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OK so I started out with 1 Ram's Horn snail that I bought. Then eventually I bought some plants that I guess had a snail or 2 of them. Stupidly I did not rinse them off before putting them in my tank (learned my lesson the hard way), so one day I had a snail. Different from the Ram's Horn, but not quite sure what it is. It looks like an Apple snail sort of.

So then I had 2, then 5, then 10, then 20, now I can't even count them because its probably close to 100 or more.
Theres eggs everywhere, I'm at a loss at what to do. They clogged up my filter hanging on the back of the tank because they would get sucked up into it. I have large ones, and down to the size of smaller than a period and everything in between.
A guy at the pet store said I could get a medicine that keeps them from laying so many eggs and kills some of the small ones off, but it would hurt my (Gary) Ram's Horn too.

So I am now at a complete loss and looking for help. I'm planning on re-doing my tank because they just have made it into a pig sty with so much waste, and get a new filter. But I have no idea what to do with the snails. I plan on wiping Gary off with a toothbrush? Because they have started to eat his shell. I'm surprised they haven't got stuck onto the fish yet, haha. And then boil the rocks in my tank to prevent any eggs from hatching. I got all new gravel and I intend of cleaning every crevice of my tank till its snail free. However...I don't know what to do with all the snails that are in there. I don't want to kill them but is there any other alternative? I could ask the guy at my local pet store if he wants them...but I doubt it, because they are just causing problems.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to a place to take them or what do with them...or should I just go into the snail breeding business, even though they seem quite capable of doing everything on their own. Or is there a humane way of getting rid of them??

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! I'm up to my neck in snails!!!!!!!!

Your ramshorn snail will breed by itself too, just be aware of that.

Try the following, it seems to be a pretty helpful trick when it comes to removing snails:
Add a piece of lettuce (or some other green vegetable) to your tank at night. Leave, then come back an hour later. There should be tons of snails on the veggie, so just take it out quickly. Dispose of that, then repeat the whole thing as needed. You will be getting rid of bunches of snails at a time. Just be sure that you don't take your special ramshorn snail out, too!

Last edited by sirbooks at 10-Jan-2005 15:09

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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."

your new snails are eating the shell of the old snail??? i wouldn't use any of those "meds" for killing snails if you have live plants as some of them will kill your plants even if you're careful. best method to kill them without spending a lot of money is to throw some pennies into the filter until you have no more snails. if you want to keep the old snail (gary??) you will have to find him a new home for about a month or so while you are treating the tank. and try to find pennies made before 1982 because they will be 99% copper.

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

Well I've had Gary for quite a long time, and he never reproduced, maybe he's neutured, hahahahha or just sterile?
But these other snails reproduce like rabbits!

Someone in another forum mentioned Clown Loaches? That they eat the snails. Has anyone had any luck with them for that purpose?

And say I do put lettuce in the tank, when I take it out covered with snails I just toss it in the garbage??? I know its silly because they are just snails, but I feel bad...like won't they slowly die?? Is there a quick way to kill them, sorta like when you have to euthanize a fish?

Thanks for all your help!

if you want a temporary fix, do not use clown loaches. unless you plan on keeping the loaches properly once they're done eating the snails then you should try some other method. i understand yoyo loaches will eat snails, and they don't grow nearly as big as a full grown clown. how big is the tank you're talking about?

for the lettuce, yes you just throw it away. you could also use the copper penny method, which will kill off your adult snails in about 2-3 days. but if you have such a problem infestation, the lettuce trick will have to be done over and over until all the eggs have hatched. if you use the copper pennies, it will get rid of most of the eggs and you should be completely snail free in about 3-4 weeks.

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

Its only 10gal. Thats why I don't think I can add the loach anyways. Though I am thinking about just upgrading to my dad's 20gal, since I plan on re-doing my tank anyways...

I don't want to do the copper thing since my Ramshorn will die too. Unless, I through the other snails in a seperate container with the lettuce and a penny and they can just eat happily till they die???

I know I'm weird...I just feel bad throwing them in the trash to die, is there a quicker way to kill them once I remove them from the tank?

well, you could always get a 1g bowl and put your ramshorn in it. if you can float it in your 10g so that the 2 waters don't mix then you can save your old snail and still dose the copper for the other snails. or you can just keep putting lettuce in there for them until you get the majority of the snails, but just keep in mind that you will still have eggs hatching. if you can smash the baby snails against the glass you might be able to keep them under control

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