Chemicals to rid snails-Ever use'em?

[Mad Highlander]

I am sick of the Snails! I have tried to manually remove them, but they just keep a comin'.

Has anyone out there used any of the commericially available snail killing medications out there, and if so what were the results(i.e. success, effects on fish and plants)

[GrandeEsteban]

never had a problem with snails fortunately, so I can't speak from experience of having them. What I can tell you based on what I 've read on here is it's always best to try a natural remedy as opposed to a chemical solution. I've seen people recommend to get some kind of Loach/Puffer or snail preferring fish to eat them, you would make the fish happy with an excellent source of food for them and possibly get the snails out without damaging your ecosystem in the process.

steve

[optix]

I've got the perfect cure for you, its a 5 inch growing oscar over here and all you need is a bag to put em in:)

[carpguy]

You won't have a lot of snails unless you provide a lot of snailfood. If your being overrun by snails it maybe an overfeeding issue. Try cutting back a bit on the fishfood.

If you use a chemical treatment without addressing the underlying problem, you'll eventually wind up with the same problem all over again.

The chemicals can be dangerous to some fish depending on the chemical, the dose, the fish. If you do decide to go this route, the details matter.

For more natural snail control, some folks have mentioned that if you leave a leaf of lettuce on the bottom of the aquarium overnight the snails will collect underneath it. Easier collecting. Repeat as necessary, but again with the root cause…

Then there are some natural-born snailkillers out there. Puffers and loaches seem to top the list. Don't know much about puffers, love loaches. If you decide to try some loaches, they come in a wide range of sizes and like to be in groups. Pick one that matches your tank size -- clowns get too big unless you've got a really big tank.

I've got 4 zebra loaches (http://fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=12255&genusname=Botia&speciesname=striata) and came across a stray botia histrionica (http://fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=24691&genusname=Botia&speciesname=histrionica) a few weeks back that I just couldn't leave behind. They will all stay less than 4" but all would be more than happy to kill any snail that came along… but I've never actually seen one come along.

HTH

[superjohnny]

I had a bit of a snail problem from all the live plants I wasn't washing off well enough :rolleyes:

Anyway I'd just pick them out and put them down the garbage disposal as I found them. Then I got a couple of clown loaches (coolest fish ever btw) and haven't seen a snail since.