# anyone know a good way to get rid of snails ?



## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

i bought a nice looking plant a week ago i cleaned it in a bleach mix like i do for all my plants before i put them in my tanks & today i seen there are a bunch of little snails all over my 55gal that before had no snails in it other then my 1 assason . anyone know a good way to get rid of them or if any one wants to come & try to collect them all you are more then welcome to them all . there are small white round ones & ones that look like the pic i managed to get of it as i put it in my breeders net 
i do have 1 assason snail in my 55tank but hes not eating them fast enuff as there is quit a lot of them in the tank right now

here is the pic


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Any loach will quickly rid a tank of radix snails (like the one in the picture).

Respectfully,

Stuart


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

@CRS Fan ty i will look in to getting a loach


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## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

clown loaches will do the job...bye bye snails!


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## Flear (Dec 8, 2012)

dont' get any loach, there's only a handful that care at all about snails

for small sized loaches, ... the zebra loach
there's 4 loaches, all about 4" adult size that are suitable (no loaches smaller i found from my search)

if you remove the loaches that are endangered
if you remove the loaches that are not community friendly
all you have left is the zebra loach that will eat snails

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you could get dwarf puffer fish, ... while about 1" adult, they are not community friendly.

you could get different snails, ... the assassin snail, while it's another snail it eats other snails and it reproduces very slowly
the spixie snails, doesn't burrow like the assassin snail, but will also eat it's own kind so you never have a population explosion.

i would heavily recommend against clown loaches, unless you want a 16" fish in your tank when it gets full grown

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otherwise, ... don't care about the snails, ... populations will only get as large as there is food available to sustain them.

you could cut feeding, but i wouldn't recommend this, ... at least don't rely on this, you want to make sure your fish are eating enough.
the snails will make sure there is no uneaten food going to waste

even if you maintain regular feedings as you have been, the snails will only get to a point that is in balance with the food available to them. any plants that you see that have decaying leaves, the snails will make short work of, ... also help in reducing or eliminating an ammonia spike (no matter how small) as they will eat the dead leaves, and pretty much never both a healthy plant at all.

many consider snails an eye-sore, but they really are more beneficial than anything else.

if you really do want to get rid of your snail issue, ... my initial thought is the zebra loach, ... have a look into them.
otherwise get a whole bunch more assassin snails, enough to breed, they're always in demand, so you can make a buck or two with excess assassain snails, they burrow, which helps your substrate (if not clogged with roots), win-win-win

but snails really are more beneficial to have than to go without.

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another way to get rid of them (and never recommended)...
drop the pH, it will erode the shells till the snails die, ... not a fast method, but that particular snail, the shells are thin.
if you go this route, i'd probably aim for a pH of 6.0-6.5. ... can kinda see why it's not recommended as that can cause havoc in a tank having the pH that low.

if you are seeing the snail shells being white, then the pH is already low, ... just may not be low enough to cause the shells to be dangerously dissolved.

if you change your mind about getting rid of the snails, ... i would recommend a pH of 7.0-7.5 and new shells will show a rather pleasing look to them (kinda spotted & marbled, almost clear)


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## stlove1 (Dec 19, 2010)

I've had clown loaches in my tank for several years now and are only about 3 inches. No more snails.


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

i will look in to all the diffrent kinds of loachs there are as i dont want snails in my 55 but in my little 5gal i dont care so much


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## inuudo (Sep 23, 2012)

Hi Corrie, I would follow Flear's advice about just living with a few snails for a while. The assassin will take care of them eventually. Do you have the second assassin in your smaller tank? Perhaps, put it in the 55 for a while, like an itinerant worker. 

I wouldn't buy loaches to control the snails unless loaches are part of the plan for your tank already.

eta: When we meet later this month, I can take lots of the pond snails off your hands -- I have assassins in one tank that will appreciate them, and my brother has a tank with 26 assassins who are always looking for a snack.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

CRS Fan said:


> Any loach will quickly rid a tank of radix snails (like the one in the picture).


Does that include kuhli loaches?


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## Flear (Dec 8, 2012)

Kuhli loaches don't touch snails


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I'd just get more assassin snails, you can probably score them for $3-$4, especially if someone sells them in the classifieds. Those suckers are pretty good at keeping the pests in check.


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## Snugpuppies (Jun 7, 2014)

couple of clown loaches do the trick for me - a little more money and more challenging to keep than assassin snails but they do keep my pests under control and they are a pretty cool fish.


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I like the zebra loach


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## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Assasian snails


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## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

I got tons (10-12). But not sure when I'm headed your way next


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Flear said:


> another way to get rid of them (and never recommended)...
> drop the pH, it will erode the shells till the snails die, ... not a fast method, but that particular snail, the shells are thin.
> if you go this route, i'd probably aim for a pH of 6.0-6.5. ... can kinda see why it's not recommended as that can cause havoc in a tank having the pH that low.
> 
> ...


If a pH of 6 can kill all snails no CO2 injected planted tank would ever have snails. The shell erosion is based on the depletion of carbonates which is not necessarily true based on the buffers available in the water (substrate, natural water hardness, decor, and fert dosing).


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## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

I got a pea puffer that does well in my community tank. I can't believe it but I now drop snails into the tank on purpose! The pea puffer been at work for 5 months. Very effective hunter.

I have snails that do seem to eat healthy plant tissue. I guess the population gets large enough and they get hungry enough. They particularly like my amazon sword and my vals.


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## Flear (Dec 8, 2012)

greenfin, how can you tell your snails are eating your plants ?


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