want to remove snails

[csarkar001]

is there an efficient mechanical way to remove a large number of small snails from a pane of aquarium glass? every time i run the palm of my hand over them, they just fall to the bottom. i've tried a paper towel but that doesnt work either.

[kitykatfunkiehat]

Pick em off one by one :)

[Altum Nut]

Hello csarkar001,

There are two ways I use with success....

1) Place a couple of slices of zucchini in the tank and they will eat off it.
At this point you can either net them or rid of them during your water change.

2) Or my best success comes from adult Assassin snails.

Hope this helps any.

...Ralph

[Palue]

Good Luck, I have been battling snails for years. But you can squish them against the glass with a stick, fish love to eat them then. But the best way is to get a loach, either a Yo-Yo Loach or Clown Loach will do a very good job of cleaning up your snails.

I have personally had both types of loaches and both have their good and bad.

Yo-yo is a better snail killer in my opinion but when they get large they are nasty nasty fish so mine had to go to a new home.

I now have a young small clown loach and they are alot prettier to look at, not as good as a snail killer in my opinion but still doing a very good job. I have not had the issue with the aggressiveness as the yo-yo loaches but sadly mine did not live very long, we have a hard time even getting them hear so I hope this one lives long and does well.

Some have used Asassin Snails which are suppose to eat other snails, I found these snails to be of no use.

If you don't want to add a loach then use the core of romaine lettuce and place it in the tank at night when the lights go out and in the morning it will be covered with snails, removed it and place in garbage and repeat this as many times as you need to.

What ever you do, don't use that stuff to get rid of snails like "snail rid" etc this stuff is deadly and i lost many fish by using this stuff.

Hopefully you can use one of the above ideas for your snail population. I do don't like the look of these guys either.

[Altum Nut]

I beg to differ that Assassin snails are of no use.
I've used them for years and continue to do so with snail free tanks.
The lettuce will work and costs you nothing.
NOTE: I would not put clown loaches in with your discus....Remember they are scavengers..eating machines!!!!! and your discus will not get their share of food you provide.

...Ralph

[Chad Hughes]

Botia (skunk) loaches are my weapon of choice. They are small and will very effectively wipe out a snail infestation. I put 6 in a 150 gallon and snails were gone in a week.

Hope that help!

[TonyAPBTx]

I keep 4 clown loaches in my tank with no problems at all. I haven't seen but two snails and thats usually around when I add a new plants to the tank.

The clown loaches don't have a chance at beating the discus out for food. They tend to stay below the discus and pick up the scraps that the discus leave behind.

I haven't had any issues with the clown loaches being aggressive towards the discus or beating out the discus in any way shape or form for food. The discus are just too aggressive during feeding time for the clowns.

On top of that the 4 loaches school together nicely and look good moving through the tank.

[Palue]

Well you have some good advice on what works for snails, everyone has had their luck with certain things that work and that is great.

Good Luck with your snails

[babakaty]

Botia (skunk) loaches are my weapon of choice. They are small and will very effectively wipe out a snail infestation. I put 6 in a 150 gallon and snails were gone in a week.

+1. I have 6 zebra loaches in my tank and nary a snail to be seen. Just make sure you don't want ANY kind of snails, as they will eat them all. And shrimp as well. If you've ever seen a full-grown adult clown loach, you might think twice about putting them in with discus;)

[zamboniMan]

+1. I have 6 zebra loaches in my tank and nary a snail to be seen. Just make sure you don't want ANY kind of snails, as they will eat them all. And shrimp as well. If you've ever seen a full-grown adult clown loach, you might think twice about putting them in with discus;)

I find the clown loaches work the best. When they get to big simple solution... sell them and buy smaller ones :-p

[XeBurnout]

Sir,

I've tried everything under the sun and nothing worked 100%, and if you don't get them all it's of no use. So I decided to roll up my sleeves and make a hobby of it. I went through my tanks every day and picked out snails, it took over a year!

Now my attitude is totally one of prevention, that year reinforced a huge lesson.

I think if I saw a snail in an aquarium I'd have heart failure.

Become the world's greatest snail hunter.

Respectfully,
Phil

[dark_spell]

I've got 3 burmese loaches in my tank. THey obliterated all of the snails in just a few days. However, I'm thinking of getting rid of them because they take ALL the food! :(

[brewmaster15]

Best snail eaters I ever had were Synodontis eupterus....Have snails....add these...snails gone.:):):):)

-al