snail problem

[bigal66]

does anyone know a sure fire method to get rid of snails.......i seem to have inherited some of some plants.
replies appreciated,
cheers alan.

[robbojones]

does anyone know a sure fire method to get rid of snails.......i seem to have inherited some of some plants.
replies appreciated,
cheers alan.

what type do you have???

[bigal66]

i have these annoying little round ones about the size of a matchhead and the long ones prob 25mm long

[Robbotheyobbo]

hire a clown loch for the job mate

[robbojones]

fact of the problem is you'll never get rid of them now.... unless you start your tank afresh with either new filters/gravel etc or cleaned to perfection but i dont recommend this cause if you miss just one snail it'll start over again

you can use loaches but again they never get rid of them all... and they can sometimes knock off b/n eggs and small fry...

you can use a copper based snail killer... but this may also kill your fish and biological bacteria...

i have successfully cleared 2 tanks of malaysian round snails... using big aquarium snails... mystery snails... and about 20 to a 70L tank and a period of 3 months they became predatory snails on the small ones... then i waited another 3 months to confirm this as they didnt turn up again...

if you have cone snails... good luck... they dont die submersed in pure chlorine for an hour... lol... just start afresh if you dont want them...

you can boil your wood , rocks and caves to kill all the snails... i recommend very hot and for half an hour to make sure...

apparently the germans have a treatment that will kill all your snails... but theres no chance of getting it in australia....

[bigal66]

thanks for all the info guys,greatly appreciated
cheers alan

[Graeme]

Hi Bigal

I had a tank infested with cone snails, the ones that can live through being microwaved.
I bought some macro prawns from Aquagreen ( in NT )


They slowly but surely removed all snails from my system.The evidence is still there, empty shells slowly dissolving from the low pH.

Maybe look into buying some?? I can pm a link , not sure if its ok to do publicly
You will see in the attached picture one eating a snail ( not my pic)

pics by Dave Wilson

Graeme

[robbojones]

same problem graeme they dont eat every single one and when you think they have eaten them all and you take your prawns out - a few weeks later guess who pops up.... cones!!!! lol

boil them for an hour - that kills them... er ummm cooks them anyway... who knows the f@#$er may still be alive... lol

but i like the look of your prawns anyway... feel free to post some more pics

[Calvus]

love the old copper sulfate! Just dont use it if keeping catfish and inverts or remove them during treatment. Dilute 1g to 300ml of water and use ~20ml per 100ltrs or until the start dropping of the tank walls etc. might have to re-treat in a few weeks if any eggs survived to ensure they dont grow and lay more...

lettuce also works well, add a chuck and come back in a few hours and take it out with all snails still feasting. Might have to do this a few times to get them under control though.

HTH

[robbojones]

love the old copper sulfate! Just dont use it if keeping catfish and inverts or remove them during treatment. Dilute 1g to 300ml of water and use ~20ml per 100ltrs or until the start dropping of the tank walls etc. might have to re-treat in a few weeks if any eggs survived to ensure they dont grow and lay more...

lettuce also works well, add a chuck and come back in a few hours and take it out with all snails still feasting. Might have to do this a few times to get them under control though.

HTH

problem with copper based treatments is it kills off your bacteria as well... so you are pretty much starting your biological filter from scratch again. in my thinking you may as well start completely afresh and that way you are 100% sure they are all gone...

baiting snails is ok to get a breakout back under control but it will never eradicate them... especially from a tank with gravel in it

[bigal66]

i took all the fish out of the tank and treated the water with snail killer at 3 times the recomended dose over 2 weeks.
guess what snails appeared again 3 weeks later.
bugger it i might just start fresh.

[robbojones]

i took all the fish out of the tank and treated the water with snail killer at 3 times the recomended dose over 2 weeks.
guess what snails appeared again 3 weeks later.
bugger it i might just start fresh.

i bet the cone snails returned..... lol.... like the aquatic cockroach...