Snails

[GooGirl]

So, you know those minnows I posted about a while ago? Well, when I brought them home, I brought a plant (reed) home with me. It was floating in the middle of the stream, unrooted, so I cut off the dead leaves, and brought it home. I cleaned it up, and cut it down to the only two sprouting new leaves. I know that, being a wild plant and wild fish, I should quarantine them for a while. So I did. They are now in a 1/2 gal container.

Today I noticed some snails on the sides of the container. Are these snails the type that infest everything and they are like impossible to get rid of? Or are these just ordinary harmless pond snails? What should I do?

 

[OrangeCones]

Are these snails the type that infest everything and they are like impossible to get rid of?

Snails will reproduce as long as they have food to eat. No snail is 'impossible to get rid of' if you do not want to have them in an aquarium.

 

[GooGirl]

OK, well I heard of a type of snail that you basically can never get rid of, as they reproduce so fast and hide so they can't be destroyed very easily.

So I took the two biggest ones and fed them to my duck (XD), then I squished the others and completely cleaned out the container. Hopefully they're gone, as I don't need snails right now.

 

[exhumed07]

eggs are the biggest issue. you can kill every snail in the tank and have one batch of eggs hidden under a leafe and bingo there they are again. I have pond snails and rams horns in my tanks. my loaches munch on them a bit so they don't get overly populated. one thing you can do is dose with tetra algae control. that stuff kills snails pretty dang quick lol. i use it to decontaminate my new plants to keep the trumpet snails out.

 

[GooGirl]

Ooh, I have some of that...

OK, thanks!

 

[OrangeCones]

If you have fish in a 1/2 gallon container and plan to use something for algae control to kill snails (oi...), be sure to add aeration to the water. The chemicals work by reduction, which will take oxygen from the water quickly.

 

[GooGirl]

I always have an air stone in there. Not only for air, but it also helps with circulation. I don't think that they'll be coming back, as I cleaned it pretty thoroughly, but if they do, I'll be prepared!

 

[achase]

Does tetra algae control harm shrimp?
Is tetra algae control advertised as a snail killer or is that just a bonus?

 

[OrangeCones]

I've never personally used it, but the label says unsafe for inverts. The recommend removing all inverts for at least 72 hrs after your last does of the chemical. They do not sell it for 'snail killer' at all.

 

[exhumed07]

they do not sell it as a snail killer but if used as directed it is lethal to snails and the lable says not to use in tanks with crabs, crayfish, or shrimp.

 

[GooGirl]

I always forget about my poor nerite!

 

[Rotaripsnoc]

Probably the best thing to do is to put a saucer in your tank, and place some lettuce on that saucer, leave it in your tank overnight, remove in the morning, a lot of snails will venture to it, repeat a few times and you should grab the majority of them. You can also separate your nerite this way.

Snails shouldn't over populate your tank unless you have an abundance of food for them, fish food \ algae \ plant waste are all conducive to an outbreak of snails. So you might want to double check your feeding habits, and while using lettuce you might want to fast your tank to encourage the snails to go to it for food.