Pond Snails and Salt

[CinnamonPearl]

I currently have a 38gal freshwater tank with just amano shrimp right now. However, I'm starting to have a problem with pond snails. I've been manually taking out the big ones and egg sacs, but getting the little ones out is another story. My java fern is starting to look holey.

The thing is, as soon as I get my zebra nerites next week, I'm going to start converting the tank to brackish. Planned salinity is 1.005 spgr. When I do this, can I expect all the pond snails to be killed off? I can't imagine they're able to take salt, but knowing my luck, they could if I convert over slowly enough. What do you think? Can I kill all the snails off with brackish water?

 

[Duckie]

It won't kill them as pond snails can tolerate brackish water. Not sure about dropping them in, but you can't do that without harming your shrimp and snails - going too fast to brackish I mean.

 

[CinnamonPearl]

Darnit. Okay, thanks Duckie. I'll figure something else out.

 

[Tifftastic]

Try trapping multiple nights in a row and feeding as little as you can? It wont completely get rid of the population, but will greatly diminish their numbers. You can also smash the smaller ones, its hard to get a grip on them to remove them, but I never had an issue smashing them on the glass. They would usually all come to the glass about an hour after I turned the lights out. I'd smash them and then let my nocturnal fish pick them off the glass.

 

[CinnamonPearl]

I'll give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[OrionGirl]

Pond snails aren't the culprit in damage to the java fern. Holes in the leaves is more likely the result of a potassium deficiency.

 

[CinnamonPearl]

Oh, really? Then I guess I gotta start dosing more potassium! I dose Seachem flourish and flourish excel, but I'll check if Seachem has any potassium products. At least now I can worry less about the pond snails. So they don't eat plants?

 

[Tifftastic]

If I remember correctly both pond and bladder snails only feed on dead portions of plants

 

[CinnamonPearl]

Then I feel kinda bad for wanting them out if they're doing no harm, haha. I was just gonna leave them alone until I started seeing the holes in the java fern! I don't want the population to get out of control, though.

 

[Fishfur]

Actually, they do eat plants. But the ones they like best to eat are not necessarily the ones we grow in our tanks. Java fern is one that's rarely snacked on by anything, though I've learned that Giant Columbian ramshorns will ravage java ferns with great gusto.

The bladder snails seem to prefer very soft leaved floaters to most other plants, as nearly as I can tell from a few years of observation. I keep a number of snail species for fun and culture some of them as feeders so it's been interesting to find out what they really do like to eat.

I find rounds of zucchini tend to attract almost all species of snails other than the carnivorous ones. If you put in a few rounds at night, you can greatly reduce their numbers when you remove them and their snails come morning.

Also, take care with the amount you are feeding the tank inhabitants, because reducing the overall amount of food will decrease the number of snail's eggs that are laid and that always helps.