Please help me with my snail infestation

[Ashes2ashes]

Pin holes in leaves tend to mean some sort of nutrient deficiency. The cichlid in your picture looks like a mbuna. They can and will eat plants. I had mine with some anubias and they destroyed them. Snails will eat any part of the plant that is dying or decaying. If part of the plant is unhealthy due to a nutrient deficiency then the snails will eat the unhealthy part.

Yep. I was about to say the same. I would either blame the Mbuna or having dead spots in your plants already since those snails won't eat healthy/live plant. As far as assassins go, I don't think you can ever find them in pet stores. You would have to order them from someone selling them on an aquatic site like this. I know Msjinkzd has some. I just sold off my extras or I would offer.

 

[authmal]

What kind of snails do you have? Pest snails like pond snails/ramshorns/and MTS don't eat plants, so that wouldn't be what is nibbling on your anubias.

Unless your anubias are already dead/dying. But the rest of what Ash said is spot on.

 

[Ashes2ashes]

Unless your anubias are already dead/dying. But the rest of what Ash said is spot on.

Yeah, I mentioned in another post that they will eat dead spots, but that's not nibbling on live plants. Those spots would eventually be holes all on their own without any help from the snails. The snails just clean up the decaying mess. =)
I am one of those crazy people that likes my pest snails. lol

 

[bgourami320]

At the beginning I had alot of pond snails in my 75g. I used to look for the eggs and get them out. Also
my synodontis petricola love snails. My neighbor just gave me water lettuce out of his guppy pond with snails
attached. The petricola's had a ball. Or just start scooping them out and put them in another small tank
and like Ashes2Ashes said sell them off to people who feed pond snails.

 

[vwill279]

Mgamer sells assassins, otherwise check aquabid. Some LFS sell them also, just not usually the chain type ones. My fish guy in Milwaukee always has a few in each of his plant tanks, though I've never gotten pest snails from his plants. I did get them in my shrimp tank, not sure how, but there are only about 5 right now and they are teeny tiny, like the size of a new-hatched RCS.

 

[iheartbettas]

I am one of those crazy people that likes my pest snails. lol

I'm one of the other ones. My eyes lit up and so did my assassins snails' when the OP said he had 200-300 pest snails.

 

[scorp]

well thank you so much for all the info everybody, Ashestoashes in particular,
I guess I'll stick with a small piece of lettuce overnight and pull them out in the morning, I'm not looking to get rid of them all, just cull the numbers and I think that will work.
All those small holes do appear to be on small brown spots of the leaves.
I would love to send them to someone, or even order an assassin snail, but I'm brand new here and I dont really understand the site fully just yet.

Here is the tank for those who are interested.

 

[dani_starr]

well thank you so much for all the info everybody, Ashestoashes in particular,
I guess I'll stick with a small piece of lettuce overnight and pull them out in the morning, I'm not looking to get rid of them all, just cull the numbers and I think that will work.
All those small holes do appear to be on small brown spots of the leaves.
I would love to send them to someone, or even order an assassin snail, but I'm brand new here and I dont really understand the site fully just yet.

Here is the tank for those who are interested.View attachment 186099

I have 5 assasin snails if you want em? PM or email me at cherryfox22@yahoo.com. The poor things have no food hardly ever to eat :/

 

[Ashes2ashes]

No problem! Happy to help! Hopefully you will be able to order you some assassins once you are more comfortable navigating the site. =)