What Bait To Use For Snail Trap?

Hello everyone,

I posted a thread yesterday about being overrun by pest snails. I've considered getting an assassin snail and removing a bunch of them manually. Then I came to think of snail traps. I had a small glass container with a plastic lit that I made a small hole in. I put in two algae wafers and a slice of cucumber and left it over night (approximately for 12 hours).
When I woke up no snails had made their way into the trap and there weren't even any pest snails close to the container. They seem to completely ignore it and show absolutely no interest.
What am I doing wrong?

Does anyone have any experience with making these traps and what bait to use? It seems like I've been trying to lure them with the wrong foods. Any food and trap suggestions welcome!

Thanks in advance.

 

Following!

 

I just use a water bottle with an algy wafer and a small piece of seaweed sheet. I angle the mouth to the substrate, so all they have to do is crawl in. Though I have to admit, I catch more of my RCS then snails.

 

I just use a water bottle with an algy wafer and a small piece of seaweed sheet. I angle the mouth to the substrate, so all they have to do is crawl in. Though I have to admit, I catch more of my RCS then snails.

View attachment 313762

Haha, looks like your RCS are happy with it!
Well, I've done the exact same. I made a small hole (much smaller than yours, but big enough for snails to go in) and aimed it at the substrate, but no snails caught. They weren't even near the container.

 

What kind of algy wafer are you using? I found the snails and the RCS don't like the Wardley from Walmart, but go after the HikarI wafers they really like and go into my trap.

 

Cucumber or zucchinI works too

 

What kind of algy wafer are you using? I found the snails and the RCS don't like the Wardley from Walmart, but go after the HikarI wafers they really like and go into my trap.

I'm using Tetra Pleco Tablets. My plecos, amanos and RCS all love them, but apparently not the snails. I can try finding some HikarI wafers online maybe.

Cucumber or zucchinI works too

In the container I put two Tetra Pleco Tablets and a slice of cucumber. My plecos and all my shrimp love both, but these snails don't seem interested in anything!

 

It takes time for the little dudes to sniff out the good stuff.

 

It takes time for the little dudes to sniff out the good stuff.

More than 12 hours? Not even one had gone near it.

 

I've looked into buying the HikarI wafers, but unfortunately it will take them around a week to get here. Do you think other pellets will work? I think I'll buy some Tetra WaferMix and Sera Shrimps Natural.

 

Maybe there is something on the jar or lid they don't like. Have you tried using something else?

 

Maybe there is something on the jar or lid they don't like. Have you tried using something else?

Not yet. I just checked the bait for the first time a couple of hours ago. The container has been used for spices earlier, but I've boiled it multiple times, scrubbed it with soap and rinsed it. Maybe they can still smell it?
I'm gonna go out and buy a small water bottle and try again. I'm also thinking that maybe I made the hole too small? It's only around 5 - 6 mm. I have RCS and the problem is that if they can get in there, they'll take the food and run out of the trap with it.

 

As you saw, my RCS go into the bottle, and I just shake them back out when I pull the trap up. It's a pain and time consuming, but I pull out like 50 or more snails at a time.

Also the hole might be to small to let enough smell out to attract them.

 

I've been controlling my Malaysian Trumpet Snails and small Ramshorn snails and soon worked out that traps were not effective enough for what I required.

However, syphoning as many snails as possible while water changing has brought their numbers down satisfactorily.

 

My snails love north fin kelp wafers

 

My snails love north fin kelp wafers

That's what I use to bait our ISTA snail trap.

They also seem to like the
Omega One shrimp pellets.

 

Unless your tank is huge you can probably remove them manually much faster than you can type on this thread. Pest snails are not overly picky eaters and drawing the majority of them into a trap seems futile with a tank full of food. But I'll follow along and see how it ends. If you can trap a dozen a day perhaps it could help over time.

 

I'll buy some different wafers and see if some attract them more than others. For now I've made a new trap with a larger container (a water bottle), which has no scent or anything. I've added the same wafers and cucumber as yesterday, since it's Sunday and all shops are closed. If I've caught none by tomorrow I'll start picking them out by hand and wait for the other kinds of wafers I've ordered to come.
I'm afraid snail traps are in fact not effective, I've just read on here and seen photos of people who've caught 20 - 30 snails at once using this method, so I'm kind of disappointed!

 

So far I've caught one amano that succeeded in squeezing its chubby little body through the hole... oh well.

https://imgur.com/a/PmJ4c

https://imgur.com/a/NtEu9

 

Lol

When I first tried using a cucumber, all I caught was one of my nerite snails.