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Nuisance snails

ineke

By ineke
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ineke Shrimp Guru

ineke

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I have had a snail problem in my display tank for months.they are the small trumpet shaped snails that came in via a batch of plants that I obviously didn't quarantine properly. I have been baiting with veggies, squishing and removing as many as I can but have lost the war. I'm a bit worried about the number of snails I will have by the time I get home and wonder how to finally eradicate them from my tank. The moss is covered in them, I'm sure the substrate must be full of them . I'm hoping possibly less food in the tank while I'm gone may help reduce numbers but think probably that is wishful thinking.

So how do I get rid of the little blighters??? Apparently there has been an explosion of baby CRS over the few weeks I have been gone - daughter- inlaw said there are babies everywhere- so I need to do it safely. If I remove the plants and treat them with any snail products how long would it take for the plants to be safe to return to the tank ? Is my only real way of getting rid of them by catching the shrimp and cooking the soil? Any thoughts I would really like to get on top of them when I get back.

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OzShrimp Shrimp Guru

OzShrimp

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I brought a Sera snail trap last week for my ramshorn snails and found it to work very well although i think the ramshorn is the less useful snail to use them on given their tiny size.

The thing i like about it is the fact that the shrimp cant get into the trap :)

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KillieOrCory Shrimp Breeder

KillieOrCory

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Why are you so keen to get rid of the snails? I put them in all my tanks on purpose. They clean up extra food etc so very beneficial.

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ineke Shrimp Guru

ineke

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I don't mind a few snails but I have hundreds. At night they graze on the glass and it is covered with them.. I can't squish too many at a time in case I get an ammonia spike. I have been squishing about 50 a night and the shrimp love them but it doesn't seem to make a dent in them. I am worried they will completely over run the tank. I really hope by me not feeding for 7 weeks - just having 1 small feed a week with a few leaves in the tank - the numbers may drop. If I could control them it wouldn't be such an issue.

I have made traps for them which work OK - a coke bottle cut in half and inverted with cucumber or lettuce in it but I catch shrimp too.

I only have a problem in this tank, my other tanks have a few snails but they seem to stay under control, I bought some vallis which must have had eggs on it and he numbers sky rocketed. If I can't resolve it easily I am going to have to strip the tank and buy new soil but as it is my Aqua 980 it needs a lot of substrate which is a bummer because I only just recently topped it up with new soil. This time it would have to start from scratch. That is also why I asked if there is a safe way to use snail rid type chemicals on the plants and then how to make them safe again.

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KillieOrCory Shrimp Breeder

KillieOrCory

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I don't think there would be a 'safe' chemical as such. Even the ones that don't directly effect the shrimp would indirectly effect them; ie. if you have a massive snail die-off the rotting dead snails will increase the ammonia levels in the tank etc.

 

I used to have a container that sat on top of my tank. Everytime I was walking by the tank if there were any snails on the water level I would get them out and chuck them in this container. Overtime eliminated them from that tank. These were pond snails (which I don't like) and replaced them with red ramshorns.

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ineke Shrimp Guru

ineke

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I don't think there would be a 'safe' chemical as such. Even the ones that don't directly effect the shrimp would indirectly effect them; ie. if you have a massive snail die-off the rotting dead snails will increase the ammonia levels in the tank etc.

 

I used to have a container that sat on top of my tank. Everytime I was walking by the tank if there were any snails on the water level I would get them out and chuck them in this container. Overtime eliminated them from that tank. These were pond snails (which I don't like) and replaced them with red ramshorns.

  

I was more thinking of a separate container to put the plants in not in with the shrimp. I will have to be very pro active when I get home and see what damage I can do by removing them

That one looks interesting Oz I might look at it when I get back. The snails I have are like the little ones in with your CRS.

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OzShrimp Shrimp Guru

OzShrimp

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Oh then you have the same problem as me, Well the sera trap came with two food tablets, i left it in overnight and caught about 50 snails. My fear was the food would spill outinto the tank when i removed it but i didnt have that problem it stayed inside as i didnt want the shrimp eating it.

 

I tried some crab cuisine the second time and left in for two days and the snails didnt take to it aswell. I plan on putting in a piece of cucumber so hopefully attract them as i lost my other fish food tablet

 

the way it works is the little grey spike things inside lift up as the snails push into it but then they cant open it to get out 

:D

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smicko Shrimp Breeder

smicko

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Malaysian trumpet snails are hard to control as they give birth to live snails.

Personally i like them as they aerate the soil but when there is too many i put a piece of zucchini in the tank overnight, by the morning I can't see the zucchini for snails and just scoop it out with a net.

Added bonus is a little treat for the shrimp.

When you squash them try to aim for the larger ones to try and slow the breeding cycle.

Cheers mick

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