Water snail invasion!

The_Matelot

Hi all. I recently added some live plants to my fish tank to help keep the water oxygenated in the hotter days and i have an army of snails growing now!

Has anyone had this as well and are they harmful? Or should i just leave them?

Cheers! :beer:

Mice_Elf

Are these Ramshorn Snails?

They are not harmful per se, but they can upset the balance of your tank as all they do is poo. If it's viable, a couple of Clown Loach fish will feed off the snails, but otherwise, keep taking the snails out & cleaning off the eggs from the filters. It does take a long time!

If you just leave them, they will multiply really quite fast.

Make sure to rinse off plants really well before adding them to your tank, especially if the plants were purchased from a well-known Pet shop... Have had numerous issues with plants purchased from this particular chain.

Froglet

http://forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/showthread.php?t=60775&highlight=snail+invasion

get rid,they are a real pest.Took me 2 years to finally get them under control,i got clown loach in the end,but you need a big tank.There are smaller fish that will do the job too,but assassin snails are the best idea.

juliebunny

Hello this happened to me - you didn't mention which shop but mine came from PAH. I went back to tell them and they didn't give a t*ss. Said they just came with the plants - will not buy plants from them again!

I then looked more closed at the tanks in the shop and they were INFESTED with snails. I've bought plants from garden centre shops loads of times and never brought snails home.

I am currently watching around 5 crawl around the tank. One thing I read to control them is make sure you don't over feed the fish.

Are clown loaches suitable for cold water tanks?

Are assassin snails a bigger snail that will eat the smaller snails? Won't they then breed too? Aargh I find snails repulsive!

Thanks for the tip on the filter - forgot about that.

Er - silly question but what do people do with the snails they pull out? I hate killing anything....maybe I should offer them back to PAH!

mj12_2

You don't want snails, their defecate will upset your water chemistry like the poster mentioned above.

IMO the best way to get rid of them is a loach of some sort, clown loach will be ok at room temperature ie around 17C+ but if your tank is true cold water they wont, use weather loach instead?

Froglet

juliebunny wrote: »

Hello this happened to me - you didn't mention which shop but mine came from PAH. I went back to tell them and they didn't give a t*ss. Said they just came with the plants - will not buy plants from them again!

I then looked more closed at the tanks in the shop and they were INFESTED with snails. I've bought plants from garden centre shops loads of times and never brought snails home.

I am currently watching around 5 crawl around the tank. One thing I read to control them is make sure you don't over feed the fish.

Are clown loaches suitable for cold water tanks?

Are assassin snails a bigger snail that will eat the smaller snails? Won't they then breed too? Aargh I find snails repulsive!

Thanks for the tip on the filter - forgot about that.

Er - silly question but what do people do with the snails they pull out? I hate killing anything....maybe I should offer them back to PAH!

As a vegetarian,so do I but i made an exception with them! I crushed them on the side of the glass and my catfish would then eat them.What size is your tank?I would not have clown loach again,they get very large and need to be in a shoal of at least 4.And they are definitely only a tropical fish.

So unless you have a heater keeping a constant temperature in your tank,which if you have goldfish,you don't need,then you won't be able to have them.Not sure about weather loach.Worth asking on the Practical fishkeeping site i gave a link to earlier.

I think assassin snails are probably tropical ,the tiny ones i had a problem with were definitely only a tropical variety.

juliebunny

mj12 wrote: »

You don't want snails, their defecate will upset your water chemistry like the poster mentioned above.

IMO the best way to get rid of them is a loach of some sort, clown loach will be ok at room temperature ie around 17C+ but if your tank is true cold water they wont, use weather loach instead?

I have no idea about fish keeping or temperature etc. I inherited my small fish tank with a few small fish and goldfish. Goldfish now died so I'm down to 3 small silver and one orangey fish - I have NO idea what they are and they won't co-operate for a photo!

Froglet wrote: »

As a vegetarian,so do I but i made an exception with them! I crushed them on the side of the glass and my catfish would then eat them.What size is your tank?I would not have clown loach again,they get very large and need to be in a shoal of at least 4.And they are definitely only a tropical fish.

So unless you have a heater keeping a constant temperature in your tank,which if you have goldfish,you don't need,then you won't be able to have them.Not sure about weather loach.Worth asking on the Practical fishkeeping site i gave a link to earlier.

I think assassin snails are probably tropical ,the tiny ones i had a problem with were definitely only a tropical variety.

I really don't want to acquire any more fish - don't have a catfish and think my tank is too small - it's about 2 feet by 1 foot (I mean my foot size rather than regular feet!!) I've got a fish pond I would like to concentrate on when my indoor fish go to the big fishy tank in the sky - they must be years old by now - hardy beggers!

I could crush them up and put in the fishpond - would the goldfish eat them? I could just end up with a pond infestation then!!

I once collected a load of snails from my garden and put them in a tupperware container.. I meant to go back later and release them in the wild (!) later that night. I totally forgot and a week later opened up the container to find they had canabalised each other and of course were all dead - i felt awful!

Froglet

If you have an outdoor pond,i can't understand why you didn't put the goldfish in it.That is why the ones you had died,they would have been way overcrowded in a tank that size.Unless you didn't have the pond then of course.

If you can identify the fish you have left they might be able to go in as well.Unless they are fancies,they will be fine.This is the right time of year as well.Then it won't matter about the snails.No,don't drop crushed ones in, it will pollute the pond.

Can you describe them a bit better,or find a google photo of goldfish varieties.The silver ones just sound like goldfish that have lost their colour through possibly poor water quality.Are they goldfish shaped?

The_Matelot

They are doing my tree in. And yes i got them from PAH. Funnily enough i have bought fish from there before and they have died with in a day of getting in my tank. I have checked the ph and it is fine. I treat the water regularly as well as clean and 40% change of water. But everytime they aernt interested. I pulled the snails out and put them in a cup of hot water. So this clown loach? My tank is medium size (50 gallons, i think!). I have a small school of male guppies, two pearl mollies and a small golden loach all ready. What do people think about adding one? To much?

Froglet

My tank is 66 galls and my clowns have grown so much i would like to rehome them.You woud lose just one anyway,they need to be in a shoal.So no,not an option.However there is I believe a smaller version,i will take a look and see if i can find out.Meanwhile the assassin snails do get good reports of working well.You would only need one i believe.

By the way i know you hate them but putting them in hot water is pretty cruel,even for snails.Crush them,at least it's quick.

juliebunny

Froglet wrote: »

If you have an outdoor pond,i can't understand why you didn't put the goldfish in it.That is why the ones you had died,they would have been way overcrowded in a tank that size.Unless you didn't have the pond then of course.

If you can identify the fish you have left they might be able to go in as well.Unless they are fancies,they will be fine.This is the right time of year as well.Then it won't matter about the snails.No,don't drop crushed ones in, it will pollute the pond.

I tried to take a pic of the small fish - what a disaster - obviously they won't stay still then the flash reflected!!

Can you describe them a bit better,or find a google photo of goldfish varieties.The silver ones just sound like goldfish that have lost their colour through possibly poor water quality.Are they goldfish shaped?

The goldfish lived for a few years - they were small and only 2 of them - I heard they grow to the size of the tank - is that a myth?? I thought about putting them in the fishpond but worried that would kill them as it's so cold...or they may get diseases from my outdoor pond? They were quite tough. I drove them home over 200 miles in my car to bring them home after I inherited them.

The wee ones are definitely not goldfish. I will try and find out what they are. I would love to liberate them to the pond as long as the big goldfish and frogs won't eat them! Only other issue is that pond need re-lining.... I tried to take a photo and failed miserably! :rotfl::rotfl: They kept swimming away :rotfl::rotfl: