# HELP!!! Still unable to get rid of the Ramshorn snails



## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

Well the struggle continues to remove ALL of the Ramshorn snails from my 25 gallon Guppy tank. There is no wood, no plants and I am feeding such a sparse bit of food and still doing huge water changes and vacuuming out the gravel really well but still they continue to show up in the tank. The numbers are depleted for sure with only a dozen or so on the glass each morning when I flick on the tank light and they are very very small but still they exist and I fear another hostile take over. 


What are these things living on? 

How long until I can hope they are truly all gone?

Do I absolutely HAVE to change out all of the gravel? 

Is there nothing else I can do to make sure they are gone without taking down the whole tank? I have also gone so far as to remove the filter media and clean out the filter unit. Still more snails show up. As small as they are, I can only assume they are freshly hatched babies. How is that possible? At what age/size can they reproduce? I think I have gotten all the snails of any significant size. The largest one I have seen in a few days is smaller then a pencil eraser. Maybe 1/4 that size, actually.

I need suggestions from people who have been through this. I will take suggestions from anyone actually. HELP!!!


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## beastieseb187 (Nov 25, 2010)

There are some fish, such as loaches, which eat snails i think and their eggs - but this depends on how hard the shell of the snails are...I'm not sure how aggressive they are either so I'd ask about them and make sure the yare ok with your aquarium fish.


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## tanker (Mar 13, 2010)

I wouldn't be optimistic about eradicating them all unless you get a snail killing fish. I don't know how they got in my tank in the first place, they must have been teeny tiny babies or eggs because I washed off the plants before I planted them and looked at them and didn't see any grown-up snails on there.... If you can't see the teeny tiny babies and eggs in your tank, you aren't going to be able to manually remove them all, there'll always be someone hiding somewhere. 

Anyway, I bought this new thing. It's a filtering thingamyjig. Amazon.com: Eheim AEH3531090 Quick Vac Pro Automatic Gravel Sludge Extractor Vacuum Cleaner: Sports & Outdoors
I used it on my new tank which has all of the baby snails sitting on the gravel (impossible to pick off with your fingers like the ones sitting on the glass) and it did a reasonable job sucking lots up. It was very expensive for what it is. It doesn't seem to suck out fine material, but it's good between water changes for sucking up bits of left-over carrot or uneaten algae wafers and stuff that the apple snails haven't eaten (not such an issue in my big tanks, but in the betta tanks the bettas won't finish off any snail food like the fish in the big tanks). And for sucking up little snails :lol:.


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## PRichs87 (Dec 30, 2009)

Throw a piece of cucumber or lettuce in your tank overnight and pull it out in the morning with all the snails attached. Repeat and eradicate your snail problem! Happy Thanksgiving!


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

PRichs87 said:


> Throw a piece of cucumber or lettuce in your tank overnight and pull it out in the morning with all the snails attached. Repeat and eradicate your snail problem! Happy Thanksgiving!


 
Yes, I forgot to add, I have been doing that as well but still, there are those few snails each morning. I wonder how big they have to be before they can breed? How many eggs are hidden in the gravel? What is the time from egg laying to hatching? I am thinking of turning the lights off for longer as well. I thought I could starve them out by feeding so sparsely but obviously, they can live on very little and continue to reproduce in those conditions as well. Have I mentioned, I HATE these snails?

I Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. :-D


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## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

I'm afraid for the death and destruction you are looking for Inga your only option might be some off the shelf snail killer, all the other options are just a way to keep the snail colony under control. Just be careful of what you get so it doesn't harm anything you don't want harmed.


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## beastieseb187 (Nov 25, 2010)

"I thought I could starve them out by feeding so sparsely but obviously, they can live on very little and continue to reproduce in those conditions as well."

Animals tend to reproduce more when they are under difficult conditions - therefore under feeding the snails may cause them to breed even more:|

I also think that its difficult to starve them since they can find algae anywhere in the aquarium - whether light is present or not


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## RCinAL (Nov 14, 2010)

Inga, I don't know your particular situation, but I would not hesitate to dismantle that tank and kill everything in it with ammonia and then re-establish it. Of coarse this would mean you must have a way to keep the fish somewhere else for a while. 

Good luck


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## VS Tyrant (Nov 27, 2010)

I've always been weary of letting amonia come in contact with anything in my tank, makes me nervous that i wont be able to get it all rinsed off. May be unfounded, but I don't have the courage.

I just plucked a couple of these pests from my tank this morning. I put them in a betta bowl and I'm going to try to log their progress by taking pictures of the bowl everyday, just to get an idea of how fast they procreate. 

I have way too much time on my hands.


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## PRichs87 (Dec 30, 2009)

RCinAL said:


> Inga, I don't know your particular situation, but I would not hesitate to dismantle that tank and kill everything in it with ammonia and then re-establish it. Of coarse this would mean you must have a way to keep the fish somewhere else for a while.
> 
> Good luck


You run a high risk of leaving ammonia in whatever you put it on and then your fish would probably die, not worth it in my opinion.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

have you tried baiting?

You can weigh down a piece of cucumber and take out all the snails after 6 hours or so... Or get a 20oz bottle, cut it in half, and set the bottom in the tank with a bit of food. The next morning, the snails should be there in the morning.

Personally, I've never had a "takeover" of ramshorns. My 5 gallon only has 5, and the 10's have about 10 each.

Why do you want to get rid of them? They do so many good things for the aquarium...

If you want to get rid of them, you could get some assassin snails...

DO NOT use the ammonia.
I wouldn't worry about the ammonia traces... I'd worry more about re-cycling the tank.


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## RCinAL (Nov 14, 2010)

PRichs87 said:


> You run a high risk of leaving ammonia in whatever you put it on and then your fish would probably die, not worth it in my opinion.





redchigh said:


> have you tried baiting?
> 
> You can weigh down a piece of cucumber and take out all the snails after 6 hours or so... Or get a 20oz bottle, cut it in half, and set the bottom in the tank with a bit of food. The next morning, the snails should be there in the morning.
> 
> ...


*All fish secrete ammonia.* This is why you must have nitrifying bacteria. There is nothing risky about it. If you are very careful and know what you are doing you can even cycle a new tank with the right amounts of 100% pure ammonia in the water to build the nitrifying bacteria colony. 

I admit it would be a drastic step though. I guess it depends on how bad she wants rid of the snails. I have a tendency to tackle every challenge with overwhelming force. :whip: 

That is just my style! ;-)


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

How do you guys weigh down the cucumbers? 

Why do I want to get rid of the Ramshorns? Because they literally ATE a heavily planted tank in no tiime at all. They destroyed my beautifully planted tank, they were uninvited and they took over. I am NOT loving them at this point. I truly do want them ALL gone. I am giving serious thought to taking down the entire tank.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Poor Inga 

You can buy the veggie weights at most fish stores but you can just put it on the end of a fork and sit it at the bottom of your tank. 

That's even better because you have an instant handle when pulling it out.

Good luck with the lil buggers.


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## Backer (Sep 18, 2010)

I have heard that clown loaches do a great job at cleaning up snails. Best of luck.


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

It seems like the numbers are increasing a little again. How in the world is this possiible? I HATE Ramshorn snails. UGH!!!!! They NEED TO GO!!! I am going crazy over snails.


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## tanker (Mar 13, 2010)

Inga, I've never had the numbers you seem to have had, but it seems like I had a bit of an explosion at first, and now there are just a few on the glass. I have been fishing the ones on the glass out, but there are still others that I've left alone. Maybe I've just become used to them, or maybe the numbers have sorted themselves somehow. 

I just did a water change and used that vacuum thingy as well and, looking at the gravel closely, I can see the little snails down in the gravel in my 165-litre. I really don't think you'll ever be able to get them all out without resorting to stripping down your tank and maybe using chemicals to nuke them. Then, the minute you get a new plant, they'll be back. That's how I think I got them, and I rinsed the plants and looked them over before planting. 

Maybe your numbers might settle on their own if you let things be for a bit to see what happens? I think that getting rid of them all is a losing battle. The snails will win, so you may as well get your white flag out:lol:

ETA: I never removed my plants or driftwood as you have.


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

tanker said:


> ETA: I never removed my plants or driftwood as you have.


I didn't remove my plants, they ATE them. :shock: Anyway, I am doing the constant water changes and scraping them from the glass each morning as well. I can't believe there are still any left, but there are. I look and look at the gravel and think I have them all then a few hours later, there are more. Unbelievable how fast these stinking things multiply. 


I really don't want to add any chemicals as there are fish in the tank. I guess I could just remove them and the gravel and start anew. :-?


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## jsenske (Feb 12, 2010)

Botias. Loachata or striata will eat them. get them small as you can find, and consider removing after the snails have been gone for a while. While the are not aggressive per se, they might be a bit much for co-habitating with guppies long term. 

We get snails in client tanks and use this method often. With over 500 aquariums in our care, we definitely deal with the occasional rogue snail!


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## tanker (Mar 13, 2010)

Sorry, I didn't appreciate that they'd eaten all your plants, I thought you must have taken them out after you'd noticed them damaged. 

If you did strip down your tank, you'd need to stick with artifical plants, or restock your plants from someone who has no snails. 

I wonder why the snails you've acquired have done such a huge amount of damage. If they came in on plants, you'd think they'd have eaten the plants they came in on.... Have you considered asking an aquarium plant nursery how they deal with these snails? It's their livelihood that would be affected by such voracious eating, they might have some good ideas that haven't been suggested yet?

Have you got anywhere to put your guppies temporarily? Maybe if you didn't need to feed fish the snails would all starve (assuming they can't go dormant and survive periods of starvation).


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## jsenske (Feb 12, 2010)

Regrettably, this is one of the most difficult to eradicate species. It is unlikely you will get rid of t hem entirely. Short if a complete restart and being sure to have some snail eating fish right away in the new set up, you will always have some of these snails around. Though you can probably live with having a few and not an all out infestation.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Inga said:


> How do you guys weigh down the cucumbers?
> 
> Why do I want to get rid of the Ramshorns? Because they literally ATE a heavily planted tank in no tiime at all. They destroyed my beautifully planted tank, they were uninvited and they took over. I am NOT loving them at this point. I truly do want them ALL gone. I am giving serious thought to taking down the entire tank.


Were it me,,I might consider taking the filter and heater from the tank and placing them along with the fish,in a plastic tub. Tear down the tank, boil or replace the substrate, scrub the tank walls (no detergent's) and then return the fish, filter,and heater to the newly scrubbed aquarium.


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## Ostara (Sep 19, 2010)

Have you tried assassin snails? I've never had them but my LFS swears by them. They keep them in their plant holding tanks and they seem to do a good job because there's never a single snail on their plants.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Inga- Did you toss out the idea of Yasuhikotakia sidthimunkis_?_ They are such great llittle fish and I can tell you based on my experience in keeping them you will never see another snail again_. _I know they are pricey but if you hate these snails that much they would be worth every penny you spent on getting a small group of five. Too bad you don't live close by, I'd let you borrow a few of mine, or a few of my yoyos or clowns for a few days. The only tank I don't keep loaches in are my shrimp tanks, and those shrimp tanks are riddled with little ramshorn snails, yuck.


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

Everyone has great suggestions. This is where I am on the snail front. I still find little ones on the glass each morning. I backed off of the daily clean and within a few days, the numbers were increasing again. NOT like they were by any means but if only a few days makes that difference, then I can't imagine if I drop to once a week. I don't know if I managed to get some mutant variety or just extremely prolific snails. These things must be mating like it is going out of style. 

I was going to get some Assassins from the LFS but I am putting it off because I am honestly afraid I would be trading one type of snail for another. I don't want ANY snails in there, other then my few original Mystery snails. I still like them. 

I am not against the loaches either but it would have to be sort of a rental type situation since I do not have a tank large enough to house them long term. I don't want them in my 60 gallon for fear of them hurting my Rainbow shark or the Cories that are now in there. I think I will talk to the LFS guy and see if he will rent me a few loaches. ha ha 

I am sure they must have come in on the plants even though I rinsed them well. I have not added anything else to the tank so... that is really the only possibility. 

Kymmie I wish you were closer, I would take you up on the offer to borrow your loaches.  Maybe I need a vacation in Sunny California. ha ha


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## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

Inga I read through most of this and have a few words to put in myself.

I have had my 20 gallon tank for a few years now. Ever since my first plant I have had ramshorn snails. I probably have 30-50 snails but they are most of the time hidden in my mass amounts of java moss. Since they appeared I haven't had to clean my glass once, and they tend to only eat decaying plant matter. Now I keep them because I have never had luck with mystery snails and they do a good job IMHO. Also when they grow bigger I think they are really cool looking. But that's me.

Now I would also suggest an assassin snail. You can buy it and once your problem is gone either bring it back or give it to another fish keeper in need. 

Loaches are cool to but same deal for your tank. You would probably have to return them(I think).

I also don't recommend using chemicals to kill them. I hate using chemicals and think a good tank should be natural.

Just my 2 cents


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## HOLLY027 (Sep 26, 2010)

Hi, getting some clown loaches would be a good idea. I've heard they love snails and wont stop eatting them until they are all eaten up. I'm actucally looking to get some ramshorn snails to breed for my puffers, I've never heard of them eatting live plants, which kinda worries me about adding them to my tank. O.O
I'm really sorry that they ate up your planted aquarium. That really sucks. 
You could try selling the snails on ebay if you want to try to make a little money. I've actucally bought some on ebay before. They can be sent out of water.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

HOLLY027 said:


> Hi, getting some clown loaches would be a good idea.


Inga's tank is too small for Clowns. The only loach that would be doable is the dwarf chain and they are voracious snail eaters. What to do...I like the rent-a-loach idea, lol.


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## thefishboy (Aug 20, 2010)

You must have a seriously bad problem! I thought i hade loads.. I ahve more mts but i like them they do a good job going through the substrate. I would get a few assasins.. I might by 1 or 2 just to keep the4 numbers down a bit.. And like the otheres said you could just give them away after..


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

I know, this isn't the topic to preach such heresy... but Ramshorn snails don't eat healthy plants.

On the other hand, mystery snails and apple snails do (sometimes).

I've had full on outbreaks of ramshorns and pond snails... They never ate any of my plants. (minus a couple leaves on the banana plant)

Very bizarre.

Also, with such a serious infestation, assassins aren't practical. They only eat 1 snail per day, each, and they breed unbelievably slowly. Also, I think they have trouble chasing down ramshorns. They prefer to eat all of your MTS.


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## thefishboy (Aug 20, 2010)

i got a assasin snail its already eaten like 5 ramshorn snails.. It didnt even bother with mts..


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

I did have a HUGE outbreak of Ramshorns. It is a LOT better but there are still a lot in the smaller tank (25 gallon) The ones that are left in that tank are very very small about a 12th of the size of a pencil eraser and smaller. 

IF I get Assassins, they won't have the option to eat the Mystery snails because they would be in the tank with the small tank and there are no Mystery snails in that tank. I can't imagine that they can't catch the Ramshorns as they seem to move much slower, then the Mystery snails anyway. 

When you all say that the Assassins breed very slowly, what does that mean? I mean, is there a way to prevent them over populating? Once the food supply is cut off, is there a way to keep them alive? Will they eat fish food? If I toss 6-8 of them into the 25 gallon tank, shouldn't that help to keep the Ramshorn population down? The Assassins won't eat plants, right?

In my larger tank there are some Ramshorns too but someone in there is eating them and keeping the population under control. There are still a lot of them, but nothing like the numbers I had in the smaller tank. Maybe my Rainbow shark or Gourami have finally gotten the idea of what they should do.


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## thefishboy (Aug 20, 2010)

6-8 would be good... Once theve eaten the snails feed them like normal snails.. Thet will eat and hill the mystery snails.. You will find lots of empty snail shells in the tank.. I only have one as i just want to keep the snails at a reasonable level..


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## Ashcan Bill (May 30, 2010)

Inga said:


> I did have a HUGE outbreak of Ramshorns. It is a LOT better but there are still a lot in the smaller tank (25 gallon) The ones that are left in that tank are very very small about a 12th of the size of a pencil eraser and smaller.
> 
> IF I get Assassins, they won't have the option to eat the Mystery snails because they would be in the tank with the small tank and there are no Mystery snails in that tank. I can't imagine that they can't catch the Ramshorns as they seem to move much slower, then the Mystery snails anyway.
> 
> ...


I have assassins in both my tanks so I might be able to give you a little insight.

First, with a large outbreak of "other" snails, assassins won't cure things over night. When I first added half a dozen to my small tank, it had been taken over with pond snails. I kept watching for signs of depopulation, but it was slow and I gave up. Then one day about two months later, I suddenly realized there were no pond snails left. None.









That tank still has a low population of assassins. They don't eat plants, cause no trouble, and are a fairly nice looking snail. They now survive on excess fish food.

In my larger tank the assassins breed much faster, though nowhere near as fast as other snails. I suspect it's because I have more fish in it and more leftover food finds it's way to the bottom. While I have many more in that tank than I'd prefer, again, they don't cause any problems so I let them be. They breed slowly, maybe one or two a month, though as the population increases, those one or two a month from each female can add up.

Oh, and one other note. Assassins are fast. I doubt any other snail could outrun them. The little guys can really truck when they want to.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Maybe I was confused... Maybe it's the pondsnails that they can't catch... (since they can swim in mid-water to get away).

Anyways, I know the assassins ate all my MTS in my 10G asian.


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

Good to know about the Assassins. My Mystery Snails are pretty HUGE so if they were to be taken out by the Assassins, I think they would have to be attacked by the whole gang at once. Um, the whole gang being 6 or so that I would have.  Maybe I would start with less even, just to play it safe.

I would really like to get some more plants in the little tank again. This time, I think I will go with some harder, less tasty plants like Swords. I will add others when I am confident that the numbers of snails are under control.


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## tanker (Mar 13, 2010)

Inga, just another thing that occurred to me reading the new posts. Are you sure that those snails were the culprits in eating your plants? When I started putting live plants in my tanks, I had guppies and they chewed through the stems of the brazilian pennywort that I added to their tank. (It was them, I saw them doing it.) Those little snails might have had some fishy help?


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

tanker said:


> Inga, just another thing that occurred to me reading the new posts. Are you sure that those snails were the culprits in eating your plants? When I started putting live plants in my tanks, I had guppies and they chewed through the stems of the brazilian pennywort that I added to their tank. (It was them, I saw them doing it.) Those little snails might have had some fishy help?


 
Sure Tanker, anything is possible. I never saw the Guppies damaging the plants but I am sure it could have happened. It would even make sense to the fact that the plants were destroyed so quickly. I guess I am blaming the snails mostly because it was beautifully rich, heavily planted tank until they took over. I did just toss another piece of Pennywort in there to float. It is only about a foot long and it is floating. I am seeing the Guppy fry nibbling at it. The adults ignore it from what I can tell. I just thought the fry were nibbling off tiny bits of algae or food left overs hanging on the plant. It will be interesting to see what happens to that Pennywort over the next few days now that the snail population has been so depleted.

This morning I turned on the lights with my net in hand and I was only able to find 5 extremely small snails. They were about the size of a pin head. I removed them anyhow since I do not want to give them a chance to take over again. Later today I will vacuum the gravel out really well again. It seems I am making wonderful progress but time will tell.

One of the hardest things about scooping out the snails over this past few weeks is that the Guppies are forever swimming INTO the net and then I have to wait for them to swim out so as not to dump out the snails again. UGH! I am guessing that Guppies are not the brightest bulbs in the fish world. That or they are so friendly. Even when I do my water test and dip my test tubes to gather a sample of tank water, they are trying to swim INTO the tube. Strange, funny little fish. I have to admit, other then the over breeding, I really do enjoy their "personalities."


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## tanker (Mar 13, 2010)

I think it's because they're friendly. If something is happening, they want to be a part of it.


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## Cpt NAPA (Aug 10, 2010)

Inga, Sorry to hear about your snail problem. After reading the posts I dedided to put in my 2cents worth. If I remember my chemistry correctly snails are quite sensitive to copper. I believe that in the past(long past) we used a product called Nox Ich not only to eradicate Ich but because it is a copper compound it works real well lon many invertabrates. 
While I agree with the natural remedies that many of the previous posts brought up, This is another option you might consider. The copper compound in Nox Ich is malichite green. You must leave your lights off while treating with it and you would also need to remove any carbon from your filters as it will asorbe the Nox Ich. 
BTW I have never had a problem with ramshorns destroying plants either. Luck to Ya Cpt NAPA


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

What is funny is how these things just keep cropping up. I look and look and see NONE on the gravel or anywhere else. There are NO hiding spots in this tank anymore and yet all of a sudden there will be 2 of them hanging on the glass. I am shocked each time and wonder where they were hiding when I was searching the tank over. Sassy snails. 

Thanks Cpt, I will keep it in mind but Yes, I would prefer to keep it natural and NOT add any chemicals of any kind. We shall see.


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

In a strange turn of events the snail issue is becoming less and less in the large tank. I don't think I had quite the break out there as I had in the small tank but I was afraid to move any of the wood because that is how I found the hundreds of snails in the small tank. 

Anyhow, there were always a handful on the glass and a dozen or so each morning on the Pennywort and I could see a few dozen on the gravel at the bottom so I figured there were quite a few. I have been doing daily snail remover from the floating pennywort but leaving the others alone. As of late, I have noted that there are quite a few empty shells at the bottom and I am not seeing nearly as many at the bottom, on the glass or even on the Pennywort in the morning. I guess someone has found them to be edible and has mastered their hunting skills. Who do you think the likely culprit is? Opaline Gourami, Rainbow Shark, Tiger Barbs, Corie's, Platies?


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

I just got 4 Assassins. They are quite small so I wasn't sure if I should dump them all into my small tank or put 2 in each tank. I chose the 2 in each tank. They must have been hungry because within 5 minutes each of them had their own Ramshorn snail. I suspect at this rate, they will be quite successful. I mean, unless they only eat once a week or so. 

I was considering a few dwarf loaches but the store I was at didn't have any little ones. My tank is not big enough for the larger species. It will be interesting to see if there is a difference in the numbers in the next few weeks.


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