My 20 gallon RCS tank is being taken over by snails!! I believe they are bladder snails? They are golden/transparent and the largest ones are about 1/4" long. I can pull 100 or so every couple of days and they just keep coming back! Is there a fish or something that I can introduce to control them that won't decimate my cherries? Would a loach prefer the snails or shrimp? Or is there another option? I've got some assassin snails but I've heard that they prefer eating snails that are closer to their own size?
snail control in Red Cherry Shrimp tank?
- Thread starter millphoto
- Start date
If you buy a loach you have an extra mouth to feed as well as would need a shoal and likely will grow out to be needing a bigger tank. Any pufferfish could snag some of your shrimp. Assassin snails would be your best option imo, and they will eat any snails... I haven't seen any discrimination between sizes.
Lol. I understand your problem. I have a 10 gallon RCS tank that got infested with snails. What I did, and it worked really well, was take a plastic cup and put an algae disc inside and lay it on its side in the bottom of the tank. Every morning take the cup, that should be covered with snails in and out, out of the tank wash them off and set the cup up again the same way. This works for large amounts of snails. You can also scoop them off the walls with a net every time you see ANY! A combination of these two work very well. It is a bit of a long prossess to get them all but as long as you keep scooping new snails out when you see them they won't get the chance to reproduce and eventually will be gone.
Hope this helps!
Good Luck!
Hope this helps!
Good Luck!
Oh yeah, also....
I personally am too scared to add a fish. The way I look at it is if it is big enough to eat the snails, it's big enough to eat an new or possibly older shrimps. But if you don't get them under control soon they will pollute the water and cause mass death in your tank.
I personally am too scared to add a fish. The way I look at it is if it is big enough to eat the snails, it's big enough to eat an new or possibly older shrimps. But if you don't get them under control soon they will pollute the water and cause mass death in your tank.
Less feeding is the best way to control snail populations. I have ramshorn, bladder snails and MTS in my 5 gallon with my cherry shrimp and I don't have a population problems because I ration out my feedings. Shrimp don't eat much. I only feed mine 2 pellets every other day. If you cut back on your feeding the population will work itself out.
I've seen ghost shrimp eat bladder snails before. Although doesn't seem to be their favourite food.
Although- there is a risk with ghost shrimp that they may eat a few of your Red Cherry baby shrimplets. (something I had read wasn't an issue before getting ghosts and have read since).
Any fish that eats snails will also eat shrimp. I looked hard for a fish that ate only snails but not shrimp but didn't come across one. I've never actually had a major snail problem though. I have more bladders than I would prefer- probably about 20 or 30 in my 55gallon- I have perhaps an equal amount of rams... but I like them
- either way that's not what I'd call an infestation.
Assassin snails have been suggested- there has been the odd case reported of them catching healthy shrimp- but this sounds pretty rare- they usually go for snails.
Best suggestion though- manual removal and cut back on feeding. If you manually remove- you may even find someone on here that will buy them for a very cheap price from you.
OR... you could be nice and give them away for free (shipping costs obviously) - plenty of people would love your pest snails. (not me though )
Although- there is a risk with ghost shrimp that they may eat a few of your Red Cherry baby shrimplets. (something I had read wasn't an issue before getting ghosts and have read since).
Any fish that eats snails will also eat shrimp. I looked hard for a fish that ate only snails but not shrimp but didn't come across one. I've never actually had a major snail problem though. I have more bladders than I would prefer- probably about 20 or 30 in my 55gallon- I have perhaps an equal amount of rams... but I like them
- either way that's not what I'd call an infestation.Assassin snails have been suggested- there has been the odd case reported of them catching healthy shrimp- but this sounds pretty rare- they usually go for snails.
Best suggestion though- manual removal and cut back on feeding. If you manually remove- you may even find someone on here that will buy them for a very cheap price from you.
OR... you could be nice and give them away for free (shipping costs obviously) - plenty of people would love your pest snails. (not me though
)