getting rid of snails in the tank

S

stonedaquarium

AC Members
Jun 6, 2011
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hi there,

Im kinda confused as to which particular forum i should be asking this question, i do have a planted tank but then again the issue isnt related to lighting, co2 or algae, so i thought i best ask this question here.

I did traded some plants with a forum member at another forum in my local area, and to my discovery i found out that some plants had some snails or even snails eggs. now my 20 gal is crawling with snails. I have been trying to pick out as many snails as i can but now i feel they are just multiplying too fast.

Is there any treatments, medication, remedy that i can use to get rid of the snails plus not do any harm to my plants?

any suggestion is much appreciated.

Thanks
 
You can trap them by putting a piece of lettuce in the tank at night and pull it out in the morning. It should be covered with snails. Just repeat that until their numbers are down. I also will squish them and let the fish eat them. Next time do a snail dip on the plants before adding them.
 
clown loaches and puffers eat snails like crazy, but the former gets huge, and the later is pretty agressive. your best bet is assasin snails. they are IMO the best way to control snails in an aquarium. also, they are big, so you can easily get them out when you dont want them anymore, and also reproduce very slowly, so they cant really infest an aquarium. if you are nervous about them breeding, then just get one. itll kill all the other snails slower than multiple would, but wont have babies. in your tank, 2 assasin snails will wipe out all the other snails in about 2-3 months.
 
Lab_Rat said:
You can trap them by putting a piece of lettuce in the tank at night and pull it out in the morning. It should be covered with snails. Just repeat that until their numbers are down. I also will squish them and let the fish eat them. Next time do a snail dip on the plants before adding them.
Click to expand...

This^

Most snails are just a visual nuisance. They will pick at any plant matter in the tank but wont be any harm in small numbers.
 
my best suggestion would be to put a piece of lettuce in the tank, let it sit overnight, and then take it out with all of the snails still crawling all over it and throw it away.

stay away from chemicals, they'll likely do more harm than good. also stay away from adding a fish to do a job that the fishkeeper is supposed to carry out.
 
jpappy789 said:
This^

Most snails are just a visual nuisance. They will pick at any plant matter in the tank but wont be any harm in small numbers.
Click to expand...

sorry, dead plant matter I what I meant to say. Your plants otherwise will be fine.
 
We used clown loaches in a 130g tank. They ate all the snails in about 2 weeks. The tank was infested. Now we scoop up snails from the other tanks and throw them in this one. Sometimes they come right out of their hiding spot when they sense the snails for their escargot treat!

I never had any luck with the lettuce btw.

Also aren't all snails asexual? So putting in one would still result in breeding.
 
thanks for the tips guys will try that method of the lettuce tonight and let you guys know about the details.
 
Yoyo snails worked great for me, and the lettuce method didn't work too well. Dwarf pea puffers could work, but I haven't had them since i have angelfish and discus.
 
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