Help anyone Freshwater Limpet invasion in my tanks

[EileenH]

I bought some plants at a auction and now my tanks are invaded by Freshwater Limpets. They are the size of pin heads and look like this on this web-site http://www.planetinverts.com/huppukotilo2.jpg
They stick to the tanks glass like glue and the only way to get them off is by putting your finger over them and sliding them off the glass to the top.
They reproduce so fast and stick to plants. That's how I got some in my other tanks from some Hornworth plants I put in other tanks. I do have some Assassin snails but do not know if they will eat them. I have black sand in my tanks and they are easy to see all over the bottom on the sides of the tank. I have red cherry shrimps so I do not want to use a snail killer and kill them or my assassin snails. Their is not much information on these things on-line to get rid of them. They are really harmless but it looks bad with these little white speck babies on my tanks glass and bottom. Any help will be great. I PM sounguru about them since he might know if assassin snail will eat them or not. I was just wondering if anyone has these or not and if they do what they did to get rid of them.

 

[platytudes]

Well for one thing, post them on the Buy/Sell because I bet some people would like them, me included! If you truly have limpets and not ostracods or seed shrimp...which is more like what I'm picturing from your description. Limpets look more like this from what I can tell: http://home.zonnet.nl/lesvos/Ancylus.jpg

 

[DoctaQ]

i think they could be limpets, i have the same things but they kinda just went away on thier own, then i had these white ones in another tank and theyve kinda died off since i planted and started with co2.

if you have no inverts and are willing to take the chance, go with copper

 

[platytudes]

I have red cherry shrimps so I do not want to use a snail killer

But she does, you see...

 

[EileenH]

I do have freshwater Limpets. They are tiny though. Sitting on rocks or on my driftwood they look like chinese cone hats. They are about the size of a ball on a quilting pin. They must be breeding because I see tiny white specs that are babies. I have a magnifying glass so I know they are not something else. Beleive me you do not want these pesky Limpets. Like they say be careful what you with for.

 

[DoctaQ]

o yeah, oops.
cut back on feeding?

 

[platytudes]

Ok, definitely sounds like a limpet now. Not a whole lot about them online. I suppose a snail eating fish like a loach would eat your limpets, any chance you can "borrow" one for extermination duty from your LFS?

 

[EileenH]

I would but I have baby fry platy in one of my tanks so I have to feed twice a day. I will try cutting down in my shrimp tank and other tanks maybe even do every other day.

I can't borrow a Loach as it would eat my assassin snail and maybe my dwarf shrimps.

 

[toddnbecka]

If you have ramshorn or pond snails in the tank the limpets won't be likely to last too long. They're incredibly slow-moving critters, and won't compete well for food in the long run.

 

[EileenH]

I have ramshorn snails and MTS thats why I got the assassin snails to control those which they did. I was not planning on getting this freshwater Limpet. My assassin snail did lay egg pods in my 6 gal. tank so maybe the tiny baby assassins will eat the limpets. One can only hope.