Zdoda Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Hi, recently been overseas for awhile upon leaving my tanks to family to care for, they've done a superb job BUT i have snail infestation like its no tomorrow, if there's one thing i hate in my tank its snail especially Malaysian Trumpet Snails :an!gry I had recently put in 12 Clown Loaches in the tank but they are so little doubt they'll be able to hit them hard or even eat them? I would love to strip the tank down, but given its 1000 ltr tank, and with my Frontosa's in i am reluctant to do this till i have exhausted all other avenues. Oh and note these snails almost caused a nice water block in my sump, due to the snails having gotten down the pipe leading down into my sump and had blocked with there shells most of the T bar spray bar that's in it. No flooding would have occurred due to how i have designed it, but nonetheless its a pain if i have to keep clearing them out of the pipe. Any suggestions, would be greatly appreciated? My other question would be does NZ get Enantiopus kilesa, if so does anyone know a breeder that has them for sale? http://img29.imageshack.us/i/dsc9837s.jpg/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 wait for the clown loaches - you will be pleasantly surprised. I had 1000's of snails last year and now there are none. Even if the small clowns only eat the newly hatched snails it will stop the population explosion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Yeah I thought, well at least hope that clown loaches eat them I have the bloody things going through my tanks atm too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zdoda Posted April 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Cool thanks, i will see how it goes over the next week, if not HF have some nice large sized Clown loaches i may buy to really hit them hard, or strip the tank. If i were to strip the tank down, what would be the best way of ridding them? is bleaching even a good idea(safe) to do the entire tank/rocks/sand? @ Ryan - aww sucks man, srsly wish i knew how they got in there... tanks been running for sometime with not a sight of a snail, 2 months overseas and BAM looks like zombie outbreak. btw since i am back in aucks, you want those glass panels - plus id love to come see how your fish are doing plus try and bribe you for those giraffes hehe ! also any ideas on those Enantiopus kilesa available in NZ? really keen on getting some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zayne Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 when i had them i crushed the ones on the sides and the eggs then out a potato in and the snails are attracted to the potato so every day remove the potato with snails on, takes a while but eventually gets rid of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I would say no to Enantiopus kilesa I have never seen of or heard of them in the country.. Probably another one those ones we had 20 years ago and died out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acara Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 How about assasin snails?Dosn't take them long to munch through a tank full of snails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 How about assasin snails?Dosn't take them long to munch through a tank full of snails. Cant get them in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zdoda Posted April 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 when i had them i crushed the ones on the sides and the eggs then out a potato in and the snails are attracted to the potato so every day remove the potato with snails on, takes a while but eventually gets rid of them That's worth a try thanks heaps, going to throw some in today and see how i go, wish me luck! blasted snails :an!gry Yeah in regards to the Assassin Snail, Good idea but i wouldn't want to get assassin snails sure they may get rid of the MTS, but then i am left with another type of snail in my tank. Unless they don't eat fish eggs then if we were able to get them in NZ id try it. Also does anyone know in the auckland region where i can get Limestone for decent prices? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 if not HF have some nice large sized Clown loaches i may buy to really hit them hard I can vouch for those clowns being great snail eaters, they'll sort your problem out!! Don't bother stripping the tank, the clowns will sort it out eventually, may take a little while to start with as they are small and your tank is heavily infested, but once they get on top of it you'll never see another snail. They will survive in your filters/sump and in tiny crevices, and if you remove the loaches they will come back. Only way to get rid of them completely is to sterilise everything. I've had canisters that have been on tanks with loaches for years, then when moved to another tank with no loaches the snails soon appear.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zdoda Posted April 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I can vouch for those clowns being great snail eaters, they'll sort your problem out!! Don't bother stripping the tank, the clowns will sort it out eventually, may take a little while to start with as they are small and your tank is heavily infested, but once they get on top of it you'll never see another snail. They will survive in your filters/sump and in tiny crevices, and if you remove the loaches they will come back. Only way to get rid of them completely is to sterilise everything. I've had canisters that have been on tanks with loaches for years, then when moved to another tank with no loaches the snails soon appear.... Ah okay cool Thanks David, how quick do Clown Loaches grow in general?, i ask because my guys i bought at HF are about 2cm long got 12 of them, had one fatality though, he died on the way home most of today, having been home, using the potato idea, so far its kind of working there's just so many of them, .. but going to keep doing it to try and help reduce them as much as possible, till i purchase the large CL. I will try to take a picture later tonight when the horde has arisen from the sand lol. so you can truly gauge how many there are :tears: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 In a tank like that they should grow steadily, up to about 6" in 2-3 years. Whats your water like? temp/pH/KH etc? They like it warm, soft/acidic and fast flowing, so it may be a matter of compromising between what the fronts prefer and the clowns. You won't be the first to pull it off though, it may not be ideal for either species but it is do-able. ps. the big ones at HFF are my old ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 Ah okay cool Thanks David, how quick do Clown Loaches grow in general?, i ask because my guys i bought at HF are about 2cm long got 12 of them, had one fatality though, he died on the way home most of today, having been home, using the potato idea, so far its kind of working there's just so many of them, .. but going to keep doing it to try and help reduce them as much as possible, till i purchase the large CL. I will try to take a picture later tonight when the horde has arisen from the sand lol. so you can truly gauge how many there are :tears: I have found the clown loaches grow really fast I got some of those 2cm cheap ones from HFF about 5-6months ago and they are now ranging from 3-4 to 5-6cm growing like weeds, and that is only in a 200L tank with water changes every few weeks, they eat NLS like it is going out of fashion coming upto the surface to get it and getting so fat.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zdoda Posted April 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 In a tank like that they should grow steadily, up to about 6" in 2-3 years. Whats your water like? temp/pH/KH etc? They like it warm, soft/acidic and fast flowing, so it may be a matter of compromising between what the fronts prefer and the clowns. You won't be the first to pull it off though, it may not be ideal for either species but it is do-able. ps. the big ones at HFF are my old ones. Temp is sitting at 27c , PH - 8 DKH - 8 or 143.2 PPM KH i also tried to do my GH, now for the life of me i can't figure this out, - I did the first drop but it turned Yellow as to oppose to in guidebook its meant to turn orange with the first drop, this it did not (held it against a white background to make sure), then i carried on to see if it would change to "Green" but after 30 drops just stayed a bright yellow , i know something must be amiss surely? as well as my sump i have an FX5 for fast current that i have positioned for mid to top current, as to not annoy the fronts as they like the slow moving water oh and i thought as much they'd be your clowns given your knowledge of them being good at eating snails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I also got 4 clown loaches from HFF about 5 months ago and they would be a minimum of 6cm + I have another 4 which I purchased about 3 months ago and they around around the 4-5cm. My pH is 6, I run an fx5 filter plus a 6000lph power on the tank and they are growing rapidly. Temp sits around 29 degrees going up to 32 in the summer. My tank is 450 litres. I previously tried emptying the tank right out and bleaching everything but the snails still returned. Nowdays I never see a snail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zdoda Posted April 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I also got 4 clown loaches from HFF about 5 months ago and they would be a minimum of 6cm + I have another 4 which I purchased about 3 months ago and they around around the 4-5cm. My pH is 6, I run an fx5 filter plus a 6000lph power on the tank and they are growing rapidly. Temp sits around 29 degrees going up to 32 in the summer. My tank is 450 litres. I previously tried emptying the tank right out and bleaching everything but the snails still returned. Nowdays I never see a snail. Ah this seems very promising that i have gone down the right track :happy2: i must admit Clown loaches are so cool, when all 12 of them school around the tank, looks so awesome. My new Snail Assassins hopefully. A few pics of my tank, and the zombie outbreak of snails.... also if anyone has suggestions on how to improve the "look" or anything of the tank please feel free Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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