snail looking things in the tank.?

Question

i have just started keeping tropical fish and after about two weeks little round snail looking things are appearing all over the tank what causes this and how can i get rid of it.

Answer 1

Ok, you had enough answers stating the obvious.....you have snails, woo hoo. You only have a few options on snail control, unfortunately. Also though, keep in mind that not ALL snails are "bad" snails (but hundreds of snails, good OR bad are a HUGE pain! (i.e. apple snails, also called the "mystery snail" or "brigs", can be helpful to your tank by eating dead plant matter and other "unwanted" material, and will not usually bother your live plants unless there is no other food available....they are also the biggest freshwater snails on earth.)

So, here are your options (short version):
1. Buy a Yoyo loach....these loaches stay relatively small. People suggest Clown loaches, which are good too, but they can grow to 12+", so if you have a smaller tank, this type is not such a great idea;
2. Food trick: Put a slice of something large (that sinks) in your tank over night....such as a slice of zucchini. Get up early (preferably while reasonably dark) sneak in on them, and scoop them up into a net (a massive amount will have gone to the food during the night, and although you won't get all of them, you'll get a lot!!)..."sneaking" part optional, regular walking will do fine, lol....besides, you may scare the dog;
3. UGH.........Complete taking down of your tank and starting all over (what a pain in the neck!!); and lastly
4. Chemical snail removers (which I opt against due to the fact they can alter your water chemistry and stress your fish) Personally, I don't like using this type of chemical. Others don't have a problem with it, it's a personal choice.

As people stated, the eggs come in on your live plants. One way to kill the snails is to clean your plants prior to putting them in your tank by soaking them in a solution of 10 mg/l potassium permanganate solution for 10 to 15 minutes then rinsing them with clean water. You can also soak your new plants for 2 to 3 minutes in a 5% bleach solution, then rinse the plants in water with chlorine remover added (the same chlorine remover that you would use in your aquarium).
Well, I hope this helps you in some way, and Good Luck!! ;o)

Answer 2

when you added the fish to your tank did you net them out of the bag, or did you just pour the water from the pet store into the the tank? If you did the latter, there is a possibility that is how your snails were introduced to your tank. another way is through live plants. Snails tend to hitchhike on live plants. snails are prolific breeders but fortunately they eat algae & extra fish food that falls to the bottom. They will keep the tank clean for you. I have lots of snails in all of my tanks and they keep it pretty much algae free. If you have an aversion to the snails or they creep you out, you can remove the carbon from your filter & thow a few pennies in the tank, the copper will weaken their shells. Copper is the active ingredient in "had a snail" and will kill off the snail population, you will have to do frequent water changes during this treatment, as the dead snails will foul up the water. when you are satisfied that all the snails are gone remove the pennies and add fresh carbon to the filter. If they are the tiny snails that do not seem to grow large snail eating fish may not take interst in such small prey. So clown loaches and the like are not likely to be much help. Clown loaches also need a decent sized tank 29 + gallons as they can grow to be up to 16 inches. They also require soft water, and adding aqarium salt is not recommended as they do not have scales and their skin is sensative to the salt.


Edit: snails are not asexual - some are hermaphroditic, but there still needs to be two snails for mating to occur....Goldfish do not eat snails, and the columbian ramshorn snail is the largest fresh water snail

Answer 3

There are two types of snails that can live in a tropical tank, one looks exactly like a snail. And the other have a very round body with an opaque body. Both types of snails will not harm the tank, infact they do a lot of good as they eat any dead matter, including fish food, plants, algae. The only problem is the are hemaphrodites, self-breeding. And the will breed a lot. You can get chemicals to get rid of them, but if you want you take to be as natural as possible, get some clown loaches as they love to eat snails. This will not get rid of them totally, but it will bring the tank into a good balance. The good thing about snails eating algae is that you don't have to clean the tank that often.

Answer 4

Funnily enough they are snails - they usually come as two different types - one is the little round ones and the other are more like little ice cream cones.

They can be introduced to a new tank as eggs on plants which you have purchased - unfortunately once you have them they begin to multiply quite quickly - a few are no problem - infact a little helpful as they eat the algae - but an infestation can be a problem - they eat the plants, look untidy when they die can pollute the tank.

You can get chemical treatments which will rid your tank of them - go check in your local fish store. If you are not happy about using chemicals there are fish which eat snails -again talk to your fish shop - but fish are unlikely to completely clear a tank of snails - they just don't eat them fast enough.

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Answer 5

They will have arrived as eggs but they breed fast and they are a pest to get rid of.

You can get snail killer from any decent aquarists, the idea is to dose the tank at about weekly intervals and siphon the dead ones up. In my experience snail killers don't work very well as they often anaesthetise the snails without killing them so you need to hoover up the gravel to get rid of them fairly frequently.

In addition keep an eye on the tank and if you see any snails on the glass or floating on the surface of the water, remove them.

Answer 6

Snails arrive in your tank as eggs on the plants that you brought.

The best way to rid your tank and keep them at bay is to buy a group of any of the following fish -

botia striata
botia locharta
botia dario
botia sidthimunki
botia macracantha - clown loach do not buy unless your tank is 300litres or more and very mature as they get quite large and will suffer in poor water quality.

Answer 7

Listen to this Pet Fish Talk Show! It is a 12 minute segmant about "Getting Rid Of Small Snails"

http://www.petfishtalk.com/shows_special/small_snails/small_snails.htm

Answer 8

They sound like ramshorn snails.
I don`t like to use chemicals in my tanks.
Baby crucian carp-about 50mm long- will eat all of the snail eggs and some small snails. You can take them back where you got them from after they`ve finished. Before they die from being too warm.
Puffer fish (the tiny fresh water variety that many dealers sell) will eat all of your snails. Puffers aren`t really fresh water fish though and will soon die in an ordinary tank but not -in my experience- before eating most of the snails.

Answer 9

you must be getting the snails from your live plants i sufferd this for a long time and tried everything to get rid of them even empty'd out one of my tanks and started again from scratch but finely got the problem solved get yourself a clown loach they are great for getting rid of snails and are a friendly fish to keep in a comunity tank and they have lovely markings

Answer 10

If you have bought and planted weed in your tank thats where the snails have come from. Get some cordylines they will eat the snails