mitchturton Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 I have recently had a snail invasion in my 4 foot tank there are hundreds in my 2 foot sump what are the pros and cons? should I try get rid of them and if so how? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saczel Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 I feel your pain. Are they the little red ones? I had no luck getting rid of them with the usual bought stuff. I had to totaly nuke the tank with ammonia(chlorine, non scented-important) so it took some washing afterwards needless to say it kills everything so the fish etc should be gone, you can't keep any plants and it takes awhile to get good again, or you could get some hungry clown loaches which should nail it in a few weeks if all goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellows Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Might pay to try and get rid of them out of the sump first as you don't want 1 of the little buggers clogging up your pump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 If it mts loaches won't touch em unless starving, only way to get rid of them completely is to nuke it. Or manage them with traps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saczel Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 I had a pair of clown loaches who used to nail any snail they could find which they got pretty fat on and they get on with most cichlids i have found. They do tend to hassle the holding females though. Move them on once the job is done but all your lines will need to be clean of any eggs that tend to collect everywhere a snail has been, once i found that the strong chlorine mix didn't affect eggs so a quick restart of the tank got the eggs to hatch then i nailed it again, you only need one to start it all. If going the environmentaly friendly way clean the sump thoroughly and anything that's been wet anywhere the loaches can't get and they can do the rest, , i haven't had a lazy one yet, i try and give the unwanted loaches to friends to clean their tanks but they can turn into mullet if overfed and have the easy life. They recommend small schools which i originally i had 3 but a larger male chased a smaller one out of the tank so lids are a must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchturton Posted December 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Thanks for all the help I might try the clown loaches and see how that goes if not I may have to bomb it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litigator666 Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 how do you bomb it? I have a snail outbreak on my feeder tank. I can place chemicals on it as long as it won't affect the feeders. There's also a few starting to show up on my display tank as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrilicious Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 I've heard some people have had good success with Planaria Zero if they have other invertebrates they want to save (like shrimp). Otherwise you can get "snail rid" chemical type products that contain copper - but they will kill all the invertebrates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 how do you bomb it? I have a snail outbreak on my feeder tank. I can place chemicals on it as long as it won't affect the feeders. There's also a few starting to show up on my display tank as well. Copper based meds I use copper sulphate turn the water blue stir the gravel let sit for 20 min with filters running watch them drop like flies then big water change may need to re dose later on but not normally. Didn't effect my Americans can't say about other fish tho I had a pretty bad mts invasion and a jammed filter from there shells so I was over it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litigator666 Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 might be risky for the display. I'll start some snail traps and see if I can prevent their population to balloon. I also have purigen on my cannisters so it'll be a hassle to take them off for the chemical to be effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th3f0rg0t3n Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 might be risky for the display. I'll start some snail traps and see if I can prevent their population to balloon. I also have purigen on my cannisters so it'll be a hassle to take them off for the chemical to be effective. add 3 or so clown loaches, job done, no chemicals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
col Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 mts = throw sh it out and start again i even went to the extent of buying a new canister i was that paranoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saczel Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 I tried the usual snail killer mixes which even at double dose left most of them still alive but i ended up pouring about half a container load of bleach in(200L tank) and left it for a few weeks and had to wash everything for weeks afterwards to get rid of the bleach smell thought i had it done and started the tank again and within a few days baby snails on the glass again(from the eggs) so another hit and clean and finally after about 6 weeks of cleaning it all up no snails. It all started from some online plants i bought, what a hassle. You will be cleaning up the bleach for ages so throwing out all the substrate and driftwood etc(boil rocks) is quicker but all your hoses and filter internals will need a good going over, even if you go the loach method. Maybe there is a new product out but you also have to worry about how it effects certain fish(scales/scaleless) and i tried the traps as well but you can't keep up with their population explosion so it's kind of pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebelle Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Oh how I wish I had your problem! I just love snails, but they die out within months whenever I add them to my tanks. I believe acidic water conditions have something to do with snails being unable to build shells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchturton Posted December 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 They are only in my sump, I can't even find them in the tank when turning the lights on after hours of darkness. Could something in my tank be eating them? I have 9 black calvus, 6 leulupi, 6 frontosa, 2 multi cats and a bristle nose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Oh how I wish I had your problem! I just love snails, but they die out within months whenever I add them to my tanks. I believe acidic water conditions have something to do with snails being unable to build shells. :crazy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waggles Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Physically keep removing what you can. Scrape, crush, vacuum, etc... You can buy Ista snail traps - look up on search browser, but Age of aquariums does have them: Age of Aquariums - Ista Snail Trap Make water soft, no calcium for a while. I had an outbreak of MTS when I bought an a potted aquarium plant from my local aquarium shop. First two, then four, then eight, then sixteen. They avoid light and seek dark places, trap them in a shadowed area, like underneath a sponge filter. Pull them up on the filter and base (for example) and physically wash them off and use a clean toothbrush to scub the little horrors off. They usually piggy-back on new aquarium plants, especially the potted ones. Good luck! They say Loaches do eat them, but be aware Loaches can grow to be a large fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waggles Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Physically keep removing what you can. Scrape, crush, vacuum, etc... You can buy Ista snail traps - look up on search browser, but Age of aquariums does have them: Age of Aquariums - Ista Snail Trap Make water soft, no calcium for a while. I had an outbreak of MTS when I bought an a potted aquarium plant from my local aquarium shop. First two, then four, then eight, then sixteen. They avoid light and seek dark places, trap them in a shadowed area, like underneath a sponge filter. Pull them up on the filter and base (for example) and physically wash them off and use a clean toothbrush to scub the little horrors off. They usually piggy-back on new aquarium plants, especially the potted ones. Good luck! They say Loaches do eat them, but be aware Loaches can grow to be a large fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
