Snails in Fish Tank.

greengran · 23/10/13 - 23:33

I have a tropical fish tank that is over run with snails. They must have come in as eggs on the plants,and it looks as if there are loads more eggs on the leaves. Does anyone have any idea how to get rid of them? Preferably without killing the fish.

pie-eyed · 24/10/13 - 05:05

I think all you can do is keep removing them. I had the same problem when I kept fish. Anything you put in there to kill them would kill the fish. I just kept fishing them out with a net but it was an ongoing problem.

Wolfsheadish · 24/10/13 - 07:42

I always found that the fish ate the baby snails so there was never a problem. I suppose it depends on what kind of snails they are and what kind of snails!

O'Neill · 24/10/13 - 18:14

Unless they eat any live plants, they shouldn't be a problem. Snails like Malaysian Trumpet Snails actually help to keep the water clean by eating leftover food, and some algae. If you wanted to get rid of them though, most loaches will eat snails readily, there's also a snail eating snail that will keep other species numbers down, the Assassin Snail.

[Deleted User] · 24/10/13 - 19:09

Keep removing them & in future rinse any new plants under a tap

thefairydandy · 24/10/13 - 21:27

Puppy_Paws wrote: »

Keep removing them & in future rinse any new plants under a tap

Not just this, but maybe keep a new plant in a separate bowl of tank water for a couple of days - the little snails will move off the plant and can be picked out and disposed of as you see fit. You may not get all but it cuts down their numbers.

ste1969 · 26/10/13 - 00:09

get a couple of clown loaches and they will all be gone within a few days

Zizu58 · 26/10/13 - 06:04

greengran wrote: »

I have a tropical fish tank that is over run with snails. They must have come in as eggs on the plants,and it looks as if there are loads more eggs on the leaves. Does anyone have any idea how to get rid of them? Preferably without killing the fish.

Just get a couple of young Botias they are cheap enough and devour snails with great aplomb . Clown Loaches ( Botias) are possibly the most striking but also the most expensive and can get huge in a decent sized tank.

surfie · 26/10/13 - 22:55

You might find this info of snails usefull

greengran · 27/10/13 - 17:07

Thank you all. I shall try all the methods and see if I can find so e Clowns.

PencilBreath · 28/10/13 - 18:57

greengran wrote: »

Thank you all. I shall try all the methods and see if I can find so e Clowns.

err, research the clowns before you get them, they need to be in large shoals & live in excess of 50 years. possibly the worse snail advice I've ever read. they also require huge tanks.

Zizu58 · 30/10/13 - 09:47

PencilBreath wrote: »

err, research the clowns before you get them, they need to be in large shoals & live in excess of 50 years. possibly the worse snail advice I've ever read. they also require huge tanks.

That's not strictly true is it !?

It ranks along one of your recent posts in another thread , where you said and I quote " they only use heinz in 2 restaurants in the US apparently".......

50 years ?? Come on , where's your evidence of that ??

I think 10 years is hopeful although I've heard of odd cases lasting up to 15 .

I've kept tropicals on and off for 40 years and never had any problems with Clown Loaches . True they are better in shoals but I've kept them in pairs and trios with no problems at all . I had one loner that paired off with a Rd Tail shark and followed him everywhere rather than staying with the others .

As to size , it partly depends on the tank size but if you don't overfeed feed them , they grow nice and steadily .
Now you can buy them at about 5 cm long ( 2" ) and they may grow to about 10cm ( 4" ) in about 12 months time .
You rarely see them over 5" or 6" in fish shops in fact the largest I've ever seen is about 8" and they'd been kept in a massive 12 foot display tank for years and years . Again I've heard reports of 12" ones found in the wild .

There's a lot of scaremongers around !!

ste1969 · 30/10/13 - 23:05

Zizu58 wrote: »

That's not strictly true is it !?

It ranks along one of your recent posts in another thread , where you said and I quote " they only use heinz in 2 restaurants in the US apparently".......

50 years ?? Come on , where's your evidence of that ??

I think 10 years is hopeful although I've heard of odd cases lasting up to 15 .

I've kept tropicals on and off for 40 years and never had any problems with Clown Loaches . True they are better in shoals but I've kept them in pairs and trios with no problems at all . I had one loner that paired off with a Rd Tail shark and followed him everywhere rather than staying with the others .

As to size , it partly depends on the tank size but if you don't overfeed feed them , they grow nice and steadily .
Now you can buy them at about 5 cm long ( 2" ) and they may grow to about 10cm ( 4" ) in about 12 months time .
You rarely see them over 5" or 6" in fish shops in fact the largest I've ever seen is about 8" and they'd been kept in a massive 12 foot display tank for years and years . Again I've heard reports of 12" ones found in the wild .

There's a lot of scaremongers around !!

well said:D

[Deleted User] · 31/10/13 - 00:25

Fight fire with fire - get a couple of Assassin Snails.

PencilBreath · 31/10/13 - 17:55

Zizu58 wrote: »

That's not strictly true is it !?

It ranks along one of your recent posts in another thread , where you said and I quote " they only use heinz in 2 restaurants in the US apparently".......

50 years ?? Come on , where's your evidence of that ??

I think 10 years is hopeful although I've heard of odd cases lasting up to 15 .

I've kept tropicals on and off for 40 years and never had any problems with Clown Loaches . True they are better in shoals but I've kept them in pairs and trios with no problems at all . I had one loner that paired off with a Rd Tail shark and followed him everywhere rather than staying with the others .

As to size , it partly depends on the tank size but if you don't overfeed feed them , they grow nice and steadily .
Now you can buy them at about 5 cm long ( 2" ) and they may grow to about 10cm ( 4" ) in about 12 months time .
You rarely see them over 5" or 6" in fish shops in fact the largest I've ever seen is about 8" and they'd been kept in a massive 12 foot display tank for years and years . Again I've heard reports of 12" ones found in the wild .

There's a lot of scaremongers around !!

A lot of pure ignorance too.

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2013/10/25/McDonald-s-squeezing-out-Heinz-ketchup-Golden-Arches-dropping-Heinz/stories/201310250056

Croctacus · 31/10/13 - 23:39

We tried the trick with lettuce in an empty small water bottle that we'd made quite a lot of holes in. The snails go in after the lettuce and then can't get back out. Just remove the bottle every couple of days and it'll be heaving with snails.

Zizu58 · 01/11/13 - 00:21

PencilBreath wrote: »

A lot of pure ignorance too.

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2013/10/25/McDonald-s-squeezing-out-Heinz-ketchup-Golden-Arches-dropping-Heinz/stories/201310250056

It doesn't say that it's only used two restaurants in the US , though .

hellsTinkerbell · 17/11/13 - 07:05

I bought assassin snails.
They didn't really work.
The assassins bred as well as the teeny ,weeny little snails in the tank.
Ive only had a tank of tropical fish for about 4 years....I think ive been successful with them ....theres been baby fish born and raised .
I hope im doing something right.

Hey there!

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