How do I get rid of these snails in the fishtank?

Question

First of all, I have no idea how the first one got in there. Then before I knew it, there were a ton of them. We cleaned out the tank. And I mean cleaned out. (Moved fish into a reserved tank for the time being) Took everything out down to a few gallons of water and gravel. Put a ton of pickling salt in there to soak. (didn't have regular table salt) Washed the plants and soaked them in a bucket of salt water. Washed the water filter, everything. Then completely emptied the tank, put in new gravel, fresh water, and new filters. I just checked the filters and sure enough there were 4 snails on them. WHY??? What the heck can I do?? I hate those little suckers! Help! I don't want to move my fish back in there before riding the tank of them.

Answer 1

When my friends tank got overpopulated with snails, we thought Food Chain!!
I lent her my Clown Loaches and my Ghost Knife who lived a life of delicacy for a few days! I took my fish back and she has never had a snail problem since.
There is also a product called Snail Rid and Snail away which kills snails in the aquarium, your local aquarium shop should sell it. It's harmless to fish but activated carbon remove the chemical from the water.
Cheers & Good Luck :-)

Answer 2

The snails (or eggs) were on the plants.

Whether or not you should get rid of them should be based on what species they are. If they're a pond snail http://www.bettatude.com/Snails/pond-snail1.jpg or ramshorn snail http://www.andyjh.net/snail.htm, get them out. If they're Malaysian snails http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_Trumpet_Snail, I'd leave them. They're small, nocturnal, and live in the gravel.

If you absolutely want them gone, the clown loach http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-ClownLoach.htm will get rid of them, but you should have a big tank for one of these.

If you have a smaller tank, a fish that I would suggest is a dwarf puffer (http://www.pufferresources.net/puffer_profiles/viewtopic.php?t=11). These only get about an inch long and NEED to much on snails to keep their beak worn down. So there's no question of "what if the one I get won't eat them". They have cute faces and great personalities, but they may not get along with the other fish. Some will become fin-nippers, but others are no problem with a mixed community. They cant be kept with fast/aggressive fish because they are slow swimmers. Many sites will tell you they won't get enough food with other fish in the tank, but what other of your fish will eat the snails? Just thought I'd mention another option. You obviously have a second tank/container that you could put one in if the fish would have to be separated. The link explains their needs.

The pickling salt was fortunate - you shouldn't use an iodized salt in the aquarium.

Answer 3

If you just bought live plants from a pet store than that will be the cause. snails lay eggs on the plants. Some times the eggs will go unnoticed. They are very small and look like little brown dotes. I had a snail problem in my tank and what I did was I would just suck up as many of them as possible when I was doing a water change (check under ornaments and fake plants they love to hid under them) also you should not clean but replace your filter cartridge because their was probably eggs in the filter cartridge as well. It will take a couple of months to get rid of all of them. You could also go to your pet store and buy fish that eat snails that will also work.

Answer 4

Snail eggs show up in water from pet stores when you bring home plants or fish. I tried all the things you tried to get rid of them, because while they eat algae and whatnot, man, did I have a lot of them! Eventually I just got Clown Loaches, they love them! Now I let the snails in my guppy tank breed as much as they want, and I periodically scoop a bunch out and put them in my other tanks for my loaches

Answer 5

Snails can move into your tank via live plants.
I have seen a chemcial that you can add to your water that will keep the snails at bay. I can't find the name of the chemical, but look around your local petshop. Keep in mind that you will need to keep your tank 'fish free' until the chemical cycles out. You can also bait the snails with some fresh veggies and manually remove them. Consider taking them to your local petstore; they often give them out free to persons keeping "snail-eating fish."

Answer 6

Snails are a great addition to a tank. We have one tank completely dedicated to snails. My husband counts them quite often.And then we have another tank with a paradise fish and many snails.

They really keep the tanks clean.

Maybe you should consider keeping them and doing what the others suggested, possibly getting a loach to keep the snails to a minimum.

Good luck!

Answer 7

sorry about the problem It seem like you have spent a lot of time getting rid of them. Some times snail be gone will work. I personally have let mine stay after a long battle. I bought a clown loach( adult) they eat almost all of them in a week. It's healthy for him and the snalls are healthy for my other fish. ( now I find out.) they are great for you gravel and keeps the water fresher between cleanings. I wish I had a better answer for you hope this helps.

Answer 8

You should not get rid of them they can help you keep the tank clean! just take something and move them back to the bottom and then they will clean the tank

Answer 9

Get a crayfish; we accidentally put snails in with ours and he essentially ate them all within a matter of days. I would just be careful if you have any small fish.

Answer 10

if you go to pet stores there is a product called snail be gone or rid a snail or something like that.