Being overtaken by SNAILS

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Banky

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Jan 1, 2004
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I regret ordering plants from aquatic plant depot. Ever since I did, I have had SNAILS. I dont want a clown Loach because it will get too big and cause havoc with my plants. Is there any other way to get rid of them besides chemicals? Im dont want to use the snail killer in fear that I would kill my Amano shrimp too.

Does the cucumber in a glass trick really work?
 
Any chemicals will almost certainly kill your shrimp and harm your plants.

Try the cucumber. You may also try getting some Malasian trumpet snails to try to outcompete them for food that isn't your plants. Adding an extra competitor to the ecosystem may help improve your chances of getting rid of them.

Alternatively, get some loaches, then sell or trade them back to your LFS for a store credit. It probably won't cover the initial price, but hey, if it clears out your snail problem, it might be worth it, right? Just think of it as renting the loaches.
 
Snails

I have MTS, smallish ramshorn and a few pond snails in my tanks. In my 55g there are 2 skunk loaches to keep them in check. They get pretty much all the pond snails and all but the biggest of the less prolific ramshorns. MTS are still quite common, maybe because they dig down enough to escape the loaches. The tank w/o the loaches has 80% MTS, 10% ramshorn and 10% pond snails.

I view the MTS as the ultimate scavengers, they are slower to get at the food than any of the fish, but they will eat all leftovers.
 
Snails aren't nessecarriy a bad thing if you can keep the population in check. I find them benficial to a planted tank
Just manage the population by not overfeeding your tank and they should stay in control. Snails will eat dead or dying leaves and will help control algae.
 
When I had a snail problem in my 50 gallon, I got a yoyo botia (loach) as recommended by my lfs and the snails were gone within a couple of weeks. My botia grew to about 3 inches and stayed the same size for a couple of years before it decided to jump out of my tank one day.
 
My snail population got a bit out of control at one point- I just went on a tear of smishing every one I saw every time I saw one. After about two weeks of diligence they are mostly gone- you just can't let up on it.
 
I tried the clown loaches too. Wouldn't do it again. They're really suseptable to ich, which sure enough, the ones I got had, and introduced to my tank! I took care of the ich, but not before it killed the loaches. Also, while I had them, they did nothing for my snails, like they are supposed to do. Maybe just a bad experience. But a better solution is to just let them be. I tried to remove them from my tank at first, now I leave them alone. Except for any that grow really big. I remove the big ones so they won't die and rot and mess up the water, and so they won't do any "damage" while they're alive. But all the little ones do is eat dead plant material and algae, so they really aren't bad. The population will control itself, as long as you're careful. As stated above, don't overfeed. If they overbreed, there won't be enough food for them and the majority will die off soon enough. Also, your scavengers/bottom feeders should have fun eating little baby snails and eggs. I've found my betta eating them, odd as that is. Good luck!
 
I used to keep clown loaches and I have to agree, they are the best snail eliminators in the business. However, if you don't want loaches, there's another way to go.

I found the best way to get rid of an overpopulation of snails is to get a few film canisters, wash them out, poke a few holes in them with a screwdriver, and then sink them with a few algae tablets in them. Remove them every morning and put the canisters back in your tank.

By doing this I got rid of a huge overpopulation problem. I haven't had a problem since, as I have really kept care not to overfeed my fish.

Hope this helps.
 
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