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Snail problem

Steveb7

Member
Joined
20 Jul 2019
Messages
33
Location
England
I'm currently taking out nusence snails rom my tank every other day and I was thinking about getting an assassin snail or yoyo loach to dine on these pests.But here is the problem. I have several types of nerite snail.A stupid question but would the nerites become food aswell or would they be to big for them to eat?
 
Personally I would continue with manual removal. The dennerle snail remover is excellent and is good sport!

https://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/dennerle-snail-catcher-2381-p.asp

Concentrate on removing waste organics both from the tank, substrate and filter. Consider how much fish food you put in.

You only really get an explosion of snails (that persists) when they have enough food.
 
Thanks, over last few weeks I've started to do twice a week water change to help combat a few patches of bba so substrate gets a hoover both times.any food waste and general mess on bottom removed then.i feel bad as I pop any snails I get into my sons tank upstairs as likes them.must be at least 20-30 in there.;)
 
There are mixed stories of whether assassin snails will attack healthy nerites but I guess if they get desperate for food anything is possible.

I would be reticent to add more fauna to address the problem unless you were planning on adding them anyway. Loaches need to be in groups and there is no guarantee they will go after the snails over the food for the other fish.

When you have a snail population explosion there is enough food to support them. Cleaning up the tank and cutting down on feeding will almost certainly cut down their numbers. Manual removal will keep them under control. The dennerle stick is surprisingly therapeutic but only really works if they are on hard surfaces.
 
Just had a look at the stick, imo I dont think that would be practical , snails on the glass wood and rock can easily be picked off so I think I'll just carry on like that.excuse the bare foreground as I took out my s repens a few days ago to replace with some hairgrass.
You can see one of the culprits on the left hand side in front of one of my phantoms.
 

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Need a bit more info re water changes etc, but a few thoughts.

consider weekly water changes of 70% no problem.

Won’t do any harm in doing 2 a week for a bit to get on top of the snails. Don’t worry about doing a couple of water changes on the trot.

Cut down fish feeding to every other day.

Use a turkey baster at the same time as water changes . It’ll work wonders in getting rid of waste.

Weekly clean of the filter for a bit.

Add more plant mass will generally help the tank as whole and look nice. Hairgrass is nice but really thinking big hungry stems.

Have you got any shrimp? They’ll eat a lot of stuff that snails are living on and amano shrimp will eat snail eggs also.

A few weeks of massive hygiene will get rid of them and pay off.

 
Can you really rid yourself of snails in a couple of weeks with a regime such as this. Any others out there with similar experiences?
 
Hi Matt. A few weeks maybe a bit to soon to completely eradicate. Depends on how ballistic you go with maintenance!
All down to how heavy you want to go!

I’m sure I wouldn’t last too long if someone come round and nicked all my food! :lol:
 
Thanks Siege, i have noticed since I started feeding smaller amounts more frequently so as to minimise any leftovers getting to the substrate an overall drop in the population. I do worry about my cories though so will be adding some sinking food tomorrow to ensure they are getting enough to eat.
 
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