Help Please (Snail Hell)

[IDunnoWhy]

Hi everyone, I just returned from my sisters house, where she has a 30? gal tank, with just a few fish (Gouramis I think) anyway she has recently developed a massive snail problem, I helped her extract at least 25 of the little jerks. We don't know where they came from (She never had snails before) all I can guess is they came in the bag from the store with her most recent fish purchase, she says she saw nothing other than the fish in the bag. Anyway she doesn't have internet, and the guy at the pet store seems clueless, so she needs help (via me) is there a natural predator for snails that can live in a 29/30? gallon tank? or are there chemical treatments available? She'd really rather not tear down the whole tank to get rid of them, but will if she needs to. Thanks in advance for the help!!

 

[Mahamotorworks]

The best thing you can do is limit the feeding. With out extra food the snails wont grow. If she has bought any plants recently then that is where she got them. I have had a couple hitch hike into my tank that way. I wouldnt use any chemicals. As far as buying a fish to eat them then let it starve when they are gone it isnt a good idea.

MAHA

 

[MOsborne05]

My friend had the same problem in her 26 gallon tank, but she had hundreds of them. She picked up two little zebra loaches at the lfs last week, and they cleaned them out within a couple of days. Zebra loaches and yoyo loaches will both eat snails, and they only get about 4". If she has the room for them, get 2+ because they like to have company.

BTW, just because loaches eat snails doesn't mean that they will starve if they don't have them, they will eat other things like flake food or shrimp pellets.

 

[Toam]

anyways, in regards to snails:
I run multiple tanks, with all sorts of different setups, and I've managed to have snail infestations arise in the past. Here is the knowledge I've learned in helping keep snails at bay.
1)make sure you are not overfeeding, snails like everything else, require a food source, so if they are in abundance, it is quite possible they are thriving on the leftover flakes and food on your substrate.
2)keep up on the water changes, just another way to help ensure you are not having the ideal enviroment for the lil snails.
3)all kinds of loaches are notorious for devouring snails, clown loachs being some of the most effective that I've seen.
4)one trick is to weigh down a piece of cucumber or lettuce and place it in the tank, than remove it hours later when it is absolutely covered in the snails(it's a good way to remove them en masse)

 

[VirgoWolf]

Let me go off topic here for a sec....

TOAM! you're back! We've missed you areound here.

Sorry, back to the topic at hand....

Snails are pests and hard to get rid of, but the advice they have given you above is great. I'd only get loaches if you really want them in the long run, yes they take care of snails, but once the snails are gone, do you want loaches still? I personally love YoYo loaches, so I would have no problem keeping them, but if you just want to get rid of snails and you don't want loaches long term, it may not be the best choice.

I like the food idea, do that a few times and most of them should be gone, always remove any you can when you can.

 

[Grumpy_Marine]

the food idea is what i was told when entering this hobby. As they are pesty, but rather than tear down just get them out by placing food and removing that way. But no one told me of loaches ability to eat the snails... so i have this craving to have tons of loaches in my tank, when i do switch to planted tanks i will get some yo yo loahces to combat the snail outbreak if i ever have one. but that is because i absolutely love loaches.

 

[Mahamotorworks]

Grumpy, With as loaches as you have you should get a snail breeder tank going. They will love to eat them.

MAHA

 

[Lotus]

Not all loaches eat snails, by the way. The Botia species are the main snail eaters, and of course the popular clown loaches love snails, but get too big for most tanks. In my clown loach tank, they eat some snails, but there are still always snails in the tank.

Some people say that weather/dojo loaches eat snails, but mine never had. My Pangios don't eat snails either. I wouldn't count on non-botias helping with your snail "problem."

I personally don't have a problem with snails being in my tanks. I think they're a good thing. They clean up leftover food, or small fish that die in the back of a planted tank. They also provide food for my loaches and puffers.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Hey thanks for the info people, I'll talk to her, and advise her to look into a couple loaches (2 or 3?), as well as her feeding amounts. The cucumber Idea is great, I bet that'll knock a bunch out right away, while the loaches get to work. Thanks again everyone!!

 

[juggernaut303]

My friend just smushes them against the tank wall and his giant dainos and pleco due the rest.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

OK, I just got back from Animart with my sister...She is the proud mommy of 2 clown loaches named Booger & Goober (Looks like they got snot hangin off their faces..eewww) Anyway after they get settled in, I hope they get to work. Thanks everyone for the info!!!!

 

[MOsborne05]

Did you realize that clown loaches get huge?!?!?!?!?!?!

You should probably take them back and get either yoyos or zebras, because the clowns will get way too big for that tank.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Yea the "fish salesman" said they would get "real big" My sister has a 90G that sits empty right now (Ex-Hubby's old salt tank he didn't want anymore), Her plan was to get her 30G up and running again, and then move on to her 90G (in freshwater form). She's going to transplant the Clowns into the large tank eventually, But she thought in the meantime.... But thanks for the reply, I'll tell her to replace the clowns with yoyos or zebras, when she transfers the clowns out. (She's got these big/massive tanks, and knows almost nothing, at least I have small tanks and know almost nothing LOL) ;-)

 

[MOsborne05]

The zebras or yoyos are really a better idea in the long run, because in case she can't set up a bigger tank for some reason, the yoyos or zebras wont outgrow the one they are in like the clowns will. I've seen some huge clowns at one of the lfs, and not only were they about 10" long, they were probably about 5" wide too

 

[IDunnoWhy]

I'll let her know, The clowns really are cute, but we weren't told they could get that big, the salesguy said at most 7" long, which would probably be OK if left in a 30 gallon right? But if they get 10" or larger, then it would need to be a much larger tank. Thanks again MOsborne05

 

[Big Vine]

Crays love eating snails.
In fact, Jericho (the blue one in my avatar) just recently managed to eat the two mystery snails that he is housed with---and he has no claws at the moment!

Of course, having one would mean that your fish might be at risk of becoming cray food as well.

Just a thought.

Big Vine

 

[Dan Steveo]

guys i was just wondering.how do you get this on the bottom??????????

10g 3 SPAZ Zebra Danios
1g 2 Female Bettas
29g Empty, and gonna stay that way till I learn more

 

[VirgoWolf]

Ummm... get what on the bottom?

I notice you have a nearly empty 10gal and an overstocked 1gal, if I were you I would move at least 1 of those bettas to the 10gal.

 

[Big Vine]

On the top left of the page, you will see a gray bar that has a bunch of headings (in white text) on it. Click on the one on the far left that says "User CP," and then click on "Edit Signature." The "signature" is what you are looking for.

Big Vine

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Yea my 10g is a virtually new tank, The danios are less than a week old, I wanted to have at least a week between adding new fish, And until yesterday my 2 bettas seemed quite happy together (see todays betta post )

I notice you have a nearly empty 10gal and an overstocked 1gal, if I were you I would move at least 1 of those bettas to the 10gal.