# quick advice needed!



## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

I just scooped up my pleco as he is going back to the lfs today and much to my surprise I saw a SNAIL climbing up the side of my tank!!! It must have hitchhiked in on one of my plants a few weeks ago. Do I keep it or toss it? I dont know if it will be beneficial to my tank or not? It is a small pea sized brown snail with darker markings on the shell. I need advice quick because I dont know how long I can keep it in my sights if I need to get rid of it! What do i do?


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

pic of snail:


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

squash it and let it fall into the tank.the other fish will love it.. and keep doing it as these snails are major pests and will eat your plants.


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## Hydr0 JoE (Jan 13, 2009)

i like the way that one looks


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

snail now = fish food, along with the 2nd one that i just found as well. 
I bought all the plants from the same person on aquabid, she said they were snail free, its been about 2 weeks, do you think i should say something to her about it?
poor snails, they were kinda cute...but if you mess with my plants your outta there!


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

207lauras said:


> she said they were snail free,


ROFLMAO




207lauras said:


> do you think i should say something to her about it?


IMHO waste of your time.


That is not a common pond snail but probably is a relative thereof and as loha indicated the production of fish food is the appropriate action.

You should not have a problem with an infestation if you do not overfeed but any that you observe should be smushed.

TR


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## Hydr0 JoE (Jan 13, 2009)

lohachata said:


> squash it and let it fall into the tank.the other fish will love it..


i squashed one of mine and i waited to see who will eat it first and it ended up being taking by a shrimp, my fish just kept swimming by it


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## Delthane (Sep 2, 2008)

I have these exact snails. In all honesty they haven't bred out of control (at least in my opinion) and they don't even seem to spend time on my plants. They mostly crawl on the glass eating whatever they find


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i also have those exact same snails....about 1000 of them..or so..along with common pond snails and reds ramshorns.. let me assure you...they will eat your plants... lol
my plecos won't bother them unless i squish them first...then they gobble them up..


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

lohachata said:


> about 1000 of them..or so..along with common pond snails and reds ramshorns.


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
*But*
these are probably scattered among like 18 tanks.

2l: the "real definition" of a snail infestation is when you cannot observe your fish or plants due to snails and their egg sacks on the walls of the tank: I have been there, done that and got the Tee Shirt.

Once you have them in your tank eradication is impossible except with copper, which is IMHO an anathema, but you have caught them when their population can hopefully be controlled manually.

TR


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2009)

if you found one, you're liable to find a lot more sooner or later! i had to get rid of all my live plants as they were 1 breeding snails like crazy, 2 the snails were eating them! i tried squashing them but not even my pleco touched them!


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

yeah, I only found 2 so far. The first one was squished and thrown in but I dont think anyone touched it. The 2nd was put in a ziploc, squished and thrown in the trash which is what I will do if I see anymore.


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## Delthane (Sep 2, 2008)

Hmm, maybe that's why I see most of them moving towards the duckweed when they get to the top. Oh well, least the duckweed grows fast enough where the snails won't kill it off and the eat some algae in their trek to get there.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

snail #3 and #4 just came to an untimely end as well... 
small bonus though, when I reached my hand in to grab it I noticed a few fry hiding out in the moss. Mama danio's been a busy girl the past month or so;-).... I think for now I have saved all the fry I can handle, from now on they will stay in the big tank and whatever happens happens....


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

You could set up a 10 gallon tank, get a dwarf puffer and feed them to him. LOL
I had them pretty bad too. I finally got rid of them but the way I did it is probably not an option for you. I had to move the fish, drain the tank and set it outside for a couple of months. I still have the mylasian trumpet snails but all of the ramshorns are gone. I like the mts', they help keep my sand stirred up.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Do angelfish eat them? I was contemplating getting a few for the big tank... anyhow, for now I will just keep plucking them out and giving them the squeeze before I toss them in a bag in the trash...


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2009)

i havent seen angels eat snails before.... but you never know.....

cheers!


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2009)

Buggy,

you dont need to let the tank dry out for a couple of months. a nice washdown will do. snails generally transfer via live plants....if the source of the live plant is infected then so will your plant...getting rid of the plants, a wash down and fresh clean plants will do the trick.

cheers,


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

My angels will eat crushed ramshorns but they can't break the shells themselves.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

LOL Zakk, I didn't even HAVE live plants. I don't even know where they came from. 
I didn't do this to get rid of the snails....I was taking the tank down anyway. I just said it got rid of them.

Lauras, some loaches will eat snails. You will have to ask around on which ones eat them and which ones you could keep in your size tank. I know clowns get too big and most have to be kept in shoals. I had dojos and they helped keep mine down in my 55 gallon. Khuli loaches might eat them and you could have 5-6 of those.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

Buggy said:


> I had dojos and they helped keep mine down in my 55 gallon. Khuli loaches might eat them and you could have 5-6 of those.


2l: I did not say anything earlier as loaches are social creatures; a minimum of three of the same species is deemed the typical bare minimum; and you do not currently have room in your tank for them
*But* 
if the snail infestation cannot be controlled manually and runs rampant 
*then* 
dropping like six 1.5" *Yoyo's*, *Polka Dot's*, or *Striata* in your tank will be like dropping a hydrogen bomb on the snails.

In six weeks you will have six 2.5" loaches and virtually no visible snails.

You could keep three and return the other three.

TR


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2009)

ooooopppps!


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