Snails!!

[Waverider]

Man, what the hell are up with these. I have a major issue going on all of the sudden and don't know what to do.

I must have gotten one somehow and now it has muliplied so much that parts of the tank look alive!

How do I get rid of these? I have read about baiting them, but I have quite a few bottom feeders that would probably eat the bait before the snails could get there.

Are there any snail eating fish I can get for a 30 gallon tank that will help me control them at least?

Thanks

 

[dorkfish]

Whats your maintence regimen? Snails multiplying like you descibed is a sure sign that your tank is improperly maintained. All my tanks have "pest" snails in them(the FW tanks), all my tanks are properly maintained, and I have never had a problem with my snails mutiplying like that.

 

[Waverider]

Ok, I might be exagerating a little :duh: But, there are quite a few.

I change the water 2-3 times a week using a gravel vacuum. I feel like I keep a pretty tight ship in those regards. I do a chemical test every other water change to keep an eye on things, but I have had no spikes and the water looks clean and clear.

 

[dorkfish]

your maintenence program is better than mine(I do weeklys). Add a yoyo loach to help keep the snail population low(getting rid of them completely will mean dumping bleach in your tank), as long as it's compatible with your current livestock and you have a cave for it to hide in during the day(loaches are nocturnal). Thier are other loaches that will eat snails, but some of them get to huge for the average aquarium and this is the only one I'm sure will eat them.

 

[Waverider]

Right on! Thanks man. I have been told I am a little anal when it comes to the cleanliness of my tank.


Me and my wife are heading up to B.C. this weekend. I love Canada!!
:bday: :thm:

 

[DaisyTattoo]

You might try a couple of zebra loaches instead. They stay about an inch or so smaller than the yoyo's and both like to live in groups so I would get AT LEAST 2 but 3 would be better.

 

[Waverider]

Yea, I was just reading about them. Yoyo's do seem to get a little larger than I want and I am not sure about the interaction with the tankmates.

I like a peaceful tank

 

[DaisyTattoo]

I have both yoyo's and zebras in my 55g and have had no problems with aggression from either. I do prefer my zebra's however. I feel like they show more personality. They kind of "dance" at the front of the tank. Too cute.

 

[asincero]

Loaches would definately solve your snail problem. I got 3 yo-yos for my 36g and there wasn't a snail in sight about a month later.

I hardly ever gravel vac because my tank is a planted one. But I decided to last night, and what came out of the gravel was a little suprising. A whole bunch of white snail shells started coming up the vac tube. Well, I thought it was kind of cool .

 

[Native American]

What kind of snails? I'm guessing that you have MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails). If so, just cutting back a little on the food for your fish does wonders for controlling their population. They've "infested" all of my tanks, and I've learned to just live with them. I will admit that since they've made a scene in all of my tanks, gravel cleanings have been a bit cleaner (i.e., I don't pull up as many large bits of stuff).

v/r, N-A