I really need to KILL everything in my tank.....

[fishcatch22]

Or just not get rid of them... they keep the tank clean and won't explode in pop unless you love overfeeding. Why do people hate hitchiker snails so much? The Lettuce method is good for culling if you feel the pop could use a culling. I've also heard of Apple Snails eating pond snails, but not observed this behavior myself.

 

[chefjamesscott]

drop about 2 cups of bleach in there you will for sure kill everything or about 5 spoons of shampoo.


just kidding .

I would recommend pulling the tank apart and net out the critters you wish to keep alive then give the plants a good bleach wash according to the suggested strength you can find on this forum and then clean the tank and add new substrate.

put the tank back and you should have the snail problem capped, I am pretty sure a few cories in there will hellp should you find any left overs.

 

[XanAvaloni]

Count another vote for manual removal, with or without the vegetable-slice treatment. Costs nothing but a bit of patience and persistence. You will <i>never</i> get every egg no matter what you do (that's how they travel after all, to become pests to nearly everybody in the hobby). If however you are diligent to kill every one you see at the earliest possible stage you will eventually exhaust the egg supply and the ones you are killing are too young to breed.

I hope. Am pretty well rid of the dull brown little ovoid-shelled things after a couple of weeks of Project Exterminate. Of course that's because I got some red ramshorns as hitchhikers on another batch of plants. They will probably become pests in their turn, but at least in the meantime they are vastly more attractive to look at.

 

[Taysius]

Or just not get rid of them... they keep the tank clean and won't explode in pop unless you love overfeeding. Why do people hate hitchiker snails so much? The Lettuce method is good for culling if you feel the pop could use a culling.

:iagree:

 

[Tay690]

Best bet here as mentioned is manual removal

Drop in some lettuce before you go to bed and when you wake up the lettuce will be flooded with snails

If you want to go the extra step I would remove all the plants and driftwood to try and minimize places they can possibly lay eggs (the eggs should be much easier for you to see) and they'll be forced to lay the eggs in easy to spot places (on glass, under the hood and behind the filter)

If you have any smaller sized fish like guppies or something generally the same size...they absolutely love picking away at snail eggs...pure little balls of protein

I actually had an issue with my red ramshorns not breeding...or rather I wasn't seeing babies but they had been in the tank for a good 2 months

Finally I removed about half of the guppies in the tank and the clutches were actually hatching and now I have so many red ramshorn snails it's amazing

 

[blue2fyre]

Or just not get rid of them... they keep the tank clean and won't explode in pop unless you love overfeeding. Why do people hate hitchiker snails so much? The Lettuce method is good for culling if you feel the pop could use a culling. I've also heard of Apple Snails eating pond snails, but not observed this behavior myself.

I agree, I love my snails

I find the best way to control snails is to not over feed and do manual removal every once in a while. I almost accidentally wiped out my ramshorn population when I cut back feeding for my shrimp.

 

[Fishfriend1]

Take out everything that you want to keep and empty the tank for about 2 weeks. The snails will die, the fish will not. You will need to remove the snails manually from the plants.

Of course you can just keep the snail and everything, they can be very helpful.

 

[Alexpatrascu]

Ok so maybe I'll keep them and try to control them with the lettuce.....

And BTW, I'm trying to get rid of the snails in the big tank(50 gal) not in the RCS tank(15 gal) !!!!!

 

[Merry Minnow]

I feel your pain. I had some pond snails sneak in on some plants a year ago--they're still there. About twice a week, I go snail hunting, but I don't think I'll EVER get rid of them. I tried the lettuce trick, but it didn't work for me. Good luck!

 

[ct-death]

I enjoy my snails, but personally if removal is the solution for you and your situation I would highly advocate a non-chemical approach. Placing lettice/zuccini is a great method (every 3-6 hrs remove and throw it away, replacing it with a new piece). If your fish enjoy the lettice place the veggie under a cup or bowl that has a few small openings for the snails to get through.

Loaches work well, but I would suggest you do not get any fish unless its for its own merits and not for a "purpose" albiet they do a GREAT job of eatting snails! My 3 YoYos make it impossible for me to introduce snails into my 90G - It simply is not allowed by them