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I recently bought a few plants from the lfs. I rinsed them well, but today i noticed a few snails on 1 of the plants. What would be the best way to get rid of them.

By far the best way to get rid of snails is to pluck them out of your tank with your fingers. If you don't feel like getting wet (), then you should get some loaches. They are really good snail eaters. Any species of loach would do fine, just make sure the tank is large enough for the fish's adult size, and get at least three loaches so they won't be lonely.

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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."

There are many different methods of getting rid of snails. IMO it is best to try without chemicals first. You can put a piece of lettuce in your tank (weighted down by a rock or something) and then when the snails gather to eat it just pull it out. You can try other veggies too, my snail loves cucumber. Another way is putting copper pennies in your filter, that were minted before 1982 I think. And of course, you could always get a snail eating fish if possible, like a school of clown loaches, dwarf puffers, or some select species of gouramis. And your good old hands could also to the trick. As for chemicals, I've heard negative things about had-a-snail, especially in planted tanks. So maybe someone else can give you a good suggestion if you want a chemical. And can somebody plese make sure my penny date is right?? HTH!!! & G/L
~FF~

EDIT: posted at the same time as Nick

[span class="edited"][Edited by ferretfanatic 2004-08-31 10:57][/span]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Yes, she is correct. Only pennies minted before 1982 have enough copper in them to kill the snails. About the chemicals, none of them have been proven to work 100% of the time, and they can be detrimental to your tank's environment. The fewer chemicals you add to your water, the better.

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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."

The problem wasnt out of control so I just took the plants out and rinsed them. I think that may have solved the problem for now. I will try the cucumber trick also!

The pennies are a great trick, too, as the copper will also kill off any eggs those stupid snails leave behind. Not sure what size your tank is, so I can't really suggest fish for you. Some loaches, bettas, gouramis, those types of fish will eat snails.

Personally, I found that the copper penny thing worked wonders. I threw a handful into both my ten gallon and my twenty gallon and my snail problem is virtually gone. I've found ONE snail in the past few months, and that was when I completely reaquascaped my tank... must have been buried in the gravel. Of course, my betta girls like to make a nice snack out of them, too.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I have a 32 gallon tank.

Hi,
Usually, when you can notice "A" snail, there are usually
dozens and dozens that you have not seen.
Copper in a tank is not a good idea, and adding old
pennies is the "poor man's" way of killing off snails.
Copper is the active ingredient in the snail killing
medicines. Since everyone has pennies laying arround,
why not just toss a bunch of them in the tank instead
of purchasing the medication? The problem is, how many
pennies equals one drop of the medication?
The other problem is what type of copper is in the
medication vs the pennies? Yes, there is a difference.
The copper in the medication is bound with other chemicals
to keep it "free" and active in the tank.

A simpler way is to put a small tray on the gravel before
lights out, with a small piece of meat on it, and in the
morning the tray will be filled with the snails. Simply
lift the tray out of the tank, and discard the contents.
Do that a few times and you should get rid of nearly all
of them.
PS, I'd also do a 10 or 20% water change after the
"treatment" to dilute the blood/protein in the water.

Frank


[span class="edited"][Edited by FRANK 2004-09-01 09:49][/span]

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

As stated female bettas do a great job keeping snails down

I personally use the penny method if it gets bad (happened once)...even when I DO use pennies I only use a few...

I usually remove them by hand if I see any...

So, hey, i got a question. Normally when you buy plants people recomend a 5% bleach dip to kill all snails and eggs. Unfortunately, this can badly damage some plants. I don't have copper toxicity data right off hand for plants and snails, so I'm going to appeal to experience. In general is copper more toxic to snails then plants? If so, would it be possible to leave newly aquired plants in a bucket with a penny for a day (2, 3?) to kill off all the snails? Perhaps the bucket can be left outside so the sun's heating can stir it up a bit.

This]http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/invertebrates/snailrid.shtml[/link] is what my favorite reference site says can be done to kill off snails. I'll tell ya, some of the most entertaining fish ever are [link=dwarf puffers]http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/intro1.htm[/link]. Can you say cute? They are also very fiesty and mean for their tiny size. One interesting thing that they do, and need to do, is eat invertabrates, particularly snails. Oh man do they love snails. I had a little 1 gallon thing where i raised snails for these guys. [link=Loaches]http://www.loaches.com/[/link] are the better answer for a community tank, but not [link=clown loaches! Those get big!

[span class="edited"][Edited by hazywater 2004-09-02 20:40][/span]

The lettuce trick didnt work and i also tried a cucumber. Should I invest in snail eating fish or use chemicals (which i really don't want to use ). Can anyone name some good snail eating fish? Thanks.

I wouldn't go for the chemicals, and as for the fish, just read some of the replies on this thread. A few people (myself included), have listed some good snail-eaters for you.

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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."

"...or some select species of gouramis"

What are the select names

Thanks