snail infestation

Discussion in 'Beginner Discussions' started by eco - tech, Apr 23, 2015.

  1. eco - tech

    eco - tech

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    Hey Tasa
    I have a snail infestation. Is there any fish that i can get to get rid of snails that wont harm my guppies and neons . I have around 30 guppy fry i think all my female guppies gave birth last week, so dont want them eaten
     
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  3. Ortaega

    Ortaega

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    Hi, @lep2soma once told me that clown loaches love eating snails. Not sure about their compatibility with other fish on a smaller scale and also these fish can grow quite big, but Yo-yo Loaches apparently also goes crazy for snails, but also not sure about how compatible they are with smaller fish species.

    Also once read something where a person placed a piece of lettuce on the inside on the side of his tank overnight and then the following morning he just removes the lettuce and all the snails on the lettuce and around on the glass. This might not get rid of them, but will assist in controlling the population.

    Someone recently on TASA wrote something on the Forums if I remember correctly using clean filter wool, but cant exactly recall.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2016
  4. Caz

    Caz

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    @eco - tech
    Most fish (and even the parents) will eat the guppy fry.
    Snails populations normally explodes when you over feed your fish - so maybe this could be a factor?
    What size tank do you have (Clown loaches gets big and you will need at least a 4-5ft tank when they are fully grown)?

    I personally have a dwarf puffer in his own tank and he gladly eats snails. (I just transfer some now and then from other tanks).
     
  5. OP
    eco - tech

    eco - tech

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    3ft tank. I'll try the lettuce, do i rinse the lettce under a tap?
     
  6. Reedfish

    Reedfish Moderator

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    Weigh a piece of lettuce down at the bottom of the tank over night.
    In the morning, take the lettuce out, and the snails with it.
    If you do this for a few nights in a row, you should get most of them.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2015
  7. Ortaega

    Ortaega

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    Think it should be fine to just rinse, but IMO i would prep a little bit of water with some anti-chlor and so in in n small bucket of water just to rinse it off in for safety. I might just be a bit to care full. Lets see what the rest might say.
     
  8. slayer

    slayer

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    See if you can find yourself assassin snails. 1 should do the job.
     
  9. J A X

    J A X

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    I'd go with an assassin snail...1 will do the job as @slayer said. Nice thing, if there are no more snails it will eat fish food (as long as it has a relatively high protein content)...or sell it.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2016
  10. Firefly_SA

    Firefly_SA

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    Hi eco - tech,
    If I may, buying a fish or some fishes that will eat snails might not work out as you plan because there is no guarantee that he will actually get rid of them all. I don't think assassin snails are available locally. Depending on the type of snail they are a valuable part of cleaning crew. May I suggest a trap. You simply take a small plastic food container like Tupperware or similar that has been cleaned with salt water rinsed with boiling water and make a few holes the size of a pen, put a stone or two in it with some food like algae wafers and close it and submerge it they will creep inside to get to the food and in the mornings you clean it out and put it back. I have MTS and RHS and if I want to remove some this works for me. Add some filter wool so the would get trapped Here is a picture or two just to give you an idea. Best of luck

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  11. nesretep

    nesretep

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    Just my 2 cents, i have used botia stratia, zebra loach in the past, get 3 or 4, and they do a great job, wont get to large or agressive, however, as with most fish, if it fits in the mouth, it will probably get eaten, so not good for your fry. Their are medications available for the purpose, though they usually contain copper and will negatively affect other inverts as well as some species of fish, so be carefull, otherwise as suggested by firefly and others go the snail trap route.

    I hope you come right.
     
  12. Reedfish

    Reedfish Moderator

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    I think that loach route gives mixed results.
    Friend of mine bought a few to get rid of the snail problem in his tank, and they did nothing.
     
  13. GaryG

    GaryG Fishohollic

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    Personally I'd go with the trap, and feed a little less.
    Loaches will def eat the fry and harass the guppys, or you could remove the small diameter rigid pipe from a gravel vac and when doing a water change, suck them up one at a time, keep a finger on the other end of the pipe and close it while looking for the next target so you dont remove too much water.
    I harvest snails this way for my figure 8 and dwarf puffers.
     
  14. scubabravo

    scubabravo

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    Crush and feed , that's what I say : - ).
     
  15. Chris_H

    Chris_H Discus for Life

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    I have two loaches in my planted and they do a pretty god job of keeping the snails out. I can't see one in my display area. The sump is full of them though so looking at getting a couple more just to keep the sump clean. It could just be luck though and have nothing to do with the loaches...
     
  16. alvinongbt.ao

    alvinongbt.ao

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    I have 3 loaches in the past. One clown and the other 2 i forgot its name. Maybe yoyo loach. After i introduced them to my tank, my tank is free of snail. Do remember to feed a little lesser so that the loaches would go for the snail for food. One thing bad about loaches is about luck. You can either get a rogue loach that go around harassing and fin nip other fishes or a very tame one. I eventually remove all the loaches as no more snail can be seen or found cause one of the yoyo loach fin nip my angelfish
     
  17. Saturn

    Saturn

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    Thanks Guys, I although I did not start or contributed to this tread, I will however implement some of these strategies. On last count
    I had more then 23 trumpet snails and probably over 50 smallish 3mm size snails.
     
  18. L2000

    L2000 aFISHionado

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    I used a few copper coins (american 1cent ) in the tank when I had an outbreak of ramshorn snails many years ago , it wiped them out completely . I don't know if copper pipe or copper wire would work , but bear in mind copper is highly poisonous to invertabrates (shrimp ),loaches and scaleless fishes and certain plants (vals and hornwort) , so don't overdo it ,i'm guessing that it will also kill off some of the beneficial bacteria but it will be negligible.
     
  19. Caz

    Caz

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  20. Henrivr

    Henrivr

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    I just bought 2 assassins for my tank from the guy in edenvale, hes got one left.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2015
  21. Saturn

    Saturn

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    I like the copper idea L2000, do you guys think that multivitamin tablets (contains copper trace elements) can be used as well?
     

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