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In my planted 10 gallon, on top of an algae problem I have a snail problem. Some little hitchhikers found their way into the tank, and have been having lots of babies, I kill as much as possible, but little tiny ones always come back. So should I go for a snail chemical, or loaches?
The tank has no stock (jsut guppy fry which will be moved, and I may add Amano Shrimp (will this limit my fish choices? I know I wouldn't be able to use the chemical with the shrimps in the tank).
Do Kuhlis eat small snails? I've always wanted some, so this would be ideal.
But The loaches would have to be a permanent addition, since they never get all the snails right? so chemicals would be the best thing for my situation?

If you use a copper med to kill the snails then you may never be able to keep inverts in that tank. Copper isn't easy to get out of a tank and will kill your shrimp. Kuhli sometimes eat snails but aren't the greatest snail eaters. The only small loach i'm familiar with is yoyos which will definitely eat snails. I think skunk botias will too but i'm not certain.

chemicals would probably be best. even the smaller species of loaches such as yoyos, zebras and skunks won't have enough room in a 10 gallon. they're shoaling fish so prefer to be in groups plus they're very active and need their swimming space. i know very little about kuhlis so I can't advise as far as these are concerned, but I don't believe there is a Botia species that would be suitable in a 10 gallon.

You could just try a simple snail-removing trick. Place a piece of lettuce (or a like vegetable) in your tank. Leave, and come back an hour later. Pull the vegetable out of your tank, along with all the snails that are on it. You can repeat this as many times as you need, and tons of snails come out with every try.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I'm with books - do the lettuce a few days/nights in a row.

If you ever use a chemical, you need to gravel vac very well and remove dead snails. You WILL get an ammonia spike from the dead snails, not to mention bad bacteria in the water column.

The way to avoid those hitchhikers is to use ordinary kitchen Alum. I just use a bucket with about 2 gallons of room temp water and conditioner. I put in about 2 heaping Tbsp of kitchen alum (spice section of grocery store). I watched snail eggs dissolve. Typically, overnight is enough to do the trick, but if the infestation is bad, I actually left plants in the solution for up to 3 days and it survived . I could see the sacks not yet dissolved, but they sure were by the end of day 3. Rinse well many times. My tank is 2 years and 2 months old and I have never had a snail yet .
21:23

Last edited by Cory_Di at 02-Feb-2005 21:23

i used pennies in my filter for the pest snails in my 10g and after about 5-6 weeks i took them out and was later able to keep MTS in there. i have some *BIG* mts in there right now too, coming in at over an inch long

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Di, thank you for your post! I've been wanting to get some live plants for my tank but have been really scared off by all the threads about snail problems. But you gave a reasonable, practical way to prevent that -- thank you!

Kathy (off to the LFS to look at plants )

I should mention that I always follow up with a 10-15 minute soak in Potassium Permangenate. This is most easily availble in the form of Jungle's Clear Water. If you need a gallon or two to cover the plants, just use as much as required to make it a dark magenta/purple.

One word of caution. If I fill a bucket and put dechlorinator in, the solution turns brown. This means it is no longer active. It is best to fill the bucket, put the conditioner in the night before and let it come to room temp. Then add the solution.

[link=http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/Jungle%2cClear%2cWater/Class//T1/F87+0192+0002/EDP/6672/Itemdy00.aspx]http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/Jungle%2cClear%2cWater/Class//T1/F87+0192+0002/EDP/6672/Itemdy00.aspx" style="COLOR: #C000C0[/link]

This can kill much bacteria and some parasites. When bringing in plants from other systems, especially if they have fish or snails, you risk bringing in disease to your tank. This helps. I don' think any plan is bulletproof, but this comes close. :88)

Rinse very well in all cases using room temp water. Plants don't like really cold or hot water.

How about some Malaysian Trumpet Snails?

They won't eat your plants, but they do like to eat Ramshorns and their eggs...

Keep away from the chemicals, probably do more harm then the sbails ever would.

You may not be able to rid them entirely but it's not that difficicult to keep the population under control to the point that they are not noticeable.

Books idea with the veggies certainly works.

Presoaking the plants as Cory Di suggested is another good safe method.

Female Betta's would eat them and would work well in a 10gal.(females not males).

Rams will dine on snail eggs for some good population control.

Simply pluck them out when you find them (you can squish them and the fish will enjoy some live food!)- my wife made a hobby of snail hunting !

A combination of these methods will get the population reduced very quickly. I've used most of the methods above and haven't seen a snail in months

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Malai.. is that right.. learn something new every day.. i'll give them a try in my tank.. I dont mind the snails when they are large enough to remove and feed to my clowns but still far to many babies coming through, thanks for the tip! .. it better work!