Pest Snails in breeding tank :(

Speedforce

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Jun 5, 2013
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Dear all

I have recently delved into the world of planted tanks,
mainly with the purpose of giving the fry an extra place to hide in and also the added benefit of the plants eating up any bad stuff in the water, not that I have nitrates or nitrites but as a preemptive measure.

The issue here is, as almost every novice when it comes to live plants i failed to quarantine them :( and just found 1 small snail on the glass, I removed it immediately but I am worried there might be more and that this is just one of many that may have hatched... thank is riddled with driftwood and there is no way to know.

Question is, is it safe to add snail killing meds to a breeding tank?

Daddy L-104 is sitting on Eggs.


Please help and advise safest way to get rid of pest snails without harming the fry.

Read on clown loaches but I heard they also eat fry so that is a no no for me.

Are there any safe meds around?

Thank you all for helping.

Kind regards
 

Irene0100

UK Support Team
May 14, 2009
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why so worried? i have trumpet snails and round pond snails in all my breeding tanks. as long as numbers dont get too high they are good for the fish. larger snails can easily be removed by hand. if i am a bit negligent and i get an outbreak i add a dose (exact dosage is important) of discus wormer which is good for giving to plecs every so often anyway as rids them of paracites, and will kill snails after 4 or 5 days
 

Speedforce

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Jun 5, 2013
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Dear Irene

The reason I am worried is because My better half is a bit of OCD and if the snails multiply all over the place it can be very unsightly and then I will not hear the end of it :)

" have to respect the lady and her living room "

Thank you very much for the quick reply and advise, will keep and eye on it and if i see an outbreak I will buy the Discus wormer as you suggested.

If it comes to it and I have to use the de wormer, when dosing should i account for water displaced by all the wood or just dose according to total water volume the tank can contain?


Kind regards
 
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Nat's Fish

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Nov 14, 2011
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What type of snail is it? I would do anything to get rid of all snails in my tanks
The discus wormer wiped out the trumpet snails but the red and the white ramshorns seem to be able to survive anything
 

Speedforce

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Jun 5, 2013
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Hi Nat's

No way to know, the snail i found was quite small, Dark shell almost black with a light body and the shell shaped similar to trumpet snail.

If I find more, which I am sure I will, will photograph it and post it here.

I have already ordered the discus wormer, if there are more, they are still babies and hopefully the wormer may erradicate the plague before it actually starts :).

Regards
 
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bigbird

Pleco Profiles Moderator - RIP FRIEND
Sep 9, 2010
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i would squish all the live ones I cansee. I would feed less. I never use meds as I value my fish to much and do not think it is neccesary. They look like pond snails. They should not disturb your Ls at all. good luck cheers JK:thumbup:
just stresses how important it is to use a Q tank, sorry for your predikament
 

dw1305

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May 5, 2009
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Hi all,
Dark shell almost black with a light body
Sounds like a pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. The snails in the picture are Bladder Snails (Physa/Physella spp.).

An easy way to tell is that young Pond snails have much tougher shells than Bladder snails, where the shell is quite fragile.

Malaysian Trumpet Snails (Melanoides tuberculata) are much more spire shaped, and their shells are even tougher.

cheers Darrel
 
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Speedforce

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Thank you for your support guys, will keep an eye on the problem and decide what to do accordingly.

Kind Regards
 

Irene0100

UK Support Team
May 14, 2009
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yes take into account the wood volume when dosing. your pic looks like typical 'pond' type snails, i get lots of, they come on many plants and lay eggs in little jelly lumps on the wood and plants (might be worth scubbing the wood in bucket of tank water when you next water change to reduce eggs). (trumpet snails dont lay eggs they are live bearing)
and i squash these snails on glass cos the endlers and cories like to eat them.
 

Speedforce

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Jun 5, 2013
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Dear Irene

I might have been lucky, since i took that one snail out i have never seen another one since, might have been a single egg and fortunately i spoted it before it reached maturity and started to breed.
Didnt have to use the de-wormer but i suppose is good to have it in case of an outbreak.

Thank you for your help.

Regards
 

Speedforce

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Hi Brengun

Thanks for above.

I do have some Hypancistrus, L-80's but I would rather not disturb my 104's with bad neighbors :)

so far I only ever found 2 snails and both were babies,

do you reckon it could be stray eggs that were attached with my live plants?

i reckon if it had been a whole clutch i would have found more by now, so far found 2

tiny ones in a month and a half.

Either I am doing well with the feeding and they just dont get enough nutrition to

multiply or these 2 were solo hitchhikers which would make me very happy indeed :)

anyway, no point speculating, will keep an eye out for them.

Regards
 
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Nat's Fish

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Nov 14, 2011
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It sounds like you're doing well & not over feeding
Literally every time I've got plants or driftwood off someone I inherit a new type of snail
My 134's do a good job of the snails for me
 

Speedforce

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Hi Nat's

134 are beautiful fish, wouldnt mind having a clean up crew like that :).

If i find more snails i might throw my L-80's in there, hopefully they wnt disturb my 104's.
 

zeebo

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Jun 11, 2010
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hi , just noticed your thread . I had the same problem at one time. I suggest you don't get clown loach because they get big and need to be kept in groups of 5 minimum. Also ,they have blades by their eyes that they can slide out, especially at feeding time and the other fish get hurt and no food.

Ok , so I got rid of my snail prob by feeding less , putting a small glass bottle with a smaller neck --stick a piece of zucchini in it overnight and in am there will be a bunch in the bottle feasting on the veggie. Empty out and contine with new raw zucchini till no more show up. Also, if you see a whitish gob ,kinda looks like snot, that is the eggs so get that out fast.

When buying new plants, as long as they are hardy ,you can do the bleach killer. take the plant out of the basket , make a solution of 1 part bleach and 9 parts water. Put the plant in for exactly 90 seconds-no longer. Remove plant and rinse till you cant smell any bleach on it . I have done this many times and no snails. It will only work on hardy or thick leaf plants, not the skinny , grassy types-those cant take the bleach.

wood i always boil. The other members gave good ideas as well , just thought i would mention my method. good luck
 

Speedforce

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Dear Zeebo

Thank you for taking the time and explaining your method in detail,

If I find any more snails in my tank I will be sure to try it out.

Kind regards