WTF! nottagain!!!!

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


Sumthing_Fishy
 
Posts: 193
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:47 am

WTF! nottagain!!!!

by Sumthing_Fishy

Just when I thought I was snail free!!! Fstripped down the tank last month and totally scrubbed everything to just like new, washed the gravel good and even hand-picked each snail out of there, but I guess 1 or 2 got past me. A couple of black snails show up on the glass about 2 weeks ago and so I crushed them, and the next day, there was probably 6 to 10. There are more and more each day, probably close to 50 by now. How in the hell can I get rid of them permanently without buying new gravel, stripping the tank down or killing the fish? Those pesky @#$#$@# have got into my 125 gallon tank also and have really ticked me off!!! I crush the hell outta them every time I see one, but there isn't, but less than 10 that I can see, probably more than that hiding. I have a feeling, they are going to take over the tank like they did the 30 gallon to where I have more black snails than gravel. Any miracle drug that will cure this problem?


a1k8t31524
 
Posts: 939
Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:10 am

by a1k8t31524

was reading an article that other day that said that an overabondunce of snails is usually due to and excess of organic matter, so remove the food source ...ie a good gravle vaccume i mean a good one, and then at noght before you go to bead put a pice of squash or something like that and in the am remove it with all the snails


Sumthing_Fishy
 
Posts: 193
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:47 am

by Sumthing_Fishy

I've tried the squash and it gets rid of some of them, but not all of them. They get on the glass and lay clear globs of eggs and seems like they hatch overnight. I only throw a pinch of fish flakes in the water for the platies, and those vultures eat it up quicker than you can say BOO, and still swarm around looking for something else. Too bad, they will not eat the snails.


a1k8t31524
 
Posts: 939
Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:10 am

by a1k8t31524

is your tank still overstocked though, it may not be left over food but just the amount of food i started to see a few snails in my tank, but it has only stayed at a few. the bad thind about chems that kill snails, is that it may kill them yes but if you have such an over abundance like than you have tons of decaying snails that you f your water peramiters that you maby have to do a massive water change and the start you cycle all over again.


Sumthing_Fishy
 
Posts: 193
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:47 am

by Sumthing_Fishy

I guess I'll have to chunk the gravel in there and buy some new gravel and totally clean the tank all over again and also chunk out the driftwood, because I know, that is where they have been hiding and laying eggs all in the cracks of it. That is the only thing I can think of that allowed them to come back to life as they were eggs in the cracks of the driftwood. I would like to catch the problem before they infest the big tank, now that would be a chore to clean, and I would really be P'd!!


steelies_ftw6370
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:57 am

by steelies_ftw6370

just get some loaches for a week or two, they will completley wipe them out, my dad got ticked off two and so i got him 3 loaches and no more snails :) and he actually likes the loaches so they stay, there my clean up crew, ill use them in my 15 gallon if i ever see snails like that, and just give them back to my dad :)


Snowboss4492
 
Posts: 2098
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

by Snowboss4492

i was gonna ask if there was a fish or something that will eat em .........man sorry for your problem i'd be ballistic, lol

Boss


morbus6373
 
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:16 am

by morbus6373

the loaches are a good plan!!!!!
there are some cichlids that would totally destroy the snails.
but they would prob have a go a your fish as well
though dude--it is wierd that there could be such a bad problem-cos like da other guy said-they cant be there if they have nothing to eat (organics)

to the chemicals idea-i am against using em in my tanks (the types that kill things) but if you used a good one to kill your snails and then syphoned the gravel daily---you wouldn't have the rotting snails problem


Tmercier834747
 
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

by Tmercier834747

Your tank is still new (I know its cycled but there's a big diff between established and cycled..) so you probably have an abudance of odd bacterias and algaes that the snails are feeding on and thus the population is exploding. Not all algaes are easily visible, and lots of times you'll see oto's and other algae suckers feeding on bacteria on the side of your tank which is basically clear.

In a tank that size I don't think you'd have a problem housing several clown loaches for years. They do need special reqs though (mostly at least an area of fast moving water), and will be much more of a bio load then the rest of your fish (and you already have tons, we know) =P
Imo they're a better option that stripping your entire tank and cycling it again..

You'll probably have to displace some of the livebearers you currently have in your 125 though...whereto don't ask me. I would just avoid using chems at all costs. There's a good reason natural predators exist for snails.

I'd recommend dwarf puffers but you just have too many varieties of fish that the DP's would become territorial over and possibly kill. Clowns are peaceful.


Sumthing_Fishy
 
Posts: 193
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:47 am

by Sumthing_Fishy

Thank you all. How about a couple of oscars. Will they get along with a couple of loaches? Would they eat the snails and the shells? I do not plan on keeping those platies in there. They are just there until I get to the pet store, which I haven't done lately. The silver dollars I have in the larger tank will catch a snail off the glass or go face down into the gravel and pick one up, but they swim around the tank chasing each other playing with it for a while and then spitting it out. Do you think a loach would get along with the rest of the tetras, silver dollars, guppies, platies, mollies, etc. in the larger tank? I will probably eventually need something to eat the snails in there before it gets to be a problem.

This is the 2nd time I have stripped that tank down along with the same gravel. The first time, I got T'd, I drained the water and put all the gravel in a bucket for a couple of weeks or so until I felt like cleaning the tank, and you know, there were snails still crawling around in there with no oxygen, water, food, etc. I called myself picking the snails out of the gravel again and rinsing it off real good and putting it back in the clean aquarium, and they came back to life again and started over again.

WTF! nottagain!!!!

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