Reply With QuoteYou need to tell us more about your tank, example are you using any lights, co2, ferts etc. Than we might be able to help you.
Algae and snail problem
I have direct sunlight to my tank for the entire afternoon everyday. I tried feeding lesser, to avoid excessive foods. but still i get tonnes of algae on my glass. i have to kepp scrubbing them off and snails are appearingi keep loaches, cause i heard they eat snails but they arent..
anything i can do that i wallet-friendly to get rid of them?
(l)(l)4 Echinodorus leaves(l)(l)
You need to tell us more about your tank, example are you using any lights, co2, ferts etc. Than we might be able to help you.
New 2ft Project Coming Up
Aquascaping since 2006-Present
For snail problem, puffer fish is effective. Get those mini type, it wont eat your fish as mentioned in articles as the fish doesn't fit the mouth. Unless you're trying to breed shrimps...then, cant use puffer.
Algae problem..not very good at it. But from what i know, increase of water changes frequency, water flow rate and CO2 may help.
With direct sunlight everyday, doubt you can get rid of them, maybe only able minimize the growth.
Your tank needs to be fully planted.
Healthy plant growth is the best way to avoid algae.
What type of algae are you having?
Pls give more details like tank size, type of subatrate, co2, fertlizers, lights, what plants are there etc.
the problem is sunlight.
with algae, prevention is better than cure. if can, put blinds or curtain to limit the sunlight otherwise u'll be playing catch-up all the time.
or u could find a piece of dark cloth and do a "tank black-out" for a few days... downside is if u have other plants, u have to make separate arrangements for them before u do the black-out.
for snails, there's the extreme way, which is complete tank tear-down, which is dangerous or to introduce suitable predators.
- Dwarf Puffer: Very good snail eater, small sized, but well known fin-nippers. not good tank mates. if u got slow moving fishes or those with big fins, beware. this bugger is a mean one.
- Helena Anetome: aka "Assassin snail". available from good LFS, last sighted at Y618. they eat snails, but not very quickly. if u have an outbreak, these guys won't cure it unless u put a lot in, which is just swapping 1 snail problem for another. Good thing is that they won't disturb your fishes. i have 2 in my tank to control the pond snail population... and they're cute
Here's a pic of my assassin snail feasting on a pond snail
Hi Detritus, does your assassin snail reproduce? mine seems to be reproducing non stop... keep seeing tiny assassin snails..
Isn't it worse? Bringing down a population, but introducing another.Originally Posted by daphne12
u're very luckythese snails are not hermaphrodites so u must have at least 1 male and 1 female...
the fish shop aunty once offered to buy from me if they breed
so far, mine doesn't breed.
this one lays 1 egg at 1 time... and need 1 male and 1 female to breed. normal "pest snails" are hermaphrodites and lay eggs by the dozens...
u tell me which is worse
Some loaches eat snails. Some don't. Myself, I use Botia Striata to great effect.
colin | The Wilderness and Forest | FTS
You put one Dwarf Puffer Fish into your tank and snails will be gone really fast.!
VIPER
i keep quite a few species of loaches in my tank but the snails arent going away.
thanks for your suggestions!
i keep a 4ft tank (meant for marine actually)
no CO2, filled with plants, tetras, elephantnose, loaches and angelfish.
you can see an older pic on aquascape (page 2, i think)
mm, im a newbie in planted tanks.
its just green algae.
i change my water once a week.
algae is reducing after i introduced carbon. but snails are still around.
its worth devoting some attention to... i hate snails... their help in eating up the waste in the tank is far exceeded by my utter dislike for their unsightliness...
the most pesky kinds like pond snails and MTS are damn hard to get rid off...
i had to do a total tank tear-down and sun all my gravel for 3 days before i cleared my previous pond snail infestation...
they came back when i introduced new plants... and i can't tear down my tank every time they come back! argh!
now i just let my helena snail eat them... i hate them!
Use Botia Striata. Believe me. They are good and wipe out all snails.
colin | The Wilderness and Forest | FTS
I usually remove my snails without the need to resort of puffers, getting bioload to manage your snails or algae is one of those things i've never recommended to anyone in the forums.
Snails can be removed during your water changes, they spawn more due to unfinished food. So cutting down on feeding and managing your livestock is the way to go.
As for direct sunlight, can't be help unless you either relocate your tank or get curtains like me. Once you get algae, it takes 16 weeks of 2x water changes per week to rectify them. Of course, for me its easy since i've only stock my tank with less than <6x fauna in a 1FT when moving them to a 10L temp tank.
didnt do anything about my snails until something happened last night! like over 100+ snails covered my tank! my huge driftwood was totally covered in snails! help help! puffers dont work. i bought 3 puffers but they hardly clean up! (theyre really cute though)
i feed less food now and i do waterchanges once a week. algae has been removed about 90% so thats great, thanks guys... but my snails!!!!!
anybody with something i can use??
Puffer fishes are even better at snails. Leave them inside. They will finish up the snails. Please give them some time
colin | The Wilderness and Forest | FTS
Hi All, new here.
Where can I get Botia Striata?
Visited Qianhu today, they dun have.
Hope someone can advise.
TIA. Cheers!
Same as torque6, I manually remove any snails I find. New plants are inspected for snails and eggs before they're added to the tank, and any that slip past are either taken out, or (rarely) crushed and fed to a fish as a treat. Hemostats can help tremendously for removal in areas you can't reach. I don't wait until water changes though, they're taken out on sighting. Using this method I haven't seen a snail in weeks now, even though I've been adding new plants off and on for the past few months.
If the population's heavy you can float a piece of lettuce or cucumber in your tank, or put it beneath an inverted plate on the bottom. The snails will accumulate on it and you can remove it the next day, then repeat. Probably stating the obvious, but don't forget to replace it each day so it doesn't decay in your tank.
Think carefully before adding any fauna to get rid of them so you don't end up with unwanted fish, too high of a bioload or nipped fins. It's probably best to stay away from any snail-killing chemicals as well since most contain high levels of copper which loach are very sensitive to. And keep up with the small feedings, all food should be gone within 1-3 minutes as per common recommendation- I aim for 1 min.
Hope this helps and that your algae is still under control, IMO that's the worst of these two pests
Last edited by Czyne; 13th Mar 2009 at 06:09.
yes. I pick any snails out whenever i see them.
This is the best way to control their population, though is rather irritating. But at least the effort is paid off.
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