Help I'm being invaded by SNAILS!!

okief1sh

okief1sh

AC Members
Jun 15, 2006
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Midwest City, OK
OK gang, here's the deal. I have a bunch of snails in my aquarium. The problem is that I NEVER STOCKED SNAILS!! I think I got them on some plants I got from PetsMart. :mad2:

I know, my bad for buying plants from PetsMart :duh: but does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can rid myself of these newfound menaces?
 
okief1sh said:
OK gang, here's the deal. I have a bunch of snails in my aquarium. The problem is that I NEVER STOCKED SNAILS!! I think I got them on some plants I got from PetsMart. :mad2:

I know, my bad for buying plants from PetsMart :duh: but does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can rid myself of these newfound menaces?
Click to expand...

It's difficult to get rid of snails entirely (downright impossible imo) without resorting to chemicals. Which, in my opinion, should never be considered.

Managing the population is easy. Limit the food and the population will be controlled. That means no over-feeding and once the snails eat all the algae they will be controlled.
 
OK, thanks. Now that you mention it, the snails did pop up pretty much right after my "little algae problem". The algae problem is pretty much handled now. I have had to resort to actually feeding my pleco. The poor guy was sucking on everything in the tank. It was nice to see him out and about for a change though! :D
 
Article Link page

The following link is listed on the freshwater articles links page: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4742/snail_faq.html

I bought clown loaches to solve my snail infestation. The loaches have been here for about two weeks now, and I probably only have two dozen snails left. It took about a week before I noticed a difference.
 
clown loaches are snail murderers :D but whether you add some to your tank may depend on how big your tank is.. i said "some" because they are schooling fish, they do better in groups..

but i agree with cutting down the available nutrients for them.. that should keep their population in check

good luck ;)
 
Well, I'm probably going to be in trouble in a few weeks then huh? I got 4 snails on a plant from Petsmart. Freaked for a bit, then saw how they did on my algae 'problem'. Kinda like the little things now. I went to the lake yesterday and got somemore. I've got 4 tanks that can befefit. Mighta got too many though, considering I got some floating plants too and alot of them had snail eggs on them. Found some Ghost/grass shrimp, and 3 little crawfish. All in all it was a good 'fishing' trip. lol
 
ok i know you guys say to cut down the nutrients.. but i feed 1/2 a pinch of flaked food a day in the morning - which is a way cut back from before.. i still have about 50 snail.. and they seem to be making more.. even though i dont have a dry spot for them to lay their eggs on.. i've tried the bottle, i've tried the lettuce.. i swear.. they never go away!
 
polocrosseplyer said:
ok i know you guys say to cut down the nutrients.. but i feed 1/2 a pinch of flaked food a day in the morning - which is a way cut back from before.. i still have about 50 snail.. and they seem to be making more.. even though i dont have a dry spot for them to lay their eggs on.. i've tried the bottle, i've tried the lettuce.. i swear.. they never go away!
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try stringing a piece of vegetable like cucumber or lettuce and let it sink down to the bottom. the snails will begin to swarm all over it after a couple of hours (if not minutes) and you'll be able to fish them out like that.
 
i've tried the bottle, i've tried the lettuce.. i swear.. they never go away!
Click to expand...

Did you try reading the article?


One of the issues that makes it difficult is that what some people consider great numbers others might consider too many. I personally cannot get enough of the little rascals. In the population control tips section you see that you need to remove the little snails as much as possible but always keep the largest snails. At the same time keep algea and food in check and you'll see the population stay low. If you aren't overfeeding that is good, What are your nitrate numbers and what do you do to keep algae in check.

Dave
 
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