish so if you can remove them that would be better for them.

 

I have a dirted 10 gallon with about 5 trumpets, but I have enough of a gravel cap that they never disturb the soil below. I would think if you've picked most of them out and you are using a typical aquarium-sized gravel over top (as opposed to finer gravel particles), they shouldn't disturb your soil substrate. I have a 1 1/2 inch deep gravel cap and they don't particularly dig around too much in the large size gravel, so they never make it down to the soil. I also have about 1/4 inch sand between the gravel and soil, so that even if they did make it down there, the sand will stop any silt from making it into the water column when they come back up.

 

I also keep dirted tanks and the Malaysian snails don't make a mess. But my angelfish once choked on a floating baby MTS, it got lodged in his throat before I knew what was happening, so I don't keep them anymore.

All I did was add a couple assassin snails to my 33g and they decimated all the MTS in no time. If they don't breed, you could easily remove them later, but personally I love the look of assassin snails. They do bury themselves, but just under the substrate waiting for a prey nuisance snail to crawl over them for the attack. When they are extra hungry they will seek out food, but when the pest snail are gone, they will eat leftover fish food that makes it to the substrate, so win-win

Aren't they gorgeous?

 

I wouldn't suggest killing them unless you don't mind killing things of course. I've found that going a couple of days without feeding the tank, and then dropping in some type of sinking food at sundown will draw a lot of them out and make it easier to remove them over the next few hours. It helps to make sure they are hungry first. Algae wafers are good for this. And they are more active at night, hence the reason for placing the food in the evening. It takes awhile for them to gather, but once they do, it's easy to get them out.

 

I wouldn't suggest killing them unless you don't mind killing things of course. I've found that going a couple of days without feeding the tank, and then dropping in some type of sinking food at sundown will draw a lot of them out and make it easier to remove them over the next few hours. It helps to make sure they are hungry first. Algae wafers are good for this. And they are more active at night, hence the reason for placing the food in the evening. It takes awhile for them to gather, but once they do, it's easy to get them out.

Killing them is the only option unless I replaced the gravel which is already dirted and setup I have 300 in a bowl right now trying to think of a way to get rid of them maybe sell them on here or give them away.

I also keep dirted tanks and the Malaysian snails don't make a mess. But my angelfish once choked on a floating baby MTS, it got lodged in his throat before I knew what was happening, so I don't keep them anymore.

All I did was add a couple assassin snails to my 33g and they decimated all the MTS in no time. If they don't breed, you could easily remove them later, but personally I love the look of assassin snails. They do bury themselves, but just under the substrate waiting for a prey nuisance snail to crawl over them for the attack. When they are extra hungry they will seek out food, but when the pest snail are gone, they will eat leftover fish food that makes it to the substrate, so win-win

Aren't they gorgeous?

I have tried those before and they tend to have the same issue as trumpet snails unless you murder the babies.

 

Killing them is the only option unless I replaced the gravel which is already dirted and setup I have 300 in a bowl right now trying to think of a way to get rid of them maybe sell them on here or give them away.

I have tried those before and they tend to have the same issue as trumpet snails unless you murder the babies.

Is feeding assassins considered killing them? I'm used to feeding my reptiles live foods, so I suppose it doesn't bother me as much, I view it as letting nature do its thing.

 

Is feeding assassins considered killing them? I'm used to feeding my reptiles live foods, so I suppose it doesn't bother me as much, I view it as letting nature do its thing.

Them eating snails isn't the issue they reproduce a lot after so long and turn into a pest snail.

 

Them eating snails isn't the issue they reproduce a lot after so long and turn into a pest snail.

I really don't consider them a pest snail. They don't reproduce anything close to as fast as other snails if at all. But they do eat fish eggs, so a nuisance if you want to breed fish that lay eggs near the bottom.

 

I really don't consider them a pest snail. They don't reproduce anything close to as fast as other snails if at all. But they do eat fish eggs, so a PITA if you want to breed fish that lay eggs near the bottom.

I will probably buy some and give it a test and all of my fish are live breeders so that isn't a issue.

 

I will probably buy some and give it a test and all of my fish are live breeders so that isn't a issue.

I don't mean to pressure you into it, but had to let you know, I've been keeping assassins for years. I guess they would tend to breed the more food they have, but my tanks have been pest snail free for a few years and my assassin snail population has calmed way down. Haven't seen a baby in a while....

 

I'm not trying to pressure you into it, but had to let you know, I've been keeping assassins for years. I guess they would tend to breed the more food they have, but my tanks have been pest snail free for a few years and my assassin snail population has calmed way down. Haven't seen a baby in a while....

You are good I need the issue fixed I'm just trying to think of other ideas I have had assassin snails plenty of time in the past.

 

You are good I need the issue fixed I'm just trying to think of other ideas I have had assassin snails plenty of time in the past.

Oh ok, then I'd give them away or sell them.

 

Sorry, not trying to go all PETA on everyone. I just always try to find another way to solve problems without wasting a life. I know most people don't mind killing pest snails. I'm just one of those people who don't view them as pests. I also understand nature and that certain animals "need" to eat others. I myself have Axolotls and feed them worms. Why? Because that is what is absolutely best for them and they are too young for pellets. Do assassin snails "need" to eat other snails? No. They are marketed that way for a reason though, and people do use them for that. But they can also simply be fed a high protein diet that does not consist of other snails. To each their own, I was simply suggesting a technique that does not require killing them. There are always people looking for snails who appreciate them, you could sell them, give them away, or take them to your lfs. No big deal.

 

Hey Sheena-Phx, I see you love snails I respect that, I love them too, I keep nerites, ramshorns and even MTS in some. Assasins in other tanks. But when you get hundreds of them in one tank, it could cause a little bit of annoyance. For me, I noticed the baby MTS like to hang out at the top, whirlpooling in the filter current. It seemed there was always a few them there. But my angels like to eat from the surface and one when one of them accidentally swallowed an MTS snail and it got stuck, that was it for them.

I get what you're saying though.

 

Sorry, not trying to go all PETA on everyone. I just always try to find another way to solve problems without wasting a life. I know most people don't mind killing pest snails. I'm just one of those people who don't view them as pests. I also understand nature and that certain animals "need" to eat others. I myself have Axolotls and feed them worms. Why? Because that is what is absolutely best for them and they are too young for pellets. Do assassin snails "need" to eat other snails? No. They are marketed that way for a reason though, and people do use them for that. But they can also simply be fed a high protein diet that does not consist of other snails. To each their own, I was simply suggesting a technique that does not require killing them. There are always people looking for snails who appreciate them, you could sell them, give them away, or take them to your lfs. No big deal.

I don't see them as pest I actually use them in all of my non planted tanks for algae control or ramshorn snails but when you have 100's of them it's like having 100's of fish I have been trying to deal with them for a while with stuff like traps but it' wasn't working. The only reason I didn't boil my substrate is because the gravel is fully cycled with bacteria and I want it to stay in the tank. I was also getting big ammonia spikes before from the snails putting out so much waste.

But if anyone wants the removed snails check out this thread. Trumpet Snails For Sale Or Free (read The Post)