Snail Problems

Some of us deliberatly introduced snails, MTS snails in my case. The pond snails came with the plants but don't eat them. Much to my pleasant suprise I discovered my loaches were keeping the population in check.

One post in reply to my question of whether my loaches were doing the job or not said that several species of loaches will clean the shells out for you. Mine are Angilicus and don't get nearly as big as clown loaches. They maxed out at a slender four inches. They are rare and expensive, I got lucky but check around and see what others suggest.

Snails reproduce in direct relation to the amount of food available. If a tank is overfed, and undercleaned, snails canbe a problem. If you feed appropriately, clean regularly, and remove dead leaves, snail levels will remain low. The common snails that are introduced with plants don't really target healthy leaves--they go after ones that have been damaged or are suffering from a nutrient deficiency.

I have a 5 here at work that has 4 cherry barbs, and 304 large pond snails. the crypts and anubias are healthy and growing, and I've never had an explosion of snails in this tank. It gets fed once a day, 4-5 days a week, and a weekly 2 gallon water change.

What type of snails did you have? There certainly are some that will go after healthy plants, but not many. Also, what type of plants did you get? What fish are in there?

I've got 4 botia striata in my 30. Zebra loaches, little fellers that max out around 4 inches or so.

I've seen snails come in with plants… but I never see them again.

So that's one control method.

OG's right about the other… if there are too many snails then there is too much extra food/waste in the water. A clean, healthy, lightly fed tank shouldn't have snails. Maintenance is good medicine.

They might be feasting on unhealthy plants. Have you got your light, ferts, etc. squared away?