Snail Problem~!~!

[k3nni]

Yo bros of AQ ,
i got a snail problem. i have read afew related thread .but they are not the solutions to my problem .as i have heard alot of pple use puffer fish and clown loach to eat the snails to slove the problem . wat i have is a 2 feet shrimp tank with approximately 100++ shrimps in it .recently i notice i have a snail outbreak in that tank ,i tried using cucumber but the snails doesn't seems to be attracted to the cucumber ,i tried putting a blue eye puffer fish ,it didn't seems to work either instead the puffer end up attacking my shrimps instead is there any bro who have other alternative to my problem ? please help mi as i am still quite new to this hobby ,and dun really know wat to do

[nostalgia]

not too sure what's a blue eye puffer fish. A fig 8 puffer is quite an effective snail eater! It can be identified by the "imprinted number 8" on it when the fish is viewed from the top.

[Justikanz]

What snails did you have? It is very tough to get rid of snails in a shrimp tank... Maybe you can stop feeding your shrimps for a couple of weeks to starve the snails... The shrimps can do without feeding during the period if your tank is heavily planted...

[barmby]

I have very good experience with Botia striata (Zebra loach). If you don't believe me. Believe plantbrain

These guys are high on crack. If they have any left please send me
some(crack that is), I need good stuff . I have had a school for 8 years.
Never did they uproot nor touch a plant. They are likely the best of the
Botia, even far more suitable than the highly prized clown loach. They love
snails to no end. I think I got my first ones back in the late 1970's. They
are a perfect plant fish if you don't like snails or need someone to feed
the excess snails to.
Regards,
Tom Barr
--

One of the best snail killers out there is Botia striata (Zebra loach). They
stay very small(3-4" max and not as chunky nor as aggressive as many of the
other loaches). They also make a great schooling loach for smaller tanks. A
clown loach will take some time to grow....depending on what you feed it.
I've fed mine well and they get 6 inches in two-three years in a big tank.
In a more starved plant tank they got about 4 inches or so.
But they are happier with more food I would be as well.
--

I think some clowns would be the best perhaps for control rather than
eradication. B yo-yo(loachata)/skunk(morleti) are good at it & they will
ignore the MTS's every so often. Thing is......fish are not all exactly the
same(like the SAE thread-every one I had, liked to chew on Rotala wallichii,
but a few folks seem to think otherwise-please send me some of yours ).
But this notion is certainly true to some extent. Some fish can get along
with snails without killing them off but most loaches like to eat at least a
few. Some will take out the whole lot but some will remove most but not
quite all of them. MTS's seem to be the most difficult to get rid of for
most snail predators....that trap door and all and they hide in the gravel
better. All the loaches will go after snails to some extent.
I have found the B. striata to be the overall best snail reaper. They are
very active and nice to seen during the day(unlike many loaches), not as
skittish as clowns, stay small in length and width(under 4 inches) as so not
to disturb plants, very nice schooling fish, excellent looks and
personality, being very much an ideal planted tank fish........if you don't
like snails................... any pretty loach that comes to the front of
the glass for most of the day in a planted tank gets my vote.
B. dario is another very nice fish but fight amongst themselves and are
somewhat more aggressive but stay small and hide more. B striata is the best
for me.
FWIW,
Regards,
TomBarr

[benny]

Shrimps and puffer does not go together.

What type of snails do you have? Ramshorn? Malayan trumpet? The most surefire way is to turn out the lights and wait for them to come out. Once they do, switch on the light and do a manual removal. Look out for snail eggs and remove immediately.

Alternatively, Colin's suggestion with loaches should be a good consideration.

Cheers,

[juggler]

Actually you can feed less.

In my non-shrimp tanks, I have ghost shrimps which helps to keep ramshorn snails under control. The shrimps help to eat leftover food and sometimes take ramshorn for a meal.

Not sure if ghost shrimps will eat your other shrimps though. Loaches - again may eat shrimp as I read before. Maybe Khuli Loach is small enough???

[k3nni]

Wow ....so many replies!!

Thanks people for the help and the information provide. I have the cherry snail, you know those small and flat ones? Got tonnes of them. Lol my shrimp tank is like a snail factory now Even the shrimp don't breed so fast.

Benny: there are far too many.their spawning is too fast. The eggs are everywhere in the tank. Everytime I kill them the next day they seems to come back in full force. Seems like a army of snails that cannot be defeated.

Barmby: zebra botia is the one you showed me? The one at Qian Hu during the last excursion right? Is it a loach too? Will the zebra botia eat my shrimplet too? I heard from Mr Chan (Nature Aquariam aka NA) saying that they will actually eat shrimplet too, so I didn't dare to try it.

[Justikanz]

Reduce feeding... That helps my red ramshorn population from exploding to dangerous level. Or you can contact Stormhawk and ask him if he still needs them. He loves ramshorn snails.

[zhiz22]

Reduce feeding... That helps my red ramshorn population from exploding to dangerous level. Or you can contact Stormhawk and ask him if he still needs them. He loves ramshorn snails.

hey now you admit you have a just less than daangerous level of ramshore in your tanks.

harvest some for my newt!

[Justikanz]

That's another tank, they are red ramshorns in a no-fish-shrimp-only tank. So, their population (almost) grew like siao... Those I accidentally gave you are from my main tank...

[zhiz22]

wahahah is ok
think i may wanna try feeding my newt with red ramshorn snails. any more donors?

[barmby]

Barmby: zebra botia is the one you showed me? The one at Qian Hu during the last excursion right? Is it a loach too? Will the zebra botia eat my shrimplet too? I heard from Mr Chan (Nature Aquariam aka NA) saying that they will actually eat shrimplet too, so I didn't dare to try it.

All Yes-es. You've got all the answers already.