Infestation of snails...

[beetlejuice403]

Hi all,

need some advices on the above problem (didn't view it as a problem until lately my wife & mum commented that the snails' population is a bit getting out of hands, something like the news/ case of 90+ foreign workers living in a unit in Singapore...)

Had thrown in 1 to 2 pieces of Ramshorn Snails & some cute common snails into my 1-feet cube tank about few months ago to solve algae problems & they were really great!! However, lately, seem to find many new offsprings (in fact, so much that the population seems to overshadow my Cherries, Sakuras & Taiwan Shrimps...) & fear even more in the near future (then becomes a planted SNAIL tank rather than SHRIMP tank... )

So how do I solve this problem? [Not very keen in using those snail 'poison' as I do not wish to harm them... Hence, also not very likely to 'squash' their shells to kill them...] Therefore, thought of giving/ selling them off cheaply [to compensate for the many Algae wafers that they'd competed with my Shrimps... ] to bros in here who might have use for them to get rid of algae problem in their tanks (pass on for good use rather than to take away their lives) ...

So, next few questions are: How do I lure them from all over the tank to catch them? What (food) do I need to use? How long roughly will it take?

Thanks in advance for all replies/ suggestions...

Stressful (read as 'Snail-ful) beetlejuice403

[Verminator]

I find most snails come to the surface in the dead of the night, you'll theorectically be able to scoop vast quantities of them up then. I've also read in another thread somewhere on here this fact too. So theres two people who vouce for this method. Thing is, you prepared to get up at 4am to go snail baiting hehe

Another recomendation i'd personally rate very highly, but more than likely unprobably due to tank size. Clown loach such as the one in my avatar. Phenominal snail eaters from my experience. I only have to drop one in my tank and within 5 minutes they've got the scent of it and dug it out the substrate. Maybe you could 'loan' on off of a pal perhaps? I don't know, even for short term, i found mine were extremely good.

My two cents, hope this helps to a degree.

[Biotopeshop]

Hi all,

need some advices on the above problem (didn't view it as a problem until lately my wife & mum commented that the snails' population is a bit getting out of hands, something like the news/ case of 90+ foreign workers living in a unit in Singapore...)

Had thrown in 1 to 2 pieces of Ramshorn Snails & some cute common snails into my 1-feet cube tank about few months ago to solve algae problems & they were really great!! However, lately, seem to find many new offsprings (in fact, so much that the population seems to overshadow my Cherries, Sakuras & Taiwan Shrimps...) & fear even more in the near future (then becomes a planted SNAIL tank rather than SHRIMP tank... )

So how do I solve this problem? [Not very keen in using those snail 'poison' as I do not wish to harm them... Hence, also not very likely to 'squash' their shells to kill them...] Therefore, thought of giving/ selling them off cheaply [to compensate for the many Algae wafers that they'd competed with my Shrimps... ] to bros in here who might have use for them to get rid of algae problem in their tanks (pass on for good use rather than to take away their lives) ...

So, next few questions are: How do I lure them from all over the tank to catch them? What (food) do I need to use? How long roughly will it take?

Thanks in advance for all replies/ suggestions...

Stressful (read as 'Snail-ful) beetlejuice403

Hi,

You might want to try this:
http://fishaliciousfish.blogspot.com...-snail-to.html

Anetome helena, a snail-eating snail, while not reproducing itself as quickly as the rest.

Regards

Thio

[illumnae]

alternatively, certain wild bettas and gouramis do snack on snails as well. I've personally tried out Betta channoides and Parosphromenus sp. and found them both effective in snail control

I understand you don't wish to harm the snails, but unless you're willing to scoop out snails every week/day for the rest of your tank's lifespan, it's probably better to put in some form of snail controlling critter in your tank. these creatures reproduce extremely quickly and are very resilient.

[Aquaculture]

Prevention is better than cure. My newly bought plants are soaked in a weak mixture of bleech and water. After which I soak in pure water... so far don't have complains of any snails.

[beetlejuice403]

Thanks verminator, will do so tonite at 4am & update again on my catch... LOL!! As for the Clown Loach method, don't think will do it as afraid that might cause bio overload in my 1-feet cube tank already with many shrimps & 2 ottos...

I find most snails come to the surface in the dead of the night, you'll theorectically be able to scoop vast quantities of them up then. I've also read in another thread somewhere on here this fact too. So theres two people who vouce for this method. Thing is, you prepared to get up at 4am to go snail baiting hehe

Another recomendation i'd personally rate very highly, but more than likely unprobably due to tank size. Clown loach such as the one in my avatar. Phenominal snail eaters from my experience. I only have to drop one in my tank and within 5 minutes they've got the scent of it and dug it out the substrate. Maybe you could 'loan' on off of a pal perhaps? I don't know, even for short term, i found mine were extremely good.

My two cents, hope this helps to a degree.

Thanks Biotopeshop for the link, the site stated the intro of the snail is mainly to counter MTS, wonder if it'll be effective against Ramshorn though... Also, will tank later be infested with this Anetome helena snail instead?

Hi,

You might want to try this:
http://fishaliciousfish.blogspot.com...-snail-to.html

Anetome helena, a snail-eating snail, while not reproducing itself as quickly as the rest.

Regards

Thio

Bro illumnae, if possible, will try not to harm the ramshorn snails as they are also a form of living organisms too... Don't mind scooping them out over a period of time if I know how to handle them after scooping them out... [if can sell off cheaply in the marketplace, maybe can become a PASSIVE source of income for me also!!! Others make a living by breeding high quality fishes/ CRSs, I make enough to buy kopi breeding RAMSHORN SNAILS?!? Who knows, may even set up an online company selling them & even have the opportunity to get my company listed on SGX in the years to come... ]

alternatively, certain wild bettas and gouramis do snack on snails as well. I've personally tried out Betta channoides and Parosphromenus sp. and found them both effective in snail control

I understand you don't wish to harm the snails, but unless you're willing to scoop out snails every week/day for the rest of your tank's lifespan, it's probably better to put in some form of snail controlling critter in your tank. these creatures reproduce extremely quickly and are very resilient.

Bro Aquaculture, think it was due to my laziness that I did not soak my newly bought plants in bleach before introducing into my tanks... Initially find these snails cute & funny to watch, now things are getting out of hands (tanks)... Sigh!!

Prevention is better than cure. My newly bought plants are soaked in a weak mixture of bleech and water. After which I soak in pure water... so far don't have complains of any snails.