# Snail problem



## Fishman21 (Apr 26, 2010)

Looking for ideas: i am being overrun by snails in my Tanganyikan setup. not sure what type they are - shells are long and conical.

What fish will help clear them out in a hard alkaline environment?


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## brezilian (Apr 21, 2012)

get a puffer


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

They look like these? Malaysian trumpet snails?
https://www.google.ca/search?q=mala...cKbCx0QHy5oCAAg&ved=0CB0QsAQ&biw=1680&bih=935

My suggestion, get some assassin snails. Don't dose anything into your tank, a bunch of dead snails rotting in your tank is just asking for more trouble.


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## TigerOscar (Sep 10, 2012)

I hear Clown Loaches eat snails


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

TigerOscar said:


> I hear Clown Loaches eat snails


OP has an African cichlid tank.
I also eat escargots too.


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## Fishman21 (Apr 26, 2010)

Those are the culprits - lots of them!

True - i don't want to dose with anything - looking for a natural solution - your recommendation is a good idea. thanks!



jobber604 said:


> They look like these? Malaysian trumpet snails?
> https://www.google.ca/search?q=mala...cKbCx0QHy5oCAAg&ved=0CB0QsAQ&biw=1680&bih=935
> 
> My suggestion, get some assassin snails. Don't dose anything into your tank, a bunch of dead snails rotting in your tank is just asking for more trouble.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Fishman21 said:


> Those are the culprits - lots of them!
> 
> True - i don't want to dose with anything - looking for a natural solution - your recommendation is a good idea. thanks!


No problem at all, glad I'm able to put your mind at ease---do a quick search on google for remedies. Google search "how to get rid of Malaysian Trumpet Snails" and you'll find a wealth of information. Remember, it may take some patience and tweaking, but I'm sure you'll eradicate them. Have a quick read on this article also....
http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/crus...anted-pesky-ramshorn-snails-33374/#post268179


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

malaysian trumpet snails are no good for puffers just to clarify , there a good way to accidentally kill a puffer,, anyways doesnt sound like your gonna use a puffer anyways but that isnt a solution to a malaysian trumpet invasion


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## Smallermouse (Jan 28, 2012)

Depends on the size of the clown loach. I had a big snail problem in my tank half a year ago. I bought some five 2-3 inch clown loaches and they didn't do anything to help the snail population to go down. Assassin snails are the best. I bought just 2 in for my infested 55gallon tank and now there is no snails at all. Just a hell lot of empty snail shells. Been half a year now, I'm snail free!!!


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

Clown loaches won't last in an African tank. OP has very hard alkaline water, which will stress and/or kill the loaches very quickly - they need very soft water. We adopted a bunch of loaches from another member who were in exactly the same kind of situation and had persistent ich as a result.

For an african tank, I'd try assassin snails. The snail trap option described in jobber's posted link also worked well for us.


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

Put a piece of zucchini in the tank and watch them all gather on it to eat. Once you have lots of snails on it remove the zucchini and discard it snails and all. This will take several attempts to get them all. Remember there might be some eggs not yet hatched so it will not always get them all. Good luck. Advertise them for free someone might want to come and take them off your hands. Worth a try anyways.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

sunshine_1965 said:


> Put a piece of zucchini in the tank and watch them all gather on it to eat. Once you have lots of snails on it remove the zucchini and discard it snails and all. This will take several attempts to get them all. Remember there might be some eggs not yet hatched so it will not always get them all. Good luck. Advertise them for free someone might want to come and take them off your hands. Worth a try anyways.


This is a good idea but put the bait inside a container so that more of them get trapped inside; plus you can leave the bait trap for a couple of days rather than having to sticking your hands in your tank multiple times. Oil from your arms is no good for the tank nor is getting fish tank water on your skin good.

Good luck on your snail hunt.


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## Jasonator (Jul 12, 2011)

I had a problem with these pesky things and the most common trick worked well. 
Attract them with food, and dish them out. Manual extermination worked for me.
Pain in the butt but it's cheap and safe and successful.


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## ThePhoenix (Jul 23, 2012)

Algae killer also kills snails, FYI


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

ThePhoenix said:


> Algae killer also kills snails, FYI


What in the world is algae killer?


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

GreenClean Algaecide, Green Clean Algaecide - Safe Algae Killer

algaecide


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

Aquarium Algae Control: Controlling Algae in Freshwater Aquariums

tank algaecide


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Fishman21 said:


> Those are the culprits - lots of them!
> True - i don't want to dose with anything - looking for a natural solution - your recommendation is a good idea. thanks!


DO NOT DOSE ALGAECIDE!!!! It's already an inherent risk to start dumping chemicals into your tank. Your fish's health is more important than the snail infestation. Go au'naturelle!


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

but if they are malaysian trumpet snails they really dont do any harm do they, its my understanding they burrow through your substrate , and just eat algae, now i dont ever do plants in my tanks but i dont think that malaysian trumpet snails are a "pest" snails are they?


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i wasnt saying to USE it jobber you asked what it was ... there is your answer fella


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

I have a snail problem. I bought 4 loaches and they are around 4" long now. They may deal with the snails if I live long enough. Loaches are certainly not an immediate solution.

One of these days I'll tear down the tanks and kill every snail that lives there.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

macframalama said:


> i wasnt saying to USE it jobber you asked what it was ... there is your answer fella


And I used your reply to inform the OP not to USE it. Never did imply you were saying anything other what was posted. Please re-read the post, I quoted the OP.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

If you do not overfeed and do not keep excess food around for too long it would really help the population to decrease.
Get out the big guys; when the little guys have no food they will die. Get assain snails.
Skunk botia has worked for me, too.


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

> Originally Posted by macframalama
> i wasnt saying to USE it jobber you asked what it was ... there is your answer fella
> And I used your reply to inform the OP not to USE it. Never did imply you were saying anything other what was posted. Please re-read the post, I quoted the OP.


Chill, please, people. Nobody implied anything about anyone, so everyone can relax. Thank you. :bigsmile:

</mod hat off>

If you want quick results, I'd say the bait is the way to go. We had about 5 million trumpet snails in the old shrimp tank, and the zucchini bait/manual removal got rid of them in a week. When we tried assassins, they just ate themselves into a coma and couldn't keep up with the breeding rate.


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

i had a clown loach in a african setup and it did not like it one bit. i have since moved it to my discus tank and he is happy


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I have a lot of Plecos so I feed a lot of Romaine Lettuce.

I have large safety pins that I attach to the Romain leaf to sink it in the tanks at night.

In the morning I remove the remains of the Romain spine with the attached snails.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I agree the cheapest easiest way to get rid of them is with bait. Zucchini or Cucumber works good. Your only problem is you will need to put the food in a container of some sort or a DYI trap so the Africans dont eat the bait before the snails get to it. I feed my Africans Zuccini regularly by morning its all gone.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

I just thought of a good bait trap. 

Instructions:
1. Find a glass bottle (coke, snapple, sobe, check the 7-eleven fridge) with a bottle mouth that is narrow so fish doesn't get in, but snails and or pleco fries can
2. Clean the bottle and ensure no residue or labels are on it
3. Place some fish food (zuchinni, shrimp pellets, pleco pellets) inside the bottle and fill with tank water
4. Leave the glass bottle trap inside the tank for a few hours or day(s) until you see fit (ie. enough snails are inside to warrant emptying the bottle OR enough pleco fries have entrapped themselves inside)
5. Take out glass bottle with the goodies inside and dispose of the pest snails (or transfer pleco fries out)
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 until you have achieved your goal.

Good luck.


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## ThePhoenix (Jul 23, 2012)

jobber604 said:


> What in the world is algae killer?


Its a product you buy TO KILL ALGAE!!!

dont make me get all sarcastic on you


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## Smallermouse (Jan 28, 2012)

Fish rookie said:


> If you do not overfeed and do not keep excess food around for too long it would really help the population to decrease.
> Get out the big guys; when the little guys have no food they will die. Get assain snails.
> Skunk botia has worked for me, too.


Did u actually see the assassin snails kill each other? cause i bought 3 and the killed my infested 55g's snails. then the 5 loaches got big enough and ate the assassin snails.
im pretty sure a few assassin snails will do the job.


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## TigerOscar (Sep 10, 2012)

My problem now is the Assasin snails are reproducing and taking over the tank....... At least they appear to be baby Assasins.
i may just go out and get me some Clown Loaches


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

if there assasin snails could be some $$$$ to re coup should be an easy sale to some other members???


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## TigerOscar (Sep 10, 2012)

well, gonna have to identify them first, at the moment I don't see them as pests yet.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

Assassin snails are fantastic for cleaning up problem snails in a tank. I am actually now having trouble finding enough problem snails to feed my assassin snails...


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## Rod/Jodi (Sep 30, 2012)

when we had ghost shrimp we could not keep a snail alive. Ghost shrimp snacked on all of them-all sizes too -was funny to watch when the snail was bigger and put up a struggle


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Assassins are very sellable. You can easily get a buck or two each.


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## Fishman21 (Apr 26, 2010)

Found assasin snails (Thanks Tetragirl!). I have enough snails to feed them for a while. Lets see how this works.


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## TigerOscar (Sep 10, 2012)

Ok, I don't think my tank has reproducing Assasin snails, i googled aquatic snails and found this, I guess I have pond snails.....


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## TigerOscar (Sep 10, 2012)

Ok, I don't think my tank has reproducing Assasin snails, i googled aquatic snails and I guess I have pond snails.....


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

still find a puffer owner they will take them , one mans pest is another puffers lunch . or something along those lines


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

I have puffers 

Sent via the Shining.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

If the problem is malaysian trumpet snails, I would GLADLY take some off your hands. I need a group of these guys for my new tank.


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## stlove1 (Dec 19, 2010)

I had a big problem with trumpet snails and I got clown loaches and they are taking good care of them. Now I have a lot of empty snail shell's



Fishman21 said:


> Looking for ideas: i am being overrun by snails in my Tanganyikan setup. not sure what type they are - shells are long and conical.
> 
> What fish will help clear them out in a hard alkaline environment?


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## stingraylord (Jun 18, 2010)

Assassin snails and yo-yo loaches really do good on snail infestations. It would be either or as the yo-yo's will eat the assassin snails too!


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

You have the exactly same problem.Tanganyikan set up those damn a holes.Ive been battling them for a year now. Unfortunately they thrive in hard water. Clowns are the ones that are keeping my problem in check.Also buffalo heads eat them.


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

stlove1 said:


> I had a big problem with trumpet snails and I got clown loaches and they are taking good care of them. Now I have a lot of empty snail shell's


I bought loaches and they are a poor excuse for snail eaters. I read about getting rid of snails and loaches, puffers and assassin snails come up. Snails are a pain!


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