# Snail Infestation ~ Help



## Kitsune (Jul 17, 2010)

I have a huge snail infestation in my 70g tank and I don't know what to do. I have read a ton of articles on the web, but I'm not sure if any will work in my situation.

The following are things I have read and my response:
- Bait them will lettuce: tried, but they don't seem to be going for it. Is it because my tank is full of plants, and there are tons of other stuff to eat?
- Try loaches: I have a ton of plants and ground cover, and don't want them digging up my tank. Plus they get too big and I don't want to have to maintain them
- Try puffers: I would LOVE to have some, but they say that they are not great tank makes. I have the following fish: rummy nose tetra, glass cat fish, siamese algae eaters, and rams. Some have mentioned pea puffers, but I would feel bad if it didn't get along.
- chemical: I have Cherry Red shrimps as well so I would not prefer to kill them
- reduce feeding: yeah.. I know, but I always worry that some of the smaller fish aren't getting enough food so I am generous with my feeding...


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## user_error (Aug 15, 2010)

Um, maybe try assasin snails? 

I think April told me she was in PoMo, maybe she could bring you a few? GL sorting them out


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## MadgicBug (Apr 22, 2010)

Pond snails used to drive me nuts as I constantly had to squish them...once they are in its almost impossible to get rid of them.

Pea puffers will get rid of them pretty fast (1 only)...IMO they shouldn't bother your other tank mates. Once the snail runs out, then you will have to supplement them with blood worms or mysis shrimp.

Assisan snails works great....once they settle in, they go through them at a pretty good pace and they don't multiply like crazy. I started off with 2 and now have 5 o 6 in almost 1 yr. You can always sell the offsprings. 

My suggestion is to get around 4 or 5 Assisan snails and your snail population should be under control in a month or 2. You may need to help it out a bit in the get go by removing or squishing some.

Mykiss should have some for sale at a cheap price.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

agree with the assassin snails. atleast 4...IPU has them too
could also make a snail trap to help reduce the number


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I used to crush the snails and throw them back into the tank the fish learned they were food and would start eating the young ones


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## Keri (Aug 2, 2010)

If you go the assasin snail route be sure to pass them on to another member when you run out of pest snails so they don't starve


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## Tarobot (Jun 27, 2010)

i'd go with the assassin snails, i'm in the process of cleaning my 2 10gs with them and id say they are the most natural way. you're trading one snail for another but if assassin snails do breed you can sell them for a lot more.


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

you can give me all your pest snails to feed my FRT and loaches


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

the advantage to pond snails is that they make a great water hardness test


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## Kitsune (Jul 17, 2010)

Thank you every one for the great ideas! I think I'll try assassin snails or a pea puffer.

By the way, would the pea puffer eat my shrimps?


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## Aleks9 (May 7, 2010)

Pea puffers will eat your shrimp. Go the assassin route. Another option is to introduce CO2. Supposedly safe levels of co2 for fish and shrimp causes snails to run for the top of the tank, where you can then safely crush them with a spatula.


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## Kitsune (Jul 17, 2010)

Aleks9 said:


> Pea puffers will eat your shrimp. Go the assassin route. Another option is to introduce CO2. Supposedly safe levels of co2 for fish and shrimp causes snails to run for the top of the tank, where you can then safely crush them with a spatula.


Huh... funny. I wonder why. I have noticed that sometimes there is a really large cluster of snails directly across from where my CO2 comes out... But its only a fraction of the infestation though...


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

assasin snail has reduced population in my 55g. try trapping snails in a small container with holes for them to crawl in - bait with fish food. give them to people with puffers! regular squishing helps too. i feed squished ones to my fish too.


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## TCR (Jul 13, 2010)

I had a crap load of pond snails and Malawian trumpets. I got clown loaches and I can see them dissapearing. Made clown loaches one of my new fav fish. I tried pretty mch every thing to get rid of the snails and so far they have been the answer to my call


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## slipstream (Apr 25, 2010)

assassin snails are deff the way to go to prevent accidental fish temperaments.

However, i always found that pea puffers were THE ULTIMATE choice when trying to deal with pest snails. I also found that with pea puffers, as long as they are well fed (plenty of snails and/or blood worms) than they will refrain from pestering any tank mates.


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## VinnyD (Apr 21, 2010)

yah i had some pond snail issues before..then i bought some assassin snails off mykiss(pat of canadian aquatics)...they helped reduce the pond snails along with reduced feedings


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## jman (Apr 21, 2010)

Yeah i agree, assassin snails are the way to go. I bought 5 of those little guys for my 30g. Within about 4-5 months they manage to clean out majority of the ramshorn in my tank. I think i used to have hundreds of ramshorns and they were all over my tank but now i barely see one.


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## David J (May 2, 2010)

Another vote for assassin whelks, which you can read about here Clea helena (Anentome helena)
BTW, I saw one eating a snail today: What a horrible way to go! Slowly eaten alive from within your own shell. 
Depending on the size of your tank, type of substrate, feeding regime, and snail population, it may take many months for the whelk population to build up enough to seriously affect your snail population, but it will eventually work.


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## curtisonrad19 (Oct 31, 2010)

I got 4-5 assassins a few months ago, and i have almost no "pest" snails left 
If you dont want em, you can send as many as you would like to me!


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