ks3r Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 Hi, new member here I'm setting up a new tropical planted tank so I've been buying plants from trade me. Unfortunately, I got more than what I bargained for and I found some snails this morning... They are definitely bladder / pond snails and they are relatively young ( 3 of them had colours and about 3mm long, the rest were still transparent). I've been doing research on them online and I'm getting a lot of mixed opinions about them. Some say they will only eat dead plants while some say it will eat all the plants. And apparently they get out of control but some say it can be controlled by not overfeeding. So I'm just looking for an advice here, should I hunt them down now when it's still just a few and try get rid of it before adding fish or should I just leave them be? What is everyone else's experience with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 IMO Bladder snails don't cause any problems but are just annoying to have if you don't want them. My advise is that at his point you only have two choices: 1. Accept the snails and try to limit their numbers by not overfeeding etc. because it is impossible to get rid of them. If your tank is big enough you could keep 1 or 2 snail eating loaches that would help keep number down. 2. Start over completely. Sterilise everything by either boiling things or soaking things in 1:10 bleach solution. Throw away the plants you have. And when you start again be make sure that you don't introduce snails again with new plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 Googled Bladder snails, are you sure yours are not Malaysian Trumpet snails? Snails can be the bane of a fishkeepers life but it is pretty much impossible not to get any into your tanks. Hovmollers advice is good. The other thing you could try is a piece of courgette on a string or anchored to the bottom of the tank. When it is covered in snails pull it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 You've got a few different options but it might be worth asking whether you actually want to get rid of them or not. Bladder snails rarely, if at all, eat plants and in my experience don't really get out of control like other species such as Malaysian Trumpets. Snails are really handy, as a booming population can let you know that you're overfeeding or have rotting plants, and they'll also eat dead fish that you may not have noticed, helping to prevent a concentration of Ammonia being produced in that area of the tank. There's some different methods of removal - the least risky being manual removal - just place a vegetable (like Adrienne as suggested) at the top of the tank and remove it to remove a bunch of snails at the same time (they often come out most in mornings or at night). http://fishwise.co.nz/index.php/article ... end-or-foe might be of some help - if you scroll down to the bottom there's some suggestions on getting rid of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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