Snail Problem!!!

Cory Lover

AC Members
Oct 8, 2006
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B.C. Canada
Hello,

I have hundreds of these little spiral shaped snails in my 54 gallon tank. I'm getting my first live plants in a couple of weeks(Java Fern and Java Moss) and am worried that they will eat my plants. I heard that Yoyo Loaches eat snails, but my tank is full and I could not get any more fish.

Any suggestions on getting rid of these snails???????

Cory Lover
 
I think khuli loaches would be fine,but after the snails are gone and while they are there you need to suppliment thier diet.

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Kuhlu loaches won't really eat snails. Maybe snail eggs or very tiny snails, but they are nothing like some of the other loaches when it comes to snail control.

Your best bet is to reduce feeding amount in the tank - snail population explosions are the result of overfeeding a tank. To get rid of the snail already in the tank, stick a piece of lettuce in the tank every night when you turn off the lights. In the morning it should be covered with snails. Remove it before you turn the light on, or right away when you turn the light on (or the snails will disperse again). Do that several days in a row and it should cut back on them.
 
webcricket said:
Kuhlu loaches won't really eat snails. Maybe snail eggs or very tiny snails, but they are nothing like some of the other loaches when it comes to snail control.

Your best bet is to reduce feeding amount in the tank - snail population explosions are the result of overfeeding a tank. To get rid of the snail already in the tank, stick a piece of lettuce in the tank every night when you turn off the lights. In the morning it should be covered with snails. Remove it before you turn the light on, or right away when you turn the light on (or the snails will disperse again). Do that several days in a row and it should cut back on them.
my khuli's(before I knew anything about fish)use to eat snails anywhere from 1cm to 1/2 ".
 
Thanks for getting back to me so soon!

I can't get any loaches because I don't have any room left in my tank.

I'll definitely try the lettuce idea.

Also, is there a snail killing product out there?

Cory Lover
 
There is a snail killing product out there, though I forgot the name.

I just wanted to add that I have live plants and a few pond snails. At least these pond snails don't eat my live plants, not even the mirfoil.
 
most likely you have snails that don't eat plants. do you know how you introduced them (possibly from other plants?). an easy way would be to get other fish to eat them, but this can introduce some difficulties. i would also stray away from products that will kill snails since theres no need to use powerful chemicals that might have an adverse affect on your current established tank.

get some slices of blanched cucumbers, zucchinni or spinach and place them in the tank overnight. by morning there should be snails all over it, and you can fish them out like that each time. or limit the amount of food that sinks to the bottom so that it doesn't become nutrients for the snails. this should help control the population.
 
Hello,

Way back when, when I was new to the hobby, I made a mistake(that still haunts me today) and asked the petstore employee if I could have a couple of those little snails. Big mistake!!!! I did try a live plant(forgot its name) and thay did chew and kill it!

I'll put some of the veggies in you guys mentioned and hopefully thay will reduce the snails numbers.

Cory Lover
 
i would watch out for chemicas as well. if you have a lot of snails (and there are always more in there than you can see) killing all of them at once will lead to a lot of dead snails all rotting at once. . . not good for your water quality. and dead snails stink, let me tell you. . . gross.
 
pond snails are horrible IMO. they ravaged my guppy fry tank, and massacred sleeping guppy fry....one of them looked completely different than the rest. this pond snail was more of a dull silvery grey color with bright silver specs and he was a little transparent, with two "horns" coming out of the foot. thus his name Diablo (he did most of the killing). long story short i ended up trying to starve them out. it stopped reproduction but they began to eat the food that i placed on the surface.
 
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