hovmoller Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Ok so I have decided I want mine gone... I know getting rid of snails is close to mission impossible but it would be interresting to know at what size they start reproducing. Then I can concentrate on removing all snails above that size ie. no one to produce eggs.. Otherwise any other suggestions on how to remove them completely without harming fish? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Mine have disappeared and I actually want them. No idea why they did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foamy Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 I manage to control mine by using a piece of cucumber every night for a month. At each morning remove the piece of cucumber and along with those snails.. they tend to accumulate by eating the cucumber.. Removing it everyday and the population will come down.. At the moment my tank is under control. The other option is dump in puffer fish, as what my friends do. This little bugger suck them like juice! and in short time no more snail! only shell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Yeah when I feed zuccini to the plecos it is covered by snails next morning.. I would like to get rid of them though... not just control them.. Might have to borrow a puffer fish or two somewhere if they can deal to an entire population. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 What size tank are they in and what fish? I don't have any experience in loaches but I have heard that they mow down snails shells and all. If you got some young clowns for clean up there are a few people around that are collecting schools of them so im sure it wouldnt be hard to rehome them once your tank was cleared. Just an idea.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 What size tank are they in and what fish? I don't have any experience in loaches but I have heard that they mow down snails shells and all. If you got some young clowns for clean up there are a few people around that are collecting schools of them so im sure it wouldnt be hard to rehome them once your tank was cleared. Just an idea.. That's not a bad idea.. It's a 300L planted tank with Discus, cardinals, Corys and more.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 I thought the old trick was putting in a bit of copper metal - toxic enough for the fish to crawl out where they can be 'harvested' but not toxic enough for the fish. Google it though, I don't know the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 I cleared my tank of snails. I sold everything and got a new tank. On a more serious note, I tried a range of things - harvesting with/without traps of various kinds and veges in the tank but if your water is too soft to add snail rid then I think you can kiss goodbye to any chemical fix-alls. If you don't want to buy new fish to eat the snails and you have a spare tank you could move all your fish into it, snail rid the tank to all hell and back, change the water 8 billion times and then move them back in.... that would work but it's a lot of effort and probably easier to move the fish into the new tank and then clean out the snail tank. In my new tank I snail ridded almost all the plants that moved in, washed others by hand under the tap and so far I've only ever found and caught 2 ramshorns. Have had the filter out frequently and never find any eggs, which was Snail HQ in previous tank. I think and hope I am currently snail free. (touch wood & fingers crossed) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 toxic enough for the fish to crawl. What sort of fish are you keeping? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Yeah when I feed zuccini to the plecos it is covered by snails next morning.. if its covered in snails by the next morning. then your overfeeding the plecos = food for snails, result, heaps of snails. i like them, i use to put them in my tanks but they never multiplied considerably :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxxnz Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 getting rid of ramshorn snails! i used to have heaps and my clown loaches love them, every time i vacum them gravel there seem to be alot of empty shell..suddenly its just all gone! i would love to have some back in the tank.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 I spent the morning removing all large snails I could see with a large tweezer.. as you can see from below pic there are MANY hiding places for small snails so I'm sure there are still a gazillion little ones.. Also I don't want to rebuild this tank since it has taken quite a while to get to this stage.. also plant substrate under gravel. And the poisoning the snails with copper but not enough to kill fish sounds too extreme for me.. If I were to introduce some clown loaches eg... a few Q's: (don't know that much about clown loaches) Will small clowns they sell in the shop eat snails at that size? Any problems between clowns and my current fish? How many clowns would you recommend? (stocking already high but have two large canister filters on this one so enough filtration) Thanks This is the tank in question: Discus, Corys, Cardinals, SAE's and a little L270 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice222 Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 The dwarf puffers I had annihilated my snail population overnight. Wouldn't put them with any other fish though. I've heard stories of them nipping and killing fish much much bigger than them . But if you had a spare tank to put your other fish while you borrow some puffers or snail eating loaches I think it would work. Otherwise I think it's pretty hard to completely clear them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 I spent the morning removing all large snails I could see with a large tweezer.. as you can see from below pic there are MANY hiding places for small snails so I'm sure there are still a gazillion little ones.. Also I don't want to rebuild this tank since it has taken quite a while to get to this stage.. also plant substrate under gravel. And the poisoning the snails with copper but not enough to kill fish sounds too extreme for me.. If I were to introduce some clown loaches eg... a few Q's: (don't know that much about clown loaches) Will small clowns they sell in the shop eat snails at that size? Any problems between clowns and my current fish? How many clowns would you recommend? (stocking already high but have two large canister filters on this one so enough filtration) Thanks This is the tank in question: Discus, Corys, Cardinals, SAE's and a little L270 If you wanted to go for a smaller loach Zebra or Yoyo loaches will also eat snails, but not get as large as clown loaches. Had a big infestation of snails years ago, bought two Zebra loaches and they cleaned the lot up within a couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 nice tank, i think clowns would be a great addition to it. i have lent mine out in the past to get rid of snails on others tanks, they do a great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 rent a loach!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted October 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Right... I'll just look up Rent-A-Loach in the yellowpages.. I think I'll get a few clowns... I'm sure I can find a home for them if I don't want to keep them later on.. I think Henwards place is Clown loach central at the moment.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Henward is the Loach King Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterlogged Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 will lotches attack apple snails? o got loads of those small snails and the ones that look like a smaller version of your common pond snail and when i came back from a 2 week "holiday" it was eggs and snails galore. but i like my apple snails =P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brennos Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 if you can be bothered catching any, I can take as many as you can catch off your hands . My puffers would be grateful too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterlogged Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 and if i get something like a zodiac lotch will that be ok with 2 flying foxes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 Wow you have an incredible tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ismart120 Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 Hi, just new to the site and sorry if I'm a little late on this one but if clown loaches get too big for you, I've found Angelicus loaches to be excellent for getting rid of snails, and at least keeping the ramshorn snail population down quite low on my old tank. Even had them bore a hole in the mystery snail shell and rip it out. Took them a few days to figure out hoe but they did. Quite a large one too at that point. Otherwise, if you feel risky, a few skunk loaches may do the trick, just they can be extremely nippy and may not work with things like discus. Just my two cents worth. Isaac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted October 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 Thanks Isaac.. Yes the Angelicus are nice... but a few days ago I got 3 striata (Zebra Loach) and have already seen them much some little snails.. They only get to max 10cm I think and they are not very shy like clowns can be.. So between me picking off the bigger ones and the loaches eating the small ones I am hoping this will put an end to my snail population. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterlogged Posted October 31, 2010 Report Share Posted October 31, 2010 would a zodiac loach be any good and desnailing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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