Jump to content

Help - what are these snails


Recommended Posts

Hi Folks 

Just noticed 100s of little snails in my tank .. I have never seen them before.. during the day time I have not seen them at all. Tonight when I I came home decided to check the tank. Please find attached a photo for your reference. Any help would be appreciated. 

IMG_5373.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, brucem said:

Malaysian trumpet snail.

Thanks Bruce.. they are everywhere.. any ideas how I can get rid of them? Of course I don’t want to mess up the tanks and the fish .. any ideas would be appreciated.. I am at a loss how they ended up in there .. I have not introduced any new fish or plants for possibly near 12 months .. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Almost impossible without thoroughly stripping down the tank, drying it out and all the media, substrate and decorations that are in the tank.  
 

I’ve tried to keep tanks clean of them.  Only my fry tanks that have no substrate appear to be free of them.

Clown loaches and other loaches will eat them and can really suppress the population but are unlikely to eradicate them.  Loaches may also affect your breeding success of substrate spawners etc.

I’ve given up at the moment and the populations have exploded.  They shouldn’t affect the breeding success of substrate spawners, in my experience.

Edited by brucem
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for that Bruce. Appreciate your insights.. will see how I go .. but it seems there are 100s and 1000s of them in the tanks ..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I found that clown loaches didn’t kill the trumpet snails.

The only way I beat them was by removing all the substrate, letting it sit in a hot shed for a few months to fully dry out, then it was fine.

I know that’s not an easy option but it worked and didn’t need chemicals.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, TJK1818 said:

I found that clown loaches didn’t kill the trumpet snails.

The only way I beat them was by removing all the substrate, letting it sit in a hot shed for a few months to fully dry out, then it was fine.

I know that’s not an easy option but it worked and didn’t need chemicals.

Thank you for that. They are everywhere now, gotta do something! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, MattG_Sydney said:

Thank you for that. They are everywhere now, gotta do something! 

Cut back on your feeding for a bit, and DIY some snail traps.  Manual removal via the traps won't get rid of them but it will put a dent in their numbers.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)

Thanks @Skippy.. I will catch some as part of tank cleaning on the weekend.. good idea, will stop feeding for a few days and see how that helps. Thanks for the tip 

Edited by MattG_Sydney
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I’m just going through sorting out my tanks to kill both the MTS and the tiny rams horn snails.  My 3’ tank and sump were hit with both teaspoon of Potassium permanganate and potassium sulphate ran that through the tank for a week then drained it.  Now for the next 14 days I’m running the tank and sump with the copper treatment Quarrantine.  Once the 14 days is up then it will be completely drained and refilled with fresh water and treated with copper removal.  As for the substrate I’ll be replacing it with new sand which will be boiled before it goes into the tank and the plants I have will have 5 day 12 hour soaking in the potassium sulphate to ensure all snails and eggs are killed.

it may seem like overkill but it’s the only way I have found that kills the snails completely 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, seanymph said:

I’m just going through sorting out my tanks to kill both the MTS and the tiny rams horn snails.  My 3’ tank and sump were hit with both teaspoon of Potassium permanganate and potassium sulphate ran that through the tank for a week then drained it.  Now for the next 14 days I’m running the tank and sump with the copper treatment Quarrantine.  Once the 14 days is up then it will be completely drained and refilled with fresh water and treated with copper removal.  As for the substrate I’ll be replacing it with new sand which will be boiled before it goes into the tank and the plants I have will have 5 day 12 hour soaking in the potassium sulphate to ensure all snails and eggs are killed.

it may seem like overkill but it’s the only way I have found that kills the snails completely 

Thank you ! Good luck with the treatment. I might have to do the same.. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...