WTF!!!!! where the hell did these snails come from....

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Posiden

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May 22, 2010
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hello, i have a 10g planted aq, i turned of the filter for two days, and didint give it light for 2 day (on vacation)...i come back today n my diy c02 gave my water really low pH...N THERE 3 SNAILS IN THERE.....

anyone care to explain these abra cardabra snails
 

Ashes2ashes

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May 4, 2010
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Well you said your tank is planted, so maybe some of the snails hitchhiked their way into our tank via plants. They might have just been on the plant, or your plants could have had snail eggs in them. That would be my guess.
 

jbradt

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May 9, 2008
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Well you said your tank is planted, so maybe some of the snails hitchhiked their way into our tank via plants. They might have just been on the plant, or your plants could have had snail eggs in them. That would be my guess.
I agree. All of the snails in my tanks have come in as hitchikers wither in used substrate or in plant orders. There are treatments to get rid of the snails before adding teh plants to the tank, but I'm at a loss as to what they are atm.
 

Cerianthus

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Jul 9, 2008
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Why turned off the filter for 2 days? I would not have. Any specific reasons for shutting down the system?

And if keeping tank dark, I would shut off the CO2 as Plants can NOT utilize CO2 in the dark. It would only drive pH low as you found out.
 

mikeb210

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Oct 14, 2008
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Why did you shut it off? Don't worry about the snails, if they're really a problem, get an assassin snail and they'll "magically" disappear
 

gmh

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Feb 5, 2007
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I like having some snails in my tank. They help with cleanup and algae controll. If you don't overfeed the numbers should stay manageable.
 

XanAvaloni

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Nov 13, 2009
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Posiden, just to clarify, what do these snails look like? If they are brown, sorta oval shaped like a football, they are the classic "pest snails" aka pond snails (I don't know the actual species name, have never heard anybody refer to them as anything but pest snails.)

If they are a flat coiled shape, like a rolled sausage or Princess Leia's hairdo in "Star Wars", they might be ramshorns. Those are also classified as pests by some people but others like them and will actually pay (a very small amount of) money for them. These you might want to leave alone as they are more attractive and breed at a much slower pace.

Pest snails are almost impossible to get rid of completely. Best thing to do is just squish them against the wall of the tank and either take them out or leave them for fish to eat. My female Endlers love them and rush over to get them every time they see my finger reach into the tank. :) Their shells are very flimsy so just a slight squeeze will cause them to go smush.

Yes assassin snails will get rid of the pest snails but this is of limited help if the problem is you just don't like snails in the first place. I suppose you could get one, let it clean out your current infestation, and then resell it to somebody else for the same purpose.
 
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