Snail infestation

C

carly

Guest
I know others have posted about this, but I can't find the threads. So I'm sorry for making this thread. BUT I have a snail infestation that I thought I had under control.
I got it from a petshop plant. When I first noticed them (TINY brown snails that seem to like being just at water level) I took everything out of my tank and rinsed the gravel and scrubbed all the extra, but I guess that didn't get rid of the snails.
Can I do anything else that doesn't involve chemicals? I read something about boiling the gravel. Will this work?
I wouldn't care if it were just a snail or two but these are reproducing like wildfire.
 
the snails!! I had hundreds and hundreds eariler this year, and I put a few back in and I never see them or the eggs (playing with fire i know) what works well to get rid of them is 1.check the filter if you have one, they love foam inserts and there could be countless ones in there, you may have to just change it or rinse it in boiling water and take apart all components of the filter and clean those as well. 2. Check for eggs at the water level, thats where you find them, eventually, the tiny ones will get big and you can just use a turkey baster or something else(like your hand) to pluck them out. It would be nice if the newts would eat them.
 
What are you feeding the newts? I've found that snail numbers generally stay low in tanks unless one is feeding too much or feeding a very messy food. If you cut back on the food the snails numbers will lessen.

Hope this helps
 
Thanks.
I took apart my filter tonight, there were a few in there but I have a fairly cheap, simplistic filter so there aren't too many hiding spots. Good to know about the eggs, I guess that means they aren't putting the eggs in the underwater gravel.
I'm feeding my boys only earthworms right now, which they gobble up pretty quickly leaving no trace. I don't know why these snails came back! There's nothing there for them...
I've decided they are pond snails, physa heterostropha. It would be really nice if the newts would just eat them.. but I haven't seen them even take notice.
 
Carly, it's obviously a bit late for this (!) but if you get any more new plants, you can get rid of the snails before putting the plants in. You take the plant and rinse it in the sink with really cold water, then really hot water, then back with the cold again. Run your fingers through the plant thoroughly. This will rinse out all the snails to start with.

Good luck getting rid of them! Those guys are a mess!
 
snails are yummy! many newts will eat them and they usually help keep the tank clean and eat up excess 'gunk' on the bottom-the snail that have the pointy coiled cone shaped shells are bad luck, cause they devour the plants, but the others with the normal coiled up shells (like sponge bob's 'Garry') are actually beneficial.
 
Paris: What newts have you seen eating them? I found they will sometimes be eaten if I smash them and remove most of the shell bits but otherwise they seem to defeat my newts.
 
black belly sals love them! other than that i do reach in and crush some sometimes if i see a population over crowding-once crushed against the glass they do get eaten, most must get eaten when im not looking since i see jelly cluster after jelly cluster of eggs in my tanks and only have 1 or 2 adult snails in them-im guess most get eaten when they are smaller.
 
Snails are readily eaten by my Pleurodeles waltl. They grab the soft part and vigorously shake them out of their shells. Took me some time to find out where the clicking sounds in my newt room were coming from (shells hitting the glass during shaking).
 
That's really interesting to hear, Ralf. What size were these snails?

I've never seen that myself, and I did have a bad snail infestation once in a P. waltl tank. The newts may have eaten some of them, but certainly not enough to keep the snail population under control.

I make a habit of siphoning out any snails I find (with the exception of a couple of nice snail species) during water changes. The only problem with this is getting the larger snails stuck inside the siphon! I then flush them down the toilet together with the old water. I like to imagine them living happily ever after in a sewer somewhere
lol.gif
 
My P.waltl eat small ramshorns whole when they get the chance. The shell comes out the other end looking squeaky clean...
 
I've only found one since the other day when I rinsed all the accessories in hot, hot water.
I crushed it and fed it to my younger t. gran. Isaac. He looked a little confused once he got it in his mouth. New taste I guess.
 
I keep two chinese fire bellied newts and I was considering getting a snail as I get quite a bit of algae growing on the stones around my filter. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if it is safe to use snails in their tank and if so is there any breed that would be best to use?

Thanks, Hugh
 
Snails are generally safe, but either you get one big apple snail(mystery snail) or a few little ones. The problem is no one really sells the little ones as they are a plauge when they get out of control. If you know where to look for the eggs clusters you can usually keep the population down fairly easily. Too bad your across the pond, or I would send you some of mine. Try a petship that sells plants, you might find some on the leaves if you look really close.
 
yeah i'll be working on my snail infestation tomorrow when i clean the tank.
 
took the newts and fish out today and dumped a whole bottle of "snail-b-gone" in and wiped out my entire snail population. put fresh water in, plants back in and all the tenants and everything looks happy. i just hope the snails don't come back.
 
nope, every bit of earth worn is eaten up. well it's been about 3 days and still no snails.
 
re: snails:

Interesting topic.

For quite some time my verrucosus were completely terrestrial..didn't leave the land at all.Yet they had a water area that was planted and it was full of snails. When I finally warmed the water with a heater, the newts went fully aquatic. At about the same time, the snails all but disappeared. I've never actually seen the newts eat them but the snails are history. I assume they can pass the snail shells but I wonder if they have a belly full of them!

Gord
 
you can also dissasemble the tank and let everything to dry for a few days the snails will eventually die or leave to a place with moist conditions
 
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