How to combat snails?

[Shoafaloaf]

I've had planted tanks for a couple years and recently decided to try Discus. I'm super happy that I made8202282023 the decision and starting to realize it wasn't as hard as I had originally thought. Long story short, due to the high feeding of juvenile Discus, I'm starting to have a huge snail explosion. Besides baiting and scooping, is there any thing else I can do?

[Bill63SG]

Get some assasin snails.When they're done with your population,they dont breed nearly as fast or as much.Lesser of the evil.

[Wes]

I use these guys but no discus in that tank.

http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n622/xeriod/loaches_zps66ce7972.jpg (http://s1143.photobucket.com/user/xeriod/media/loaches_zps66ce7972.jpg.html)

[Nick Klimkowski]

Both of the above are right. If I were you I would go for the assasin snails. They will not be as rambunctious like the clown loaches are. Hth.

[Nick Klimkowski]

The loaches may rip the tank up as well as they get bigger.

[Rudustin]

I tried loaches. Too busy for Discus and they were bullies about eating there food. Assassin Snails are great. You have to get quite a few of them because they do move like snails slowly. If the snails that you have are bigger than the Assassin that you do get just pic them out or wipe them out on a paper towel and flush them. I had a snail infestation and got Assassins and they may not kill all of the other snail but they certainly keep the population down and they do breed very slowly.

[funnyray]

loaches, they will eat all the snails for sure.
but the downsite is... they like to hide and grow to monster size!

[gparr]

What if you get the loaches when they're small...then trade them in before they get too large and out of hand...just thinking...

[Susie]

I have had clown loaches in one discus tank for about two years. The loaches haven't gotten that much bigger and they still seem to get along with the discus. My discus just ignore them. The snails are under much better control.

[gparr]

Promising news, Susie!

[Carpentermic]

I'd suggest Assassin Snails as well. Their cheap and won't harm the rest of the tank. In my experience they do tend to multiply at a steady rate. I started with 2 in a small 10G planted tank, and in about 3 months I noticed I had in excess of 30, I was surprised at how fast they grew. No worries as my LFS bought them at $3/ea. Just something to think about :thumbsup:

[skie]

Seachem makes a copper solution that will kill off snails. My friend who has had major snail problems has used this product and it works. If you use it and you don't see any snails continue to use it so you make sure there gone. Seachems paraguard works but not nearly as effective.

[LKSDiscus]

I had pretty good luck with the assassin snails but also with the yo yo loach

[Pnorton]

I use botia striata loaches. They don't get big and they have not caused a problem for the discus. I only see them eating off the bottom when I feed. I have 2 in a 600 gallon planted tank so you don't need a school of them.
Pam

[tbmeck]

Assassin snails will do the trick and pose no threat to your fish or plants.

[nc0gnet0]

flubendazol, the rest is just childs play.

[nc0gnet0]

I tried loaches. Too busy for Discus and they were bullies about eating there food. Assassin Snails are great. You have to get quite a few of them because they do move like snails slowly. If the snails that you have are bigger than the Assassin that you do get just pic them out or wipe them out on a paper towel and flush them. I had a snail infestation and got Assassins and they may not kill all of the other snail but they certainly keep the population down and they do breed very slowly.

"
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I dunno why she swallowed that fly,
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly -
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd, to swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly -
Perhaps she'll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat.
Imagine that, she swallowed a cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she'll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a dog.
What a hog! To swallow a dog!
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat...
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a goat.
Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat!
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog ...
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow.
I don't know how she swallowed a cow!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat...
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog...
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat...
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse -
She's dead, of course."


sorry, I couldn't resist. :)

-Rick

[treemanone2003]

^^^^ that rocked !!! Haven't heard that in forever !!!!

[pcsb23]

If you use a chemical to kill the snails make sure you stay on top of maintenance, a whole host of dead and rotting snails all at once will destroy water quality in a heartbeat!

[TheRedSpotted]

You can use chemicals:
http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/16/89/52/64/58200010.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=283&u=16895264)
or trap :
http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/16/89/52/64/12805110.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=284&u=16895264)http://i55.servimg.com/u/f55/16/89/52/64/38801510.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=285&u=16895264)

[musicmarn1]

If you use a chemical to kill the snails make sure you stay on top of maintenance, a whole host of dead and rotting snails all at once will destroy water quality in a heartbeat!

Great point!! I have a question, usually there is a snail explosion in my tanks, well a because I have hard water but b because of detritus , if I'm slacking. So if we kill the snails you loose your detritus clean up crew a bit and have to be cleaner in your maintenance. Am i getting that right for snail over population? i use assassin snails too in the bigger tanks and i have to clean more. These are in non discus tanks for me, I've had one sick rainbow in years no noticed sickness apart from that. I never did cure that rainbow though.

[pcsb23]

Snails can be a useful part of a clean up crew, but what goes in must come out! In other words they may eat detritus but they still expel waste of some sort. The fear many have with snails is their apparent ability to harbour nasties and logically it makes sense that they can. There is no doubt that they are amongst the best algae cleaners going. I guess the moral to the story is keep up with maintenance :)

[nc0gnet0]

Snails can be a useful part of a clean up crew, but what goes in must come out! In other words they may eat detritus but they still expel waste of some sort. The fear many have with snails is their apparent ability to harbour nasties and logically it makes sense that they can. There is no doubt that they are amongst the best algae cleaners going. I guess the moral to the story is keep up with maintenance :)

For me it all depends on what type of snail. Them itty bitty pond snails are a pita. Some of the bigger ones I could tolerate.

[Tres]

Snails can be a useful part of a clean up crew, but what goes in must come out! In other words they may eat detritus but they still expel waste of some sort. The fear many have with snails is their apparent ability to harbour nasties and logically it makes sense that they can. There is no doubt that they are amongst the best algae cleaners going. I guess the moral to the story is keep up with maintenance :)

Is there by the way any way to medicate snails to wipe out the parasites they could be carrying, without wiping out the snails? Presumably not? I'd like to add a few apple snails due to their ability to digest cellulose, but would like to make sure they were 'clean'.

As for eradicating snails, I second Flubendazol.

[pcsb23]

Is there by the way any way to medicate snails to wipe out the parasites they could be carrying, without wiping out the snails? Presumably not? I'd like to add a few apple snails due to their ability to digest cellulose, but would like to make sure they were 'clean'.

As for eradicating snails, I second Flubendazol.Not that I know of specifically. Most snails are extremely sensitive to most meds! When I've deliberately chosen to keep snails I keep them for a couple of months in a known clean tank, even then there are no guarantees.