Snails

[rogerboi]

Snails start appearing in my tank. I don't have any idea how it was introduced into the tank but there's a high chance of possibility that it came together with the plants. So, do they actually help by eating the algae or cleaning the glass of the tanks? Or will they start mating and have a 'bloom' in population till it infest my tank? I don't have any idea what species of snail it is. It just look like the snails we get to see after the rain on the ground which usually end up being crushed. But it is much smaller in size.

[AquaObsession]

I do not personally have any issues with snails (reasonable number).
They will eat the algae and plants and will contribute to waste. But the rate of them eating plants is quite low. Should you want to remove them, here are some tips.

Remove them manually. Some tips, usually they will come out on glass surface after lights is off for some time. Remove them as they come near the surface. It all depends on how big/deep is your tank. Or you can try to attrach them with a piece of cucumber, when they all come to eat it, you can just remove them.

Other methods (that I have not tried) are using solutions sold in shops (careful if you have shrimps).

Cheers, Christophe

[rogerboi]

oh yah .. talking abt shrimps.. will it still be ok with the shrimps and snails cohabitating together? i am intending to get shrimps today. But if the snails will cause death of shrimps directly or indirectly, then will have to remove them.

[AquaObsession]

No, they will cohabit nicely.

Cheers.

[rogerboi]

Thanks for that information. these are some pictures of the snails. ID it if possible.

[jacian]

The best way to control the snail population is to control your feeding. A bloom in the population usually indicates overfeeding.

[mercuryscio]

I did a search a week back about snails and realise the best way to control is to get a puffer, bgt one last week for 0.80 and within 2 days 30 odd snails all gone, just take note to buy only 1 as the puffer can be a tad aggressive.

[rogerboi]

woo .. that's nice. definitely i will try once the whole thing get out of control .

[tcy81]

I ususally used a mini puffer fish to do the job.

[jacian]

Yes, the puffer is definitely a good way to control the snails. Problem is do you intend to keep the puffer for good. You will need to worry about what to feed the puffer after the snail population is wiped out.

[Freshman]

You can consider
- T-loan a dwarf puffer to do the snail killing job. But you have to net out your shrimps first, else the puffer might just murder everything in sight.
- manually remove them using hands.
- DIY a snail trap
- separate the shrimps into a floating net then starve the snails

Btw, I'm willing to adopt any caught/trapped snails if you happen to live near AMK also. I'm a snail lover. Hehe

[cairocks]

I used to have a malayan trumpet snail(mts) problem. They can start off with very few snails but boom till totally out of control. Once I caught over 300 snails from my 2ft tank over 4 days and still can find quite a number of them crawling around after lights off. They dig into the substrate and the puffer simply couldn't reach them. I thought the puffer is doing its job as the snails were all hiding in the sand when the puffer is around till about a month later, I found the puffer extremely skinny and died a couple of days later, then the mts all start appearing again. And for 2-3 years, my crown loach does not regard mts as food. Thankfully, about a year ago, my crown loach suddenly decided that mts is a delicacy and hunt for them aggressively. And loachs, unlike the puffer, will dig into the sand to look for mts. Since then, I never spotted any mts in my tank.

[dnsfpl]

i used to have this issue, i manually remove them

initially manage to remove 8-10
few days later removed less than 5
after a week less than 3
nowadays hardly see any, and hope not to see any

the key is to remove any insight everyday

[rogerboi]

i think i spotted some MTS today. I would like to adapt the cucumber method. but i don't know if i should soak in the whole slice of cucumber or tie it and leave it hanging maybe 1/4 below the water level? die die .. snails are appearing ..
Freshman, i don't live near ang mo kio, unable to pass u the snails when i caught them.
SOmething i don't understand is, all species of puffer will kill the shrimps or only the dwarf puffer?

[Freshman]

cucumber method? you mean using it as bait in your snail trap? if yes, I believe you need to rest it on the ground instead of hanging it.

Yes. from what i know, all puffer will kill shrimps.

* it's ok.. I will find go hunt for them in LFS/forums.

[rogerboi]

I'll get some cucumber and do it asap .. think MTS really come out really fast .. if i am not wrong .. mts appear to be white in colour and has a flat shell? unlike other snails we see right?

[Quixotic]

Flat shell? Nope, MTS has a conical shell.

[Verminator]

Just to add i think the best method is an army of clown loach. Luckily for me i actually planned on getting 4 clown loach so i was able to keep them happily without any fuss afterwards. But they devour snails, absolutely devoir them. I add them to my tank (about 20 a day), small ones about a cm big(ish) and they go nuts. They sniff them out, dig them out and then suck them out the shell. Protein for clown loach, add snails haha

[rogerboi]

if an army of clown loach .. then will it uproots ur plants? and furthermore, if once the snails are gone.. means i have to remove the clown loaches .. unfair to them . haha. I will put in more pictures to show u all the snails i have .. so far, i found 2 species. The one in the pictures in previous post and one of it is just a flat looking snails .. shapes of those fossil snails. if u all know what i meant.

[Verminator]

I'm aware of that. That was why i mentioned the fact that i actually wanted clown loach. There a great way of getting rid of them, but like you say i'd only recommend them if you plan on keeping them afterwards.

And yes, they are a pain for uprooting some plants, they dig like crazy