steve24cro Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Hey guys, i have a planted tank and snails have taken over, tons of them in there now...im thinking of stripping the tank down and sterilising it all... whats the best way to sterilise the gravel to make sure no eggs are left alive? bleach? hot water?? anything else i should be aware of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phenomena Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Have you considered putting some loaches in? They should rid of all the snails. I also found snails thrive if the tank have excess food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 The problem you will have is there could easily be snails/eggs tucked away in filter hoses (canister inlet/outlet for example). If you’re going to go the whole hog and strip out the tank take into consideration maintaining the bacteria in the biological media for easier tank restart. In addition, gravel is cheap you maybe better off just replacing it (Jackson’s Mini Crete 20kg bag for around $14.00). Salt water would probably be the best “friendly” snail killer while maintaining an easier/safer get ride of and start again solution. Keep safe the biomedia, strip tank and discard contents, fill with salt water and run tank as though normal (eg filter) for a few days. I’d like to see a fresh water snail that can live through that….then again I don’t think I would . Snails will thrive even without the presents of excess food. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod54 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 What sort of snails??? Malaysian trumpet snails are small spiral shells....they are beneficial to planted tanks as they bury into gravel....taking their waste with them.....but they are easily thinned with traps....bit of veg on a tin lid overnight....remove the mass of snails covering the veg in the morning and repeat as necessary Small loaches will also keep them in check Pond snails are harder to remove because they lay eggs....but easy to squash against the glass with your finger where most fish will eat them....they tend not to get to plague proportions of MTS If you really want them gone....some do regardless....then as Craig says ....dump the gravel and start New Personally I wouldn't stress....just look to control numbers Chances are you sort it out ....but miss one and you'll end up doing that any way!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 The only problem with "controlling numbers" is that it will be an on-going task. In busy lives it will be very difficult to keep on top of. All snails seem to eventually get to problematic numbers, and my concern has always been the "what if" factor. What if during really hot weather, were tank temperatures sore O2 becomes in short supply? I'd be pretty confident that in a competition between fish and snails over O2 who will die first. What if the power goes out in the tank due to a power stoppage? Once again, with a high bioload (which large numbers of snails can be a significant factor) who is going to die first, fish or snails ?. These issues with O2 will only come into being during extreme events. But are we keeping our tanks for fish or snails. And these extreme events if you have a tank long enough will likely happen. It has always been my opinion that anything in our tanks that we can't make an immediate impact upon (snail numbers) are not something we really want in the tank. Malaysian trumpet snails are just a pain. I had a full on CO2 injected planted tank for several years and had great success without these pests. I've seen tank after tank after tank where these buggers take over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod54 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Nothing is perfect....If a individual doesn't want snails in their tanks that's their choice.....however if you do have them by accident or choice then letting them go berserk is a mistake... I have them by choice.... I have found snails to be excellent scavengers...quickly cleaning up uneaten food or dead fish that can both pollute tanks very quickly....causing disease and fish deaths With all my tanks......I regularly thin snail(and shrimp) numbers remove excess plants remove fish eggs and or fry do water changes I don't know How fish would stay healthy if I didn't??? I have heavily planted lightly stocked tanks with little or no filtration and have never had any problems in high heat or power failures???? If you have a large ,heavily stocked ,highly filtered ,non planted tank and lots of fish die in a power failure....at least if you have snails......you don't have to admit guilt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve24cro Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 thanks guys they have already taken over, i will strip the tank and sell the plants and fish....lots of nice and large anubias on driftwood to go and cardinal tetras...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod54 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 That is a shame..... Did you try to remove any??? Did you try loaches??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trofius Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 remove the fish and dose the entire tank with snail rid at higher than recomended concentrations, like double! let it all run for a week, and then clean out the tank, new gravel, and clean out teh filter, cycle and go again should work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve24cro Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 no worries thanks guys! will clean it all out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 thanks guys they have already taken over, i will strip the tank and sell the plants and fish....lots of nice and large anubias on driftwood to go and cardinal tetras...... Put the anubias in a separate body of water, even a bucket if nothing else is at hand, and over a period a few weeks, squash every snail. Change buckets even, and given long enough, all eggs will hatch, and if squashed regularly no snail will get to breeding size. I did this with some anubias nanna Petite successfully. With all my tanks......I regularly thin snail(and shrimp) numbers Trim shrimp numbers…what do I do wrong, I’ve never had this problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod54 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Trim shrimp numbers…what do I do wrong, I’ve never had this problem Perhaps my snails excrete a shrimp aphrodisiac...??? I'll sell you some!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve24cro Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 well i got 2 clown loaches, hopefully they will do the job, should be enough for a 2ft tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klw Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 i had thousands of little snails too once brought in on plants which i would never buy again.instead of going to all the trouble of stripping your tank,buy 1 or 2 juvie silver dollars they the best snail eaters ever!!!they got rid of every single one within a few months.when they grow too big for your tank,either buy abigger tank or sell them.but they did a great job for me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod54 Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Must have been pond snails.... Silver dollars eat all the plants and then there is nothing for the snails to feed on???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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