I've got Snails! What do I get?

W

WhitneyGail

AC Members
Oct 17, 2006
58
1
0
Hi all,

I have a 30 gallon aquarium that currently houses

2 German Blue Rams
6 Espei Rasboras
3 Diamond Tetras
1 Albino Bristlenose Pleco
1 Bamboo Shrimp
and a bunch of cherry shrimp

Last night I had to check something in my tank after the light had been out for a little while, and discovered a couple of little brown snails on my plants. I removed them....

Tonight, I looked in and noticed at least another four. To get an idea of the extent of the population, I set a film cannister trap some green pepper and algae wafers inside.....I'll check in the morning to see how many I collect.

In the meantime, I am researching loaches for long term population control. My dilemma is that I'd get a zebra loach (botia striata), but the things I've read indicate that they need to be kept in groups or 4 or more- and at 4 inches each- I think that's too much for my little 30 gallon tank.

I also really like Chain Loaches (Sidthimunki), and they're small enough that I can definitely get a shoal of 5 or 6- but I'm concerned that they are too small to effectively control the snail population.

What does everyone think? Is there another fish I'm overlooking? Can I keep just one zebra loach? Will the Sids do the job?

Thanks!
 
Easy. At night, put a plate of cucumber, carrots, lettuce, etc. in the tank. A few hours later, snails will be COVERING it... just take the food out and throw the food in the trash ;) Do that for a few nights until the snails are gone.
 
If you get any fish that will eat the snails, you can probably consider the cherry shrimp an expensive snack for that fish.
 
buy yourself a 10 gallon and put the snails in that tank. dont kill them.

but like everyone else said, put some zucchini on a plate then come back in the morning.
 
As I mentioned in the original message....I've set a film cannister trap with algae wafers and green pepper.....

You think I should put them in a 10 gallon tank? Why should I be keeping them? Why not just get rid of them?
 
If you want to get rid of them, go ahead. Do the plate of zucchini, and set up a tank/container of heavily salted water. Take out the "trap", and brush them into the salt water(don't put the bait in the water if you want to reuse it). It will kill them very quickly.
 
If you just have a few snails, you don't need to run out and buy a fish, unless you just want to. Don't overfeed and manually remove them for a while and hopefully they won't become a problem.

I like to have a few snails myself.
 
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