Help! - I've been snailed

[lgb]

I've got a heavily planted 10 gallon tank with about 11-12 inches of
fish in it (1 betta, 3 otos, 3 corys, 1 platy). It's had snails for
some time, but I could keep them down to a few without too much trouble.

About two weeks ago I had a snail explosion. They're everywhere. A
single leaf may have 20 small snails on it. I've been siphoning them
off of the broad-leafed plants, but on the narrow stuff (pygmy chain
sword and some sag) the suction uproots the plants. Even so I get 50-
100 every other day or so.

As far as I can see, I have two options.

I can remove all the plants, put snail-killer in the tank, and give all
the plants a good wash and a potassium permanganate dip before I put
them back. I suspect the corys and the otos wouldn't appreciate an
empty tank, and I'm even a little worried if the snail killer might harm
the fish.

I can go get 2 or 3 loaches and put in the tank. The problems with this
approach are that the tank is already fully stocked and the only loaches
available around here are the clowns, which get pretty big. I will be
setting up a 29 gallon in a month or two and I can transfer the loaches
to that then, but I worry about the overloading of the 10 gallon until
then.

Any suggestions? I'm leaning toward the loaches and hoping the heavy
planting will handle the fish overload. But they'll have to eat a LOT
of snails :-).




--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

[sculley]

Boy I wish mine would breed, I need them to feed my dwarf puffer .....

"lgb" > wrote in message
...
> I've got a heavily planted 10 gallon tank with about 11-12 inches of
> fish in it (1 betta, 3 otos, 3 corys, 1 platy). It's had snails for
> some time, but I could keep them down to a few without too much trouble.
>
> About two weeks ago I had a snail explosion. They're everywhere. A
> single leaf may have 20 small snails on it. I've been siphoning them
> off of the broad-leafed plants, but on the narrow stuff (pygmy chain
> sword and some sag) the suction uproots the plants. Even so I get 50-
> 100 every other day or so.
>
> As far as I can see, I have two options.
>
> I can remove all the plants, put snail-killer in the tank, and give all
> the plants a good wash and a potassium permanganate dip before I put
> them back. I suspect the corys and the otos wouldn't appreciate an
> empty tank, and I'm even a little worried if the snail killer might harm
> the fish.
>
> I can go get 2 or 3 loaches and put in the tank. The problems with this
> approach are that the tank is already fully stocked and the only loaches
> available around here are the clowns, which get pretty big. I will be
> setting up a 29 gallon in a month or two and I can transfer the loaches
> to that then, but I worry about the overloading of the 10 gallon until
> then.
>
> Any suggestions? I'm leaning toward the loaches and hoping the heavy
> planting will handle the fish overload. But they'll have to eat a LOT
> of snails :-).
>
>
>
>
> --
> BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

[coolchinchilla]

lgb wrote:
> Any suggestions?

One thought... Put a leaf of lettuce or kale or something on the
bottom of the tank (anchor it down). A bunch of snails will be
attracted to it. Remove the collected snails in the morning and put
another few leaves down to collect some more.

To dispose of the snails: please don't flush them down the toilet
for two reasons:
1. Their gills will burn from the chlorine. This is an inhumane way
to euthanize snails.

2. There is always a potential for the snails to actually survive
and contaminate the flora & fauna of your area and overrun a natural
eco-system.

My 2 cents.
coolchinchilla

[Pammy]

Hi
The tiger loach is smaller and perhaps you could mail order one if you
choose to. I had a very snailed 10 gal and put one 2 inch tiger loach
in there and he has made a HUGE difference in just one day. I had to
really look for a snail this evening, where as before I was disguisted
every time I looked at the aquarium.....ewwww.

[lgb]

In article . com>,
says...
> Hi
> The tiger loach is smaller and perhaps you could mail order one if you
> choose to. I had a very snailed 10 gal and put one 2 inch tiger loach
> in there and he has made a HUGE difference in just one day. I had to
> really look for a snail this evening, where as before I was disguisted
> every time I looked at the aquarium.....ewwww.
>

Lots of smaller loaches available by mail order. But all I've found
want $25 and up for shipping. That's a bit much for a retiree on a
budget. If you know of a place that does cheaper shipping, let me know.
I'd love to get some dwarf chain loaches.

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

[sophie]

lgb said this:
> I've got a heavily planted 10 gallon tank with about 11-12 inches of
> fish in it (1 betta, 3 otos, 3 corys, 1 platy). It's had snails for
> some time, but I could keep them down to a few without too much trouble.
>
> About two weeks ago I had a snail explosion. They're everywhere. A
> single leaf may have 20 small snails on it. I've been siphoning them
> off of the broad-leafed plants, but on the narrow stuff (pygmy chain
> sword and some sag) the suction uproots the plants. Even so I get 50-
> 100 every other day or so.
>
> As far as I can see, I have two options.
>
> I can remove all the plants, put snail-killer in the tank, and give all
> the plants a good wash and a potassium permanganate dip before I put
> them back. I suspect the corys and the otos wouldn't appreciate an
> empty tank, and I'm even a little worried if the snail killer might harm
> the fish.
>
> I can go get 2 or 3 loaches and put in the tank. The problems with this
> approach are that the tank is already fully stocked and the only loaches
> available around here are the clowns, which get pretty big. I will be
> setting up a 29 gallon in a month or two and I can transfer the loaches
> to that then, but I worry about the overloading of the 10 gallon until
> then.

29 is on the small side for most of the loaches, which live in groups.
are they pond snails? if so, could you borrow a small (2-3 inches) goldfish
for a few days? if you don't put any food in the tank a goldfish will
demolish the snail population in fairly short order.

>
> Any suggestions? I'm leaning toward the loaches and hoping the heavy
> planting will handle the fish overload.

most of the snail eating loaches (ie not kuhlis, and I'm never sure if the
weather loaches eat snails or not) come from moving, well oxygenated water so
your setup might well not be ideal, especially as they'd be sharing space
with the cories. Bearing in mind that loaches are prone to ich and sensitive
to water quality you might be better off setting up the 29 gallon tank sooner
rather than later (with nice clean plants), feeding your fish less in the
meantime and hoover up as many snails as possible as often as you have to.
Then you'll be starting with a nice clean tank and you won't have to have
loaches unless you actually want loaches!

--
sophie
clueless newbie.

[lgb]

In article t>,
says...
> 29 is on the small side for most of the loaches, which live in groups.
> are they pond snails? if so, could you borrow a small (2-3 inches) goldfish
> for a few days? if you don't put any food in the tank a goldfish will
> demolish the snail population in fairly short order.
>
Thanks for the idea, but as I posted, I went ahead and got two clown
loaches about 1.5" long. They're in quarantine now.

I'll probably give them back to the pet store when they get too big for
the 29. Or maybe I'll have a bigger tank by then :-).

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever