Setting up my 20

[RexyTexel]

Okay I'm setting up the 20gallon tonight. It's not going to have anything in it yet..just a bare tank. I just want to get the thing up and running. I'm using the filter cartridge from my 10 gallon to help the cycle go a bit faster. I also have a few cups of gravel to place in the tank as well.

My only concern is my 10 gallon had countless snails and looking at the cartridge I can see snails on that too. Which leads me to believe I'll soon have snails in my 20 gallon which I don't want. Is there anything I can do to rid my tank of the snails without getting rid of my cartridge completely? I saw this stuff at my work called 'Had a Snail' that supposedly gets rid of snails but I don't want that to cause any long term damage to any of my bacteria or something.

Anyone have any advice? Thanks much.

 

[epond83]

well i had a pond snail problem for while in my planted tank, i didn't want to use additives. Every time i saw one i pulled it out and threw it inmy turtle tank quickly to be eaten. Anfter doing this for a while they were gonenot sure how long you are going to leave the new set up bare but maybe they would starve evenually but that might take a while.

 

[RexyTexel]

Hmm yeah maybe they would starve. It's going to be bare for at least a few weeks..maybe less. I'll try picking them out one by one and see if I can get it under control. My only issue with them is that my 20 is going to be planted and I really don't want the snails eating away at the leaves of some of my plants. Otherwise I'd let them stay.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[DesignsOnYou]

You can build a "snail trap", which can be as simple as a shot glass with a piece of lettuce in it. Leave it in overnight, then pull it out full of snails in the morning. Repeat as necessary. Also, if you're putting in a filter from the 10 gallon to provide bacteria for the 20, that's great, but don't forget that bacteria need to eat too. Ha. So, you can add in some pure ammonia to keep it going until the fish are in there. Also, I've heard that snails don't snack on healthy plants, but rather only eat the dead bits. I'm not sure about this last part though. But, a lot of people still just don't like them. It's up to you.