Being overrun by snails

[Branch]

My snail problem hasn't improved and the, heavily planted, tank is being overrun by these tiny pests. I have 5 large Clowns in there and they don't seem to be interested. I assume that they're some sort of Ramshorn snail as they have a flat curled appearance and are 1.5mm - 3mm in size. Although I'm not sure if they're causing any harm, the fish aren't fussed, they're starting to look unsightly especially in such a stunning tank. Any advice would be appreciated.

[LizStreithorst]

I go on a snail killing spree every morning on my 2 planted tanks. I mash the ones on the glass but if I want to hit the mother-load I look under the drift wood. That's where most of them hang out. I mash every one. I have 3 types of snails in my tanks. Pond snails, ramshorn and a very small vertically flattend light colored snail that I have been unable it identify.

I have made a huge dent in the snail population simply by mashing them when I see them. It's an ongoing battle though. I'm sure that if I quit mashing snails for a couple of weeks I'll be overrun.

[RogueDiscus]

I've used Adam's suggestion as a control method. Put an anchored piece of carrot in the tank. In the morning it's covered in snails, which then can be scooped out.

[LizStreithorst]

I'll have to try that.

[Disgirl]

I used to have those little flat tan snails, thousands of them. In every tank. I got 4 Assassin snails from a lfs, they ate every one in one tank. I had many empty shells to syphon out. They made lots of Assassin babies, I saved them, and put them into my other tanks. Now I have no bad snails in any tank, just the good assassins. They only reproduce when they have other snails to eat, so mine aren't making babies now, they eat algae and fish food. Wonderful and attractive snails they are.
Barb

[LizStreithorst]

I read that they multiply like crazy to the point that after the lights go out you can see the substrate moving!

[RogueDiscus]

I read that they multiply like crazy to the point that after the lights go out you can see the substrate moving!

The assassins? I think mine ran out of food, they disappeared except for a few shells. Maybe I killed them off somehow, or sucked them out, but a bit of a mystery.

[LizStreithorst]

I went googling around and found out that unlike most snails, assassin need both a male and female to reproduce. I wonder if I can buy just one? I also read that if they run out of small snails they will attack my Mystery snails. A guy posted a pic of that. I would have to move my Mystery's to the fish room while the Assassin chowed down in my planted tanks.

[fljones3]

I read that they multiply like crazy to the point that after the lights go out you can see the substrate moving!

Malaysian Trumpet snails do that depending on food.

[Adam S]

The flat ones might be a Planorbis species. Like Steve said, a piece of carrot left in the tank overnight is a good way to start trimming the numbers. I like tying a piece of string to a skewer or screw so I don't have to reach into the tank every time.

Assassins work well but once established, they're no easier to dispose of than normal pest snails. I don't trust them around breeding fish either.

[LizStreithorst]

That's what I'll do.

[Branch]

Thank you! I will try the carrot method as I think your idea Liz to crush the snails would be impossible in my 150 gallon tank there are literally hundreds of 1,000's of the pests. My swords are over 3ft high and 5" wide and so just one leaf would take an hour. B

[Pices]

The assassins? I think mine ran out of food, they disappeared except for a few shells. Maybe I killed them off somehow, or sucked them out, but a bit of a mystery.

Mine did the same Steve. The guy who sold them to me said they eventually kill each other. I have 1 left.

[0Dgreen]

I had the same thing happen to my planted 55g a few weeks ago. Last weekend I went to the LFS and got 3 dwarf chain loaches and within 3 hours I didn't see any snails on the glass, I expected it would take a few days...but they went to work FAST. Within a couple days more snails emerged, so, I didn't feed the tank for a few days and the loaches went to work again...The trick is to skip feedings for a couple days, because they would rather eat fish food than the snails. These little loaches are pretty boisterous, but tend to spare with each other...they don't pay much attention to my rainbows or corys.

HTH!

[JamesW]

I have used assassin snails. My problem was with MTS which have shells that are too hard to crush. They work well and obey predator population control I would see many babies and eggs of assassin snails when they were initially getting rid of the snails but none since they took care of the issue.

I'm not sure they would be happy in a tank with clown loaches but assuming they didn't get eaten by the loaches they would eventually get your nuisance population under control.