# Pest Snails



## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

oops


----------



## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

antibabes said:


> I have 21 fish in a 60 litre tank, and feed them enough for them to nom everything in a few seconds, leaving just a couple of pellets for my corys.


21 fish in a 16 gallon... That's probably the problem. Fish waste has small amounts of undigested food, so with that many fish in a tank it really adds up to be a snail buffet.

Lessen the feedings to 4 times a week and keep up the baiting and the numbers will decrease.


----------



## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Hey, the topic got jumbled. The one under this one was the first!


----------



## antibabes (Dec 21, 2011)

Hi, i am having trouble controlling the amount of snails in my tank, i have 2 assassin snails to keep the numbers down, however suddenly out of nowhere i had more than i could count, the assassins dont effect there number, and even after fishing 50+ out, theres still more than i can count in there.

I have 21 fish in a 60 litre tank, and feed them enough for them to nom everything in a few seconds, leaving just a couple of pellets for my corys. 

any ideas what else i can do to control them, id like to avoid chemicals so i dont upset the fish

Thanks


----------



## InsaneIchthyology (Apr 8, 2012)

When I had that problem I got a loach. I think any loach will work, but I can't remember what kind I had, but it definitely took care of the snails.


----------



## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Generally it's not a good idea to get a fish to take care of a problem like snails or algae. When snails are first introduced to a tank, their population is going to explode (this is just simple population dynamics), but they are going to hit a point where resources run out. Then the population will drop to a stable level. 

Manual removal of snails is the best way, but you have to posses the stomach to kill them. Put a piece of lettuce in the tank and the snails should be all over it in the morning. Just toss out the lettuce and you take away a large chunk of the population. 

Depending on what kind of snails you have, removing them will actually do more harm than good. The trumpet snails that have the really long shells are very beneficial to a tank. They burrow in the substrate and prevent pockets of toxic gas from forming. They will eat algae off the walls, but they only do so at night. I purposefully introduce these guys into a tank because of all their benefits. For pond snails and ramshorn snails, I have found they are great at removing excess algae which is very helpful in an establishing tank.


----------



## antibabes (Dec 21, 2011)

Thanks guys, seems after i turned the lights out for the night cycle, the snails all went to the surface bar a few, just scooped em off the glass and added them to the tub of others id fished out, from what i can see theres now a manageable amount for my assassin snails to feast on, just need to dispose of my tub of 50+ snails


----------



## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Post in the classifieds- someone might pay shipping for them.


----------



## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Puffer fish owners might buy them.
I got a little tadpole (pond) snail. I want to squish him.. but he's actually cleaning the algae off my tank that I'm too lazy to clean (unlike the lazy rabbit snail). xD


----------



## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I don't understand the logic of removing snails.:hmm: They are there at their current population because they are eating "stuff" that needs to be broken down, and in doing this they are helping the bacteria. If you remove them, you are removing a link in the natural chain of a healthy aquarium.;-)


----------

