War with snails

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Mordred

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Feb 27, 2004
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The algae is gone and the snails have bred like fury so the truce is over. (Counted over 200 baby snails on the tank walls the other day and they are all over the bogwood).

I want to seriously reduce the population of these little beggars.

BUT:

1) Several people suggested a lettuce leaf in the tank overnight - I tried that last night. Not a single snail on it this morning. Either I have the wrong lettuce or the wrong snail. (put it in afer lights out and took it out before lights on).

2) I haven't got the space for 3 loaches without becomming overstocked.

3) I really dont want to use chemical warfare.

So....what next?

Thoughts very greatly appreciated.
 
If they're like the little ones I have, they will climb the glass up to the edge of the water every now and then. I crush as many as I can reach at feeding time as a tasty little treat for my fish (actually my son's tank, orig two, now four fancy guppies). They don't know how to get the snails while they're alive, but they love the meat after one's been crushed. Now, this takes a while, but I am having a serious impact on the snail population.
 
reduce feeding and you will reduce the snail population.

if all of the food you put in the tank is eaten by the fish, then there will not be enough left over for the snails to breed, and they will reduce in numbers.

i have a snail breeding tank, and i must admit i never really see them going for lettuce either. at least not till its been in there for a few days (not suggested in a fish tank).

you could try a shot glass, press it into the gravel at an angle and put an algae wafer / sinking food of some sort. remove it as you did with the lettuce leaf.

never tried that but have heard reports it works.

HTH
 
In my snail tank sometimes the snails go for the lettuce right away, sometimes it take a day or so.

If they are on the bog wood then can you remove it from the tank? And crush them after removing the bog wood?
 
I have a 55 gallon that I had an outbreak in and have limited them but it's near impossible to totally rid the tank. Reduce your feeding and just catch or kill as many as you can. At one point, it was a multiple daily ritual for my wife and I to scoop out as many snails as we could and trash them. We would probably net 5 to 8 snails 4 or 5 times a day each at one time. I've controlled my "overfeeding" and have cut them back to probably a dozen you can see at any given time. We are planning a dwarf puffer tank so we've stopped trying to totally rid the tank of them. I considered the clown loach scenario as well but due to my smaller fish and limited room, they weren't an option. good luck, Kyle
 
Thanks for the comments so far.

I'm pretty certain I'm not overfeeding. I think the reason the snails have been breeding so well is algae.

Their food is definitely much more limited now the algae is dying down, but the snail population still seems to be growing.

I'll try the shotglass approach as soon as I can get some algae wafers.

Someone on another site recommended cucumber or zuchini so I'll try both of those too.

The tank is well planted, and many of the plants are growing on or over the bogwood, so I would really prefer not to move the bogwood unless I absolutely have to.

I think I'll spend a bit of time netting and crushing tonight though :)
 
Gold barbs worked for me. They eradicated populations of snails in a 20 gallon and then a 30 gallon. They are rather sedate for barbs and remain fairly small (2 to 3 inches). It never hurts to skip feedings a couple of times a week either. Fish are good scavengers (especially in a planted tank) and require less food then we normally provide. YMMV, IMHO, etc.
 
Same thing happened to me. I only had 20 snails though. I guess the eggs were on a plant i bought. Anyway, the only thing you can do that will definetly get the job done is to crush them. When they crawl up on the aquarium wall, use an algae sponge and press them up against the wall to crush them. Makes a nice treat for the fish. I know its cruel, but what else can you do?
 
From your tank specs I think you could fit three botia striata in the tank (zebra loaches). You get some cool fish and they eat the snails relieving you of "smash on the glass" duty. (My father used to do that when I was a kid...I can still hear the little cracking sound :eek: )
 
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