Help with snail infestation

[Caesar]

not sure if this is section this should go in, but thought that plants are the most common cause of this would be best placed here. The problem is i set up a 20 gallon tank about three months ago theres not many fish in it, but snails got in with the plants i took precautions with washing plants etc and now the snails are getting a real problem far to many are getting worse. I syphon of lots of them when i change water but there is so many small ones that its so hard to keep up. i thought about buying a fish that would eat them but don't really want to introduce any more fish. Please has anybody any tips or ideas which might help me get this under control, its very frustrating

[joeyttk]

dose a solution call "snail killer" ? We can get those from local fish shop

[Shadow]

note that you need to turn off your filter when you want to dose any snail killer solution. The solution also kill beneficial bacterial as well as shrimps.

You can temporary put 1 or 2 puffer fish.

[juggler]

Nowadays I use Khuli Loaches. I used to engage Glass Shrimps (or Ghost Shrimps/ Feeder Shrimps). They eat snails as well as scavenge leftover food that would otherwise be eaten by the snails.

[samuelgoh]

same as juggler, i turned to loaches, in my case, the horseface loaches!
i added 2 in my snail infested 3 ft tank! Next day you can see LOADS OF EMPTY SHELLS lying around!
Nowadays I can barely see any snails crawling around, so the loaches do not really have any target to feed on. Instead of snails, now they fight for food with my L-numbers! haha

[Caesar]

i didnt want to introduce anymore fish, but i have been looking at khuli loaches. They have them in my local shop, kind of nice looking fish a bit different. Are they happy alone or would they rather be in a group of them

[Quixotic]

No problems keeping Pangio kuhlii alone, but they will definitely do better in groups as they are regarious fishes. However, in terms of removing snails, your mileage may vary. Mine never remove any snails.

There are other methods that don't use fish, I don't quite remember the details though. I think they use pet bottles and saucers as traps. Try doing a search on "snail" using AQ's search function.

The major contributer to snail infestation is the availability of food. Feeding less to your fishes and removing the snails manually may help to keep their numbers in check. This is what I did for my 3 feet tank.

[illumnae]

wouldn't the use of loaches be a bad idea for planted tanks? i've heard they were very vigorous substrate diggers

[Quixotic]

Depending on the species.

Slender/long/slim/flat/small loaches are generally okay with planted tanks, but may occassionally uproot plants if plants are new planted/not established in the first place, or for those that are not rooted, e.g riccia.

Mileage will vary with larger ones like clown loaches.

[illumnae]

Depending on the species.

Slender/long/slim/flat/small loaches are generally okay with planted tanks, but may occassionally uproot plants if plants are new planted/not established in the first place, or for those that are not rooted, e.g riccia.

Mileage will vary with larger ones like clown loaches.

that's good news so the pygmy chain loach and kuhlii loach would be safe loaches to try and control snails with in an established planted tank?

[Puffer]

Which types of snails are you referring to? If they are those small dark coloured common ones and the ring-shaped ones, then I think the best way is still by introducing puffer fish. One mini one will do the job for you. I've tried loaches such as khuli, Clown and horsefaced but the effect varies as Quixotic has mentioned. Loaches will dig up the substrates, mess up newly planted plants, and even make the water cloudy. Perhaps they really do the job by eating the eggs and leftovers etc but small live snails they don't touch. Another way is to use the trap method by placing some food in a trap container during light-off to lure the snails into the container. This is one of the most effective ways in dealing with Malayan Trumpet Snails. Using chemicals such as 'snails killer' will have detrimental effects on other flauna especially shrimps in your tank so you've got to be very careful. This is just what I've experienced and to share with you.

[Caesar]

the snails are just the dark colored common ones, there is also one trumpet snail which i am happy to stay. I would not no were to put puffer after his work is done. found an idea were you use a small plastic bottle and invert top by cutting of and turning in, then placing some food into it and when snails go in they cannot get back out( i forgot you have to put small bars over top so fish cannot get in). Am going to attempt this idea lets hope it works. I have been thinking also about the excess food, at first i thought no it cant be that because mostly feed live food, but i have recently bought 3 corydoras and they have been particularly hard to feed. I bought pellets which i drop in for them some times, Well they turn powdery and when i try to syphon the excess up i think some of this is getting away. I think i should probably start a new thread on feeding corys

[Quixotic]

If I remember correctly, the other method would involve inverting a saucer and leaving a piece of cucumber in there. The next morning, you should be able to find plenty of snails in the saucer.

P.S. Corydoras aren't actually difficult to feed, probably some fine tuning needed with your feeding regime.

[palm38]

after reading all the proposals, i still prefer in the introduction on one or two puffer fish....easier.

[gwabbie]

a puffer fish would clear up ur tank pretty fast esp when they are hungry

[palm38]

which type of puffer fish? any pictures?

[gwabbie]

i guess most puffer fish would readily eat snails. and it depends on how big ur snails are.
if they are those tiny ones then can get smaller puffer fish, if like ramshorn snails then get slightly bigger ones

[palm38]

coolzzz...thanks....

[tcy81]

you can get a mini puffer to eat your snails.
thats what i usually do.

[Quixotic]

after reading all the proposals, i still prefer in the introduction on one or two puffer fish....easier.

Just a question, after the snails are gotten rid of, what do you intend to do with the puffer?

i guess most puffer fish would readily eat snails. and it depends on how big ur snails are.
if they are those tiny ones then can get smaller puffer fish, if like ramshorn snails then get slightly bigger ones

What are the "smaller" puffer fish and "slightly bigger" ones?

For the uninitiated, only the dwarf puffer, Carinotetraodon travancoricus, is of freshwater origin, while the larger ones are mostly brackish water fishes (and the even larger ones are unsuitable for planted tanks). So if anyone is intending to keep one, do find out what these are and their exact requirements.