Major Malaysian trumpet snail infestation

[Carlos & Siran]

Oldest boy has taken our AR120 (21 ltrs) home to his Grandmothers and set it up in his room. He saved his pocket money and bought some chain grass and a java fern from LFS, he began a fish-less cycle, all was going well until one day he noticed a few trumpet snails, he didn't think much of it, then later he realized he had a major infestation. I suggested snail-rid which he bought but after a week or so there's been no change, he doubled the dose but still seems to have had no effect. I know these little blighters are supposed to not eat plants but they've seriously mangled the java fern.

He was wanting to stock the tank with a few cherry barbs, a Kuhli loach and a bristle nose. But now we're thinking a couple Zodiac loaches instead of the barbs.

Questions

.1.Will Zodiacs eat trumpets?

.2.Is 21 ltrs big enough for zodiacs?

[Joshlikesfish]

Maybe one of those snail trips would work?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 783256.htm

[supasi]

What is the Ph of your tank? If you lower the ph this will cause the snails to suffer from weaker shells. This makes it easier for Loaches to eat them. MTS have very hard shells.

See the latest AW magazine. There is an article there of a guy who had issues with MTS. He used Assassin snails which are not in NZ

HTH

[malevolentsparkle]

What is the Ph of your tank? If you lower the ph this will cause the snails to suffer from weaker shells

true but only a good idea if the fish he plans on getting like a low pH.

[Carlos & Siran]

I asked him what the PH was and he shrugged(he's 14 so yeah :roll:) I checked and it was 7.8, am in the process of dropping it now. For now he'll keep treating every 3 days , I see no reason why the snail rid isn't working. Hopefully won't damage the plants too badly, the grass seems unaffected but the java fern is definitely worse for wear.

[phoenix44]

Won't work if the KH of the water is too high I think.

There is a GH and KH warning associated with snail rid. Don't remember what it is though...

[Ice222]

Oldest boy has taken our AR120 (21 ltrs) home to his Grandmothers and set it up in his room. He saved his pocket money and bought some chain grass and a java fern from LFS, he began a fish-less cycle, all was going well until one day he noticed a few trumpet snails, he didn't think much of it, then later he realized he had a major infestation. I suggested snail-rid which he bought but after a week or so there's been no change, he doubled the dose but still seems to have had no effect. I know these little blighters are supposed to not eat plants but they've seriously mangled the java fern.

He was wanting to stock the tank with a few cherry barbs, a Kuhli loach and a bristle nose. But now we're thinking a couple Zodiac loaches instead of the barbs.

Questions

.1.Will Zodiacs eat trumpets?

.2.Is 21 ltrs big enough for zodiacs?

Sorry if this is a little off topic, but I hope I'm not the only one who thought of MTS as 'Multiple Tank Syndrome?' rather than the snails when reading the topic title.

[Stella]

I hope I'm not the only one who thought of MTS as 'Multiple Tank Syndrome?' rather than the snails when reading the topic title.

Nope, me too Conjured up some great mental images.

[Joshlikesfish]

I thought it too haha. MTS is a common thing on these forums

[Southerrrngirrl]

Yeah I thought it was regarding multiple tanks too.. in fact what is MTS when referring to snails?

[Caryl]

Malaysian Trumpet Snails

[Southerrrngirrl]

Malaysian Trumpet Snails

Of course it is. :oops:

[Sophia]

You need to have water that is 5ppm (I read that as 5 drops before the water turns yellow with the KH test kit) before Snail Rid is safe to use in a tank with fish in it. Apparently toxic to fish when it's lower but maybe that also means it doesn't work when the water is too soft??

Seems to me like he could adjust the softness as he sees fit till the snails die off, change lots of the water and see how it is for putting the fish in.

MTS don't like excel overdoses though this could be in relation to the pH as well.

There are so many variables and I have so few brain cells to keep up with them all :roll:

[Morcs]

Dwarf chain loaches.

Or 'borrow' a skunk loach, when hes done nailing the snails, give him back to wherever you got him as the tank is too small for him longer term.

[Navarre]

If there are no fish in the tank

add one shot of vodka to the tank every second day for 10 days then do a water change vacuming the snails out

this should ...increase orgainic sugars...decrease available oxygen....fertilise your plants and ...kill the snails...maybe

If you have a single fish then dont do it

Whats wrong with snails anyway...they are self limiting...they get rid of the shite....and they turn your substarte stioping it from becoming anearobic.

Of course once cycled you coudl just add mollies and or platties or guppies and not feed them....you certainly wont have snails for long

[smidey]

i have 4 clowns that would happily clean them up & it wouldn't be the first time they have been borrowed for pest eradication.

[Navarre]

Or just put an old marmite jar in tank and put a sinking pellet in there and clean out every morning

Wont take long

or some dwarf puffers

or some copper

or squesh them against glass everyday

or catch them for people to feed them to other things

DOnt Mystery snails eat other snails?

who knows

[hovmoller]

If all you want is the snails gone and there are no fish in the tank yet I would just start over...

Disinfect the tank, boil the substrate and put the plants in a 1:20 bleach bath for a minut or two.

Should be a quick job on a 21L tank... But you have to start the cycle again (which in any case I think is a good idea with all that snail rid in there)

[Dave+Amy]

Dwarf chain loaches.

Or 'borrow' a skunk loach, when hes done nailing the snails, give him back to wherever you got him as the tank is too small for him longer term.

I've got 10 of these guys and 2 zebra loaches - don't see them touching the malaysian trumpet snails, I've added 4 skunk loaches to tank now, waiting to see if these slightly bigger guys will do the job.

[LYNDYLOO]

You could send some down to me

Love these wee fellas :bounce:

[Dave+Amy]

You could send some down to me

Love these wee fellas :bounce:

Are you for real Lyndyloo??? Once you get them, they breed like no tomorrow...I don't even know how they got introduced to my tank, was absolutely guttered.

I've resorted to scooping up the top layer and picking the snails out of my substrate easily fill cups of these guys, the 16 loaches aren't doing much :roll: