I have a problem with snails in my 3 ft tank, they are small brown round ones. not sure of the name. Ive been reading the forum on how to get rid of them, and have been killing them for a few months at water changes and feeding less.It works for a few weeks then bam there is a outbreak again. My guess is they have set up breeding in my canister filter. I dont want to medicate the tank.i have a colony of peppermint bn's. Is stripping the tank,letting all the wood dry out for a few weeks, replacing all of the gravel and all filter material the best way to totally eradicate them?
snails
- Thread starter RYUK
- Start date
I tried all that, ended up getting so carried away with cleaning everything that I ended up with a big ammonia spike. It still didn't get rid of all the snails. I've found the best way to get rid of them is clown loach, my tank with 3 clown loach in is snail free, it took a couple of months though. My other tank with assassain snails in is still covered in the pests! I removed all the sand out of both tanks that seemed to help a bit to.
feed less and they will slowly breed less. Remove some each day with the fingers. I never medicate. cheers jk :thumbup:
How often are you changing water & feeding less?
Its not about not feeding your fish, its about reducing the amount you feed at each feeding. What you're trying to do is not leave anything for the snails to eat. The fact that it only works for a short period of times shows that you're still feeding too much & possibly not changing water often enough.
Its not about not feeding your fish, its about reducing the amount you feed at each feeding. What you're trying to do is not leave anything for the snails to eat. The fact that it only works for a short period of times shows that you're still feeding too much & possibly not changing water often enough.
I do 2-3 water changes a week each time I gravel vac. I pick off the snails at every water change and some when I see them. I've cut down the amount of food each day and miss 1 day a week with no food. I'm not feeding to much there is only 5 pepps and 2 appistos in the tank.
Have you tried putting cucumber in over night and removing it as soon as it gets light? You usually end up with loads on it, but still that will only reduce the amount of snails. They're very annoying, if you wanted to try taking all your gravel out you'd be able to vacuum alot more up when you do water changes.
i had the same prob with my 54g, snails hitch-hiked in on some plants, so a few yrs ago i got a clown loach too, ate every snail in one night !
However, a few pointers to consider, loaches need to be q-tanked for at least 2 weeks as they are HIGHLY notorious for ICH, also, they need to be in groups of 5 or more to be happy , they get big, and they WILL compete for food with your L's. Matter-of-fact, clown loaches have sharp blades below their eyes which can poke or injure other fish , even plecs larger than them. Some say they have no prob but i have seen a 4'' clown poke a 9'' common and sent him sprint away.
Suggest if you plan to go the clown loach route, either borrow a HEALTY one for a short time, then in future , de-bug plants in a 90sec bleach bath, 10% bleach 90%water then rinse well, and q-vase the plant for 2 weeks.
if ya decide to get clowns and keep ,you may want to transfer them to another big tank after the snails are gone. Just from experience ..hth
Georgie
However, a few pointers to consider, loaches need to be q-tanked for at least 2 weeks as they are HIGHLY notorious for ICH, also, they need to be in groups of 5 or more to be happy , they get big, and they WILL compete for food with your L's. Matter-of-fact, clown loaches have sharp blades below their eyes which can poke or injure other fish , even plecs larger than them. Some say they have no prob but i have seen a 4'' clown poke a 9'' common and sent him sprint away.
Suggest if you plan to go the clown loach route, either borrow a HEALTY one for a short time, then in future , de-bug plants in a 90sec bleach bath, 10% bleach 90%water then rinse well, and q-vase the plant for 2 weeks.
if ya decide to get clowns and keep ,you may want to transfer them to another big tank after the snails are gone. Just from experience ..hth
Georgie
Snails have made me want to go nuclear in my tank. I ripped my tank apart in July and completely changed out the substrate. I cleaned everything like crazy, but they lay their eggs in the filters and before I knew it, they were back again. Mine are pond snails and MTS but I HATE HATE HATE them. I try to feed as little as possible during feeding but it doesn't seem to stop them from mulitplying.
The cucumber trick works well as do loaches. I've heard that loaches won't eat MTS because their shells are too hard. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what I've read. I've also read that assassin snails are supposed to work really well. If you find a solution, let us know. I just pick the big ones out by hand every few days.
The cucumber trick works well as do loaches. I've heard that loaches won't eat MTS because their shells are too hard. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what I've read. I've also read that assassin snails are supposed to work really well. If you find a solution, let us know. I just pick the big ones out by hand every few days.
Thx for the info guys. Loaches r a no go for me. I only have 1 tank. I'm going to make a trap for the snail and not feed my fish for a few days then put in the trap with food in it. I've check the canister and they r breeding in their. If they r stil here at Xmas the tank is getting stripped and everything dried out properly and I'll re set up with all new gravel and filter materials.