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I've never had a snail problem ever since I got my fish tank because I got Yo Yo loaches as part of my first fish though I didn't know they ate snails when I first got them. They had done a good job of it. But they got big and they ate my shrimp in the tank. And because of that, I gave them away to the LFS for store credit. And now that I don't have those yo yo loaches any more, I noticed that after a week or 2 of not having the Yo Yos any more. Some snails that I thought were dead came back to life, must have been a piece of snail left in the shell or some thing.

Any ways, they came back and I noticed they have been multiplying. I really like having live plants for my tank. So I'm wondering, can those little snails pose a threat to my life plants and if they do, should I get a chemical to kill the snails?

They only realy eat rotten matter, and leaves that aint doing so well. I keep removing mine as for one i dont like them and two they produce a good deal of waste. I remove mine by hand. But even though they only eat rotting matter mainly, when i remove a good load the plants do seem to pick up a fair bit. I would not use chemicals. I would only do that as a realy last resort as chemicals can some times mess up the tank balance.

Some snails are a threat to plants, it depends on the species, many species are not purely detritivores and algae eaters, and some will eat plants. Not all plants are on the menu though, and they will often go for softer more palatable varieties.

A lot of their feeding habits also depends on the levels of food available, and snails hard up for detritus and uneaten fish food can turn to plants, hence so many people saying that they do or dont eat plants, sometimes it depends on the situation.

Pest snails reproduce when as little as 2mm across, so they can breed very early, so all your seeing is more eggs hatching. Often the eggs get into the filter, hatch and survive in there until ejected into the main tank. Sometimes snails of breeding age wil be living in the filter or below gravel where even loaches may miss them. Without the yoyos they probably will return.

Chemical controls arent altogether that friendly to fish, so either control them with snail- eating fish, deprive them of sustenance by controlling fish food well, or simply remove them and squash them as you see them.

Is it possible for you to get some small Clown Loaches they will clean out the snails and their eggs very quickly?
I had a bad dose of snails when I set up the 32lt Betta tank, one small CL cleaned them all up and never a problem since. I left the CL in the Betta tank for at least 6 months until he got bigger then I transfered him to the 5ft tank.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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