Snails!

[Youkai]

So...I have this neat little tank. With odd dimensions, it's probably somewhere between 5-7 gallons. It's been doing well for ages, the only fish being a handful of C. habrosus and pygmeus. It's planted rather well, too.

Nothing has been added for weeks and weeks.

Then suddenly...SNAILS. Everywhere. I mean lots and lots of the little things, not just a few. It seems rather sudden, and nothing's been added recently.

I'm sure some of you can already see the problems here. The tank is small, and most snail eating fish I can think of are FAR too large for such a tank. And the plants and cories are sensitive...but I'd never use a chemical anyway. >:(

Any ideas, anyone...?

[corr]

Well, obviously some eggs just hatched... honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Unless they're doing serious damage to your plants they are actually a good balance to the tank. If you just find them unsightly they are many ways to keep them in check. Like you said, it's not a good idea to add anymore fish that would eat them so you could put something tasty (can't remember right now what works best, apple?) in the tank, get up in the middle of the night and pull it out along with a whole mess of the hitchhikers. Put it under an overturned plate so the fish can't get at it. HTH

[Youkai]

If I wasn't worried about the damage they're causing, I'd just leave them. Honestly, I find them useful (in smaller numbers) and actually kind of interesting.
I'll try what you said to see how many I can get rid of, thanks!

[Shane Tesser]

Ive had problems with them in the past, i sent you a message on some of the way to rid them. Corr is right on the money. Sometimes they do provide a nice balance. I know your anti chemical, so am i, but trust me Had A Snail works. Especially in a small tank, no prob. I dosed the hell out of one large tank for almost a year, it cost me like twenty bucks a week, but eventually i got rid of them. The plants from what i saw didn't seem to mind either, i had no problems, i didn't loose any fish....okay, maybe they were somewhat stressed, but i couldn't tell. Now alot of small fish will eat the eggs. As for the snails themselves, i use pakistani loaches and clown loaches....or course these can get big, but mine all full grown and my cardinals never seem to disappear.....or course they will only eat snails if they are absolutely starved....other than that the apple trick works, as does orange and spinach...lettuce, just will not completely cure it. Or, rip it apart, check all the leaves for eggs, check the gravel as some of them burrow, and don't forget the filter, they somehow manage to survive in there. I go through every plant i buy, with a magnifying glass (ok, so im a nut) and remove everything, but remember food and also new fish can introduce them. And you have to get every last one of them as it takes only one to breed...sorry id have to go with the chemicals on this one....trust me not very often i would side with this:)

[beyowulf]

I was in Petsmart about a year ago looking at fish, and I was standing talking to a saleswoman when she all of a sudden reached her hand in a tank and started crushing these baby snails against the glass. Needless to say I was grossed out, by the crunching noise as well as all the snail guts floating around

[Quervo]

Hey now there's a unique sales technique .. show the customer your snail guts.

[reverendsterlin]

I figure them like the roach of the aquarium world, interesting to look at once in a great while but near impossible to get rid of. Good luck getting rid of them without chemicals.
Sterling

[Youkai]

Actually, the amount of snails in the tank has just dropped drastically, for almost no reason I can see. It's back to managable and not plague populations.

[wonder_chunky]

i had snails in my tank and they multiplied so damn fast...the6 killed off all of my fish!
so i'd get rid of em if i were you..

[corr]

Just as I suspected, Youkai. There was a whole lotta eggs that hatched and now that food is minimal, they are dying. There will only be as many snails as there is food for them to eat. It would be a good idea to do a big water change now if you haven't already.

Wonder_chunky, snails killed your fish!?! Can you elaborate? What kind of snails were they?

[wonder_chunky]

i'm not sure what kind but i bought like...5 big ones at a pet store to keep the tank clean...and they multiplied and took over the tank and all of my fish suddenly died off...and a newt died too....and the snbails sucked his body dry!!
snails are evil!!
lol

[corr]

I think the fish may have died because the water quality diminished after the snails were added. Snails are HUGE waste producers, more so than fish. Yes, they will keep the glass clean, but only for a trade off in water quality.

Snails are good! Algae is good! The balance is the tricky part. :D

[Shane Tesser]

Corr's 110% right....they have a really short life cycle....so where do you think all the corpses end up!

[Youkai]

I'm quite diligent(sp?) about water quality in the tank, and small water changes are weekly. The stupid cats aren't spawning yet though. I've done everything recomended to get cories to breed! Maybe the big humanoid who watches them is starting to be bothersome. ;)

[PetCrazy]

Youkai...
Now now, not everyone is an exebitionist like you.
Give those Cories some private time...put on some mood music, turn down the lighting....
ya know the drill
-winks-
LOL

[Youkai]

Well actually...this is interesting, but the betta I put in there seems to be acting like a dither fish! Since I put it in there, the cories are coming out more, and are much more active. It makes sense I suppose, but still surprised me.