Removing snails from an Establish Aquarium

[craig_uk]

Evening Everyone.

Just recieved my new tank, so in preporation, ive decided to finally, once and for all get rid of my snail infestation (old school members may remember my apparent success many moons ago)

Either way, the purpose of this post (and im sure the mods and admins can help me out on this one) is to replace my old "snails treatment" in the disease FAQ. (learnt a few little tricks since then )

So here gos

- Snails Treatment -

Originally i treat with snail killing chem (as im sure everyone does) - However this is generally a bad idea. Basically they just fill the water with heavy metals which kill inverts ... and come to think of it, vertibrates too. Best to avoid in ALL cases. The real down fall of these things is that 1. They are pretty expensive and 2. They dont actually work that well.

My next option was to wash all tank decor in a mixture of potasium permanginate (available from pharmacies to cure hard skin on feet weirdly) once a day. Mix the solution til its purple, no too scientific. Put the decor in the solution for a 15 mins, then rinse and de-Chlor. This actaully works really well for keeping the numbers down, however, there are always more snails in the gravel etc.

(an alternative to PP is alum, which is erived from eggs i believe, and is exactly the same principle. Both kill snails and eggs)

I finally tore all my hair out at this point and stirpped the tank bare, bleached it, replaced the decor, left it to rot in the sun and the rebuilt after a few weeks... the snails survived lol

But heres the trick.

1. Reduce huge infestations with traps - Get a drinks bottle, blanch some lettece or some fish food, put it in the bottle and turn the lights out. Aftera a while the snails will be eating the greens (the longer you leave it, the more snails, the more rotten the greens get, the better the results)

2, Snail eating fish - The is honestly, no easier way to get rid of snails in a tank! Just know what your buying, Loaches are on the money for me on this one, they come in a varitie of sizes, are pretty fast (so can avoid cichlids most of the time) So heres the list.

Large, peaceful cichlids - Cant beat clown loach, grow to about 12" over a few years, like to live in groups, will appreciate the good water quality that you need with big cichlids, and they'll like the tank size.

Large, Agro cichlids or malawis - Syno Catfish will eat snails all day long, plus their tough as old boots, just give them somewhere to hide

VERY large, ciclids - Oxydoras niger - Black Doradid - "The mother of snail" catfish. Does pretty much what it says on the tin

Community tank - Skunk botias, pakistani loach, Chain loach - the list goes on. Always keep them in groups, otherwise they will NOT develop a "gang" or organising proactive hunting, they simply sulk and scavange. (seriously avoid the clown loach, they get VERY big, and their VERY expensive, and VERY fragile)

Best of luck with the snail wars
Craig

[stilllearnin]

[quote]My next option was to wash all tank decor in a mixture of potasium permanginate (available from pharmacies to cure hard skin on feet weirdly) once a day.[/quote]
The pharmacy type is more diluted and likely safer for anyone not used to useing it.
If you use it often,it's cheaper from farm supply and pool stores in a less dilted form


[quote]Large, peaceful cichlids[/quote]
Don't forget the non-peaceful cichlids 

Many of the Amphilophus (red devils , amarillos, etc..)feed mainly on snails if given the chance


[quote]1. Reduce huge infestations with traps - Get a drinks bottle, blanch some lettece or some fish food, put it in the bottle and turn the lights out. Aftera a while the snails will be eating the greens (the longer you leave it, the more snails, the more rotten the greens get, the better the results)[/quote]
Nice tip 



[quote](an alternative to PP is alum, which is erived from eggs i believe, and is exactly the same principle. Both kill snails and eggs)[/quote]
Without getting technical Alum is actually a metal (aluminum I think) and salt compund.
Yep the stuff people cook with that looks like powdered egg yoke.
So it might not be a whole lot better then some other treatments containing metals

excerpt that wouldn't  link right
[quote]The most common form, potassium aluminum sulfate, or potash alum, is one form that has been used in food processing. Another, sodium aluminum sulfate, is an ingredient in commercially produced baking powder. (Have you never noticed the faint metallic taste in baking powder? It comes from the alum.)
Alum is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a food additive, but in large quantities — well, an ounce or more — it is toxic to humans
[/quote]

Ever see those "miracle gardens" "underwater rock gardens" ,etc.. They sell under alot of names with the concept being you add some powder and either tap water or water and salt and you get crystals?
Or many kids do something similar in science  by growing crystals on a string or stick.
  Thats what Alum can do in water no idea what the ratio would need to be , but may be worth considering before you add it to your finned friends water.

[aussie_oscar]

Clown loaches probably work the best. If you get no satisfaction there or the loaches can't keep up with the breeding this never fails.

At work we have these tiny snails that breed like crazy. they just don't die.
That is until we babysit the fish in another tank, drain the water, take out the gravel and set it out in bits so it can dry up in the sun, and let the tank completely dry up in the sun. give it a week to be sure.

Any organism that is aquatic in nature will die if it dries. Remove the water remove the life.
This works for bacterial infestations etc, fungus, and I've had luck in the virus category also, although Viral stuff is pretty rare.

You don't even need to remove the shells. think of it as free gravel!

[Yellatas]

Understanding may be different, but it's similar to your comments and not different at all.

[Threshmut]

I should not take it away. I should pity it, you should keep it original, do not let it go