Unwanted snails in my aquarium

**A9RUNNER** · 28-Dec-08, 19:18

My tank has become over run with small snails about maximum of 5 mm in size. Any tips for getting rid of them. I am not keen on using chemicals to kill them as I dont think that can be very good for the fish in the tank.

**fotcom** · 28-Dec-08, 20:47

Invest in a Clown Loach fish they love snails.

**fotcom** · 28-Dec-08, 20:48

Sorry forgot to say thats only if your tank is tropical.

**unicorn** · 28-Dec-08, 21:03

We bought clown loaches and they only eat them if we squash them first.

**fotcom** · 28-Dec-08, 22:17

Well if your going to the bother of catching and squashing them then the problem would be solved.If not im sure the loach would do the job.

**unicorn** · 28-Dec-08, 22:46

thats the point the loach does not do the job it ignores the snails which is why we squash them.

**thursobhoy** · 28-Dec-08, 22:53

only go for clown loaches if you have a tropical tank that is vey big!!, they ideally need to be kept in groups of 5 or more and the fact that they get pretty big, your tank needs to have a serious filter and be at least 4ft long, also they stress easily so a big group of them are needed as they get whitespot very easily.

**fotcom** · 28-Dec-08, 23:48

Ok im sorry but its best to consult the experts.The loach obviously doesnt work in all tanks.I suggest contacting pets at home they have fish experts there.

**dx100uk** · 29-Dec-08, 02:44

other than buy chemicals.
the only other way is to take all the gravel/base layer out.
and wash it in boiling water.
then squash all the snails you can see in tank.

make sure your filter / airlines are cleaned too.

dx

**A9RUNNER** · 29-Dec-08, 10:51

Sounds like I need a full strip down to get rid of them all!!! I presume I got them from new plants I put in the tank as I never had any snails at all until recently and I noticed them a couple of days after putting plants in. There now appears to be hundreds of the little beggars. How would one prevent re infestation??

**unicorn** · 29-Dec-08, 11:32

I just squash them as they appear, eventually they disappear.
The clown loach may eat the eggs I don't know but actual snails mine does not touch at all. Ours came in in plants also and we left the first few not realising that the cute snails become lots very fast.

**Billy Boy** · 29-Dec-08, 14:40

Get a yoyo loach and it will make short work of your snails, Then get esha gastropex snail killer and any new plants just soak them in the esha for a hour, rinse under the tap, sorted,

router · 29-Dec-08, 15:32

you have made the right choise in not using chemicals as it can harm the fish, overfeeding is a sign of snails, we know the oh has had plaques of snails and apart from scooping them out there aint that much you can do, but you could try getting hold of assassin snails as they hunt out and eat all snails, or you could do what my oh has done, which is to put in a goldfish, a fantail or lionhead will do, as they can withstand the heat of 26 and a harmless to the other fish.
slow down on feeding as this is why you have this problem, if there is enough food for the snails they will breed,.Take out your plants and ornaments and scrub them in warm water, this should kill of any snail eggs.

yoyo loaches are good aswell as are weather loaches, kuhli loaches and a few others.Hope you get it sorted

**lynne duncan** · 29-Dec-08, 16:01

hire my kids they love splatting snails, we suffered from this at first, but the kids actively annihilated them

**Billy Boy** · 29-Dec-08, 16:12

[quote=router;475594 you could do what my oh has done, which is to put in a goldfish, a fantail or lionhead will do, as they can withstand the heat of 26 and a harmless to the other fish.
[/quote]

What about the stress you would cause the goldfish? Comeing from cold water to warm and back to cold, Having to acclimtise so many times will stress a goldfish way to much and as for being harmless to other fish?

What about the harm that countless other tropical fish would inflicked on the harmless goldfish?? being so big and slow their fins would be ripped apart before they could find a snail.
Maybe a goldfish would work but you should look into what other fish are in the tank and if they would be compatible before doing anything like this.
Imo its cruel to put a goldfish from cold water to warm then back to cold

router · 29-Dec-08, 19:00

Originally Posted by Billy Boy

What about the stress you would cause the goldfish? Comeing from cold water to warm and back to cold, Having to acclimtise so many times will stress a goldfish way to much and as for being harmless to other fish?

What about the harm that countless other tropical fish would inflicked on the harmless goldfish?? being so big and slow their fins would be ripped apart before they could find a snail.
Maybe a goldfish would work but you should look into what other fish are in the tank and if they would be compatible before doing anything like this.
Imo its cruel to put a goldfish from cold water to warm then back to cold

The goldfish stays in the tank, so there is no removal, and a goldfish has a heat paprameter of 10-30 degrees. My oh has a young small oranda in her tank and it has never shown any sign of stress and neither have the fish already in the tank,it's a well happy little fish that even shoals with the tetras and none of the other fish do any nipping at all.

As with anyfish you have to check compatibilty, hers is a tropical community, so the fish fairs well.if it had shown a sign of stress when first introduced she would have removed it and placed it back in the tank.
this has worked out very well for ridding the tank of snails without the need for chemicals which can unless washed off completely can kill the fish.i wouldn't put any of this stuff near any of my tanks for this reason alone.

ps billy boy the filter i bought from you worked a treat have combined it with a 700ltr/h internal filter in my big tank water is crystal clear and healthy.

failing all the suggestions A9 try one of these

**Billy Boy** · 29-Dec-08, 19:39

Originally Posted by router

The goldfish stays in the tank, so there is no removal, and a goldfish has a heat paprameter of 10-30 degrees. My oh has a young small faintial in her tank and it has never shown any sign of stress and neither have the fish already in the tank.
As with anyfish you have to check compatibilty, hers is a tropical community, so the fish fairs well.if it had shown a sign of stress when first introduced she would have removed it and placed it back in the tank.

But why would you want to keep a cold water fish in warm water

When you keep a gold fish in warm water it speeds up their metabolism which in turn lessons their life span,Why would you want to do that?
Plus with the fish being a fantail,which are slow swimmers they just cannot compete with the tropical fish for food.

router · 30-Dec-08, 00:21

the fish shows no sign of stress, gets plenty to eat and infact loves to swim with the other small fish in the tank.
a community tank with all peaceful fish, if it showed any signs that something was up with it, then the oh would remove it.
The temp of the tank is set to 1 degree higher than what you would or should have for certain types of goldfish, researching this before she put it in the tank helped.
Most of " What we call tropical fish" are only named Tropical because of the temperature of the waters they live. cold water fish are normaly what we would put in a pond outside that can tolerate colder temps. Fancy goldfish are bred in tanks kept at temps of 22-28 degrees, so infact this does not do this fish any harm.

But back to the snails, the best thing to do is either use a net to scoop them out, as putting your hands in the water all the time to crush them is no good for the fish, or get a weather loach, which is a cold water fish aswell but highly recommended for a warm water tank, and they are very good at removing snails.The one loach that does eat snails.
Or as stated in earlier post ASSASSIN SNAILS.

**A9RUNNER** · 30-Dec-08, 13:09

Thanks for all the ideas, I like the sound of using Assasin Snails to clear up the problem, Anyone know wgere I could get some. i have googled a bit and found loads of fish forums discussing using them but nowhere that sells any.