Frekking Snails

[jere1558]

Looks like I brought in hitchhikers! At least a dozen from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch snails. How can I keep them from taking over? Is there anything that will help control their population?
55g
fluval 304
2 12 inch bubble wands
live and plastic plants
11 guppies
5 neon rainbows
2 platy
8 Glo fish
7 platy fry
1 cory
1 pleco (not sure wht type)
Water params are all EXCELLENT, A=0, nI=0, nA=5
Weekly 30%+ water changes

Thanks for the assist.

 

[Malbri]

Ho wmuch money you willing to spend?
I think buying a fish that eats htem would help, but the only ones i know of are goldfish and you would need to buy like a 20 gallon tnak and filter nad everything

 

[corykid]

don;t buy fish just to eat snails, and do not use chemicals, just take them out by hand when u see them, and suck up the eggs when ya see them

 

[Malbri]

Or you cold get like a ten gallon at walmart and give them their own tank lol

 

[jere1558]

Hummmm...looks like I'm gonna get my hands wet. That's what I feared.

Thanks!

 

[icecubez189]

don't overfeed and those snails should not reproduce as much. a few snails wouldn't hurt.

 

[webcricket]

Or you cold get like a ten gallon at walmart and give them their own tank lol

I think they are talking about pest hitchhiker snails, not something they want to keep, but something they want to eliminate from the 55 gallon. You can't simply move pest snails to another tank and expect the main tank to be free of them.


Jere - Since it doesn't sound like you have huge numbers of the snails, picking them out by hand before they establish is a good course of action. To control the numbers in the long run, don't overfeed the tank. I personally find pond snails in controlled numbers to be beneficial to a healthy aquarium. They keep my glass spotless.

 

[Squawkbert]

I keep at least 6-10 in my 5g, scraping away excess eggs as I find 'em. They help w/ algae control.

 

[fishcatch22]

since it's not too out of control yet, I wouldn't worry about it. just make sure to keep your tank params good, and don't overfeed. don't fret too much over the snails.

 

[naps]

Like a few other's stated snails can be a good thing. They keep away the algae, eat dead debris and really don't bother too much else. If you see some clear like fluid egg sacks on the plants or decor just scrap them off. If you end up having too many snails you can put in a piece of lettuce, the snails will swarm to it over night, in the morning pull out the lettuce with all the snails on it...done deal.

here's a good article on the common ramshorn snail.
http://www.aquariumboard.com/forums/articles/1022-common-ramshorn-snails.html