# Snails taking over!



## thalie_knights (Jan 19, 2007)

We have a slight infestation with snails in our tropical tank...Are there any community fish etc which will help 'eradicate' this problem, and are commonly available?!

Thanks in advance,

Tal


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## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

Dwarf puffers eat snails, but will depend on what else you have in the tank. My Angel fish got a taste for them and wiped them out.


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## Bradders100 (Feb 3, 2008)

Clown loach love snails


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## Pleco07 (Aug 15, 2007)

Depends what else you have in tank and size of tank but the best snail eaters I ever had were Clown loach too


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## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

Really? Mine ignored them... Maybe I just didn't notice.


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

Hi
Pop a chunk of cucumber in overnight, and then just lift it out in the morning:2thumb: Should be covered in them.


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## CoinOperatedGirl (May 7, 2009)

What kind of snails are they, out of interest?


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## thalie_knights (Jan 19, 2007)

We have tried the cucumber, but the algae eaters ate all of it:bash:

Its a 4ft X 2 ft tank, at the moment its got tetras, mollys, plattys, plec and algae eaters in there...

No idea on the type of snail - theyve got the 'pointed' shells if that makes sense? Im pretty sure they were stowaways with the live plants...


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## Stan193 (May 27, 2009)

Yeah clown loaches are the best I think for eating snails and a great fish as well.


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## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

Could try assasin snails?


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## gal gecko (Sep 20, 2009)

Any puffer would be great... but some are littel boogers and terrorise other fish. figure 8's are cute little things.. full of personallity. Banjo Catfish eat Snails.... failing that send the snails on down to me  my puffers love them so much- i cant even breed the little critters cos the puffers eat them all!!!


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## Rachael Grace (May 4, 2009)

gal gecko said:


> Any puffer would be great... but some are littel boogers and terrorise other fish. figure 8's are cute little things.. full of personallity. Banjo Catfish eat Snails.... failing that send the snails on down to me  my puffers love them so much- i cant even breed the little critters cos the puffers eat them all!!!


Ive got loads lol If you fancy a trip up here could probably let you have some Ive got three tanks and they are visable in all of them, they get to a point but then level out I am sure the clown loach and plecs are enjoying them lol I also noticed that our siamese fighter likes eating the eggs in his tank.


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## Gutted2BLeaving (Jul 6, 2009)

What they look like, these?












Or These?









One kind I wouldn't have to many worries over, the other is a right pain in the behind. Most boitia's will eat snails, the trouble comes when you have a balanced set up and the introduction of more fish pushes it over the edge. Assassin Snails would be my preffered choice in these circumstances.


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## AnythingWithAShell (Apr 14, 2009)

By pointed shells, i think you mean malaysian trumpet snails. They look like this








They're not too bad to have, as they rarely eat live plants, but they do aerate your substrate, which is great if you have a planted tank, cos they spend most of their time burrowing in it. They also eat leftover food, debris, poo, everything really. They are quite useful for cleaning, but do breed prolifically, and they give birth to live young, so you don't get a chance to remove any eggs!

Do you have any frozen daphnia or bloodworm? I find that within 5 minutes of me putting any of these in, they all surface to have a munch. So you could try that and simply pick out as many as you can. Or assassin snails would be the best bet I reckon, rather than fish.

I've read so many threads about people getting snail infestations, and although there are fish that eat them, since they are such prolific breeders there may still always be some in your tank. But if you're not bothered by the way they look in your tank, I'd be inclined to recommend you leave them be, for cleaning  Particularly in a tank as big as yours, it'd take days to pick them out!


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## Rachael Grace (May 4, 2009)

Thats a very nice looking snail havnt seen those for sale would work wonders in my planted tank.
I dont consider my snails to be a problem I quite like them tbh gives you something else to look at. Kids are fasinated by how quickly they grow.

Starting to see them in a whole different light.


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## AnythingWithAShell (Apr 14, 2009)

You can get those snails on ebay, dirt cheap  Just search for snail or trumpet snail. You get some like mine above, and some that have a sort of striped appearance. I have both, i think they're lovely  but I have a thing for snails, be they land or water..


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

hey, ive tried assasin snails on a large scale in tanks up to 1500l and no matter how many you seem to put in, they cant kill the trumpet snails faster than they can breed. also the assasins tend to just switch diet to eating left over food. better to go for one of the fish based options already suggested.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

I have malayan burrowing snails in my clawed frog tank- they bare very useful scavengers (the frogs are MESSY eaters!). The problem with them is they have very hard shells so not much will eat them. The way I look at it is if I have a population explosion, this is an indication that I am overfeeding/not gravel cleaning enough (that removes excess babies). So even there, they have a use.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

I have malayan burrowing snails in my clawed frog tank- they are very useful scavengers (the frogs are MESSY eaters!). The problem with them is they have very hard shells so not much will eat them. The way I look at it is if I have a population explosion, this is an indication that I am overfeeding/not gravel cleaning enough (that removes excess babies). So even there, they have a use.


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## cjd99 (Apr 8, 2009)

Don't get clown loach first off they live in colonies so you should get 4/5 upwards, and secondly they grow pretty big given the right conditions (although they are restricted by tank size, it's not really fair)


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## alburglar (Oct 14, 2009)

do not put any puffers in there, they will eat the snails and then fin nip everything!


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## Malti (Sep 17, 2009)

my blue lobster eats more trumpets than anything...and bullies the pangasius which is twice its size :gasp: ...no problem for the mollies though...


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## gal gecko (Sep 20, 2009)

alburglar said:


> do not put any puffers in there, they will eat the snails and then fin nip everything!


The only fish i seem to have a problem with the puffers are Neons all my fancy tailed fish- Male/female fighter, BGKF, Oranda's do well with them I've had 4 F8's, 2 Green Spots and 4 Dwarves, all get on well with the other fish in tank. 
Oh and river shrimp but they are bought cheap as live food- very amusing to watch all my puffers hunt!!! The dwarves seem to go cross eyed!!!!


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## thalie_knights (Jan 19, 2007)

3 clown loaches purchased..prepare for total snail extermination!!:devil:


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## invisiblejohn (Nov 10, 2009)

*snails...*

Platydoras costatus - Striped Raphael, Talking Catfish

I love these catfish, they will control your snail problem. They are a really hardy catfish, but they are *NOT* good with smaller fish neons etc.. they will eat anything that will fit in thier mouth . If you have no small fish they will make a great addition.










John


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## thalie_knights (Jan 19, 2007)

clown loaches here...snails still here...damnit!


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## simonb-uk (Oct 30, 2009)

i had the same problem a few years back when i kept fish....i try clowns, puffers and all sorts...the only thing that worked was striping the tank down putting the fish in buckets and boiling the stones...did it once never got them again


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## MJ75 (Feb 5, 2009)

Gastroplex............... 

It does work!


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## Frase (Jul 13, 2009)

why dont you take your fish tank, and all it has in it. put it in the garden, blow the mother :censor: up. Jobs a goodun dude. And your fish remains will be all around your garden so they will ALWAYS be with you


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## MJ75 (Feb 5, 2009)

Frase said:


> why dont you take your fish tank, and all it has in it. put it in the garden, blow the mother :censor: up. Jobs a goodun dude. And your fish remains will be all around your garden so they will ALWAYS be with you


Have to say....

I've seen less helpful replies on here before.....


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## simonb-uk (Oct 30, 2009)

Frase said:


> why dont you take your fish tank, and all it has in it. put it in the garden, blow the mother :censor: up. Jobs a goodun dude. And your fish remains will be all around your garden so they will ALWAYS be with you


theres always one isnt there lol


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## thalie_knights (Jan 19, 2007)

not a fan eh?


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