Well, Crud. The Worst Is Happening At Last.

So I ordered some plants from TrinsFish. I had some extra duckweed so I tossed it into my betta tank. A few days later, there’s a freaking pond snail on the glass.



I’ve only found one, but there’s probably more. I put it in the breeder box for now. I don’t want any snails, but I don’t have the heart to crush them. I can’t get an Assassin snail, and I really want a pea puffer, but I cannot set up any more tanks. I would throw it nearby lake, but they are probably invasive. Can I just put it in a puddle and call it a day? How do I get rid of it?

 

I put mine in an old plastic 1.5 gallon with some duckweed... I kind of forgot about them... anyways at least I got rid of them

 

I wish, but my parents said ‘NO MORE TANKS’

 

Sorry, but you're probably gonna have to kill them to get rid of them. I also wouldn't let them live because they are invasive.

 

Sorry, but you're probably gonna have to kill them to get rid of them. I also wouldn't let them live because they are invasive.

What’s the best way to do that?

 

Leave out bait the snails to eat and when you see snails, take out the bait and put it into a container of aquarium salt, replace bait and repeat.

 

craigslist

someone will feed them to a fish

 

How about putting a floating container with the snail and some duckweed in your main tank?

 

How about putting a floating container with the snail and some duckweed in your main tank?

I have it in a breeder box right now, don’t they reproduce asexually?

 

I think mine are cute. they never live long enough to get big in my tank because there's not enough food and I only have like 4 or 5 at a time. they don’t really bother anybody.

 

I think mine are cute. they never live long enough to get big in my tank because there's not enough food and I only have like 4 or 5 at a time. they don’t really bother anybody.

How long do they live?

 

Snails don't have a complex central nervous system. Just crush it. It won't feel a thing.

 

How long do they live?

idk like a week or two?.. I don't keep track of them. I don't like removing the empty shells tho.

 

I just squished 4 of the gross things this morning alone. One of them was hitching a ride on my mystery snails. That annoys me. Get off my mystery snails.

 

I wasn't even aware of this dirty little secret when I first started keeping fish earlier this year. I found out the hard way. Snails are just a part of keeping aquatic life. It's what they do in nature (hitch rides) and there's no way to stop them.
I for one welcome our new snail overlords.
Seriously though, put them in a small container, we'll call it their "home". Maybe have some tank water in there. And then you know, kind of forget about them for say 7 months.

 

Once my assassin snails finished off all the pest snails in my tank I was wondering what I was going to feed them. Well I happened to find a few small pests in one of my filters. I move those little suckers to their own 2.5 gallon jar. Added an air stone and pothos growing out of the top.

I started feeding them mostly lettuce and occasionally a shrimp pellet or 2 or dust the lettuce with fine flakes and I now have lots of food for my assassins. The assassins will eat things other than other snails but I figure as long as I have them I will try to feed them their favorite food a couple of times a week at least.

while I was in the process of getting rid of the infestation in my main tank I had no problem whatsoever of wrapping those pests in a paper towel and squishing them. If there were too many at one time I would put them in a container and sprinkle them with table salt. It instantly killed them. It wasn't unusual for me to pull out a couple dozen of them each morning attached to the piece of lettuce I put in there for them as a trap.

the assassins could have eventually gotten rid of the problem for me but I wanted them gone quickly so I helped by removing and killing as many as I could and allowed the assassins to eat as many as they could find.

 

I actually started up a 5 gallon and threw all of my pest snails into it. I feed a big pinch of flakes 2Xs a week. The tank actually cycled . Now the tank has hornwort growing like crazy and a bunch of the bigger ones, ramshorns?

Very few of the tiny ones.

I actually do a 30-50% water change weekly.

Now I have a small hospital tank that stays cycled.

In my other tanks I always have a few. If I feed moderately, they are manageable. Heavy feeding I have to repeat the removal process.

Initially I hated them but now realize they keep the tank clean.

 

I actually received a 1.5 gallon tank for free so I'll put it in there.

And a random question, do you have to cycle a shrimp tank? I'd put cycled media in there but I don't think they have enough bioload (plus one pest snail) to really buildup ammonia.

 

I actually received a 1.5 gallon tank for free so I'll put it in there.

And a random question, do you have to cycle a shrimp tank? I'd put cycled media in there but I don't think they have enough bioload (plus one pest snail) to really buildup ammonia.

Put cycled media in. Sure they may only produce a tiny amount of ammonia but they will produce some. Most of the bacteria will die off but a little will live and keep the tank safe for your snail.

 

Snails are just a part of keeping aquatic life. It's what they do in nature (hitch rides) and there's no way to stop them.

20+ years of bleach dips worked for me. NEVER had a SINGLE snail. Not until a couple years back when I used my wifes bleach (I ran out of mine) to dip some plants and found out the hard way that she had diluted it a ton in the bottle. Now I have the stupid things in every tank. They are the bane of my existence. I kill them all and feel great about it. lol

 

20+ years of bleach dips worked for me. NEVER had a SINGLE snail. Not until a couple years back when I used my wifes bleach (I ran out of mine) to dip some plants and found out the hard way that she had diluted it a ton in the bottle. Now I have the stupid things in every tank. They are the bane of my existence. I kill them all and feel great about it. lol

They sure are a pain. They are hard to grab unless you have long thumb nails and they for me anyway seem to do a free fall as soon as I touch them into my gravel where they are almost impossible to dig out. I use a net a lot. I push them up, then down with the net so they do their free fall and then put the net in the water to catch them free falling. If I cannot use the net because they are on a mystery snail or in a corner or by the filter apparatus so I cannot finagle the net or if I am in a hurry, I just put my thumb on them and squish. If I can successfully grab/net them, they go in my 5 gallon puffer feeder tank. When I squish them because I cannot finagle my net or are on my mystery snails, I will sometimes yell, "got you _____ (insert which ever word you would like here)," and do not feel even a twinge of sadness.

 

I mashed probably 8 little ones I found while doing my water change on the big tank today. No regrets.

 

Kill'em all & let God sort'em out. lol