# Snails in piranha tank



## L.Poore (Aug 17, 2007)

Has anyone had problems with snails in their tanks? My 55 where I keep my two reds is covered with them. Is there anything you can do without tearing down the tank?Any suggestions are appreciated.


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

A large outbreak of snails can be caused by overfeeding...can you tell us what your feeding regimen is and how often you change the water?

(Plus the fish size and number and water parameters--nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, etc.)


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

good luck.....it ain't easy

good luck.....it ain't easy


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## 77gp454 (Feb 18, 2007)

Sorry to hear about the snails, I had that nightmare 8-9 years ago and had to completely rip my tank down. They were in the filters and everything. Since then I have heard of people putting a cucumber in a jar inside the tank. I guess they will all go to the cucumber and you can just pull out the jar. I also heard of a product called Snail be Gone, Snail Away, or something like that that you can try. But prepare for the worst, tearing your tank down


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## bernokarl (Mar 26, 2007)

Sorry to hear . 
I herd threw the vine , That the snail in moderation , Is good not bad for your tank , It's almost 
like a pleco cleaning , And all that Jazz ! 








Also I try'ed the vegtibles in a jar to MY LUCK NO Evale .


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## L.Poore (Aug 17, 2007)

ChilDawg said:


> A large outbreak of snails can be caused by overfeeding...can you tell us what your feeding regimen is and how often you change the water?
> 
> (Plus the fish size and number and water parameters--nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, etc.)


Thank's for the reply. I have two red bellys that are 5inches in length. I do water changes of 30% once a week. I feed pieces of shrimp every other day. Anyfood not eaten I pull out right away. the tank is 20" by 4feet in length. Larry


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## 77gp454 (Feb 18, 2007)

Sound like you doing things right. Once you get a snail and they start muliplying it just gets out of hand after a little while. I had one or two that must have been on a live plant I put in my tank, about 1-2 months later there were hundreds, maybe thousands. My water was in good shape too.


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## Hater (Apr 21, 2006)

L.Poore said:


> Has anyone had problems with snails in their tanks? My 55 where I keep my two reds is covered with them. Is there anything you can do without tearing down the tank?Any suggestions are appreciated.


Bro, I know that having a lot of snails is not pretty but snails are actually very helpfull for your tank. They will scavenge any leftover food and trim down the algae growing on the gravel and glass of the tank.

You should control the population instead of eliminating the snail population. Simply put a piece of cucumber on the tank and it will be full of snails by the following morning. Then remove it.

Keep doing this when the snail population gets out of hand but don't kill the snails.

Hater


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## NegativeSpin (Aug 1, 2007)

Be careful puting your hands in the water. Snails are a vector for Schistosoma which causes flat worm in humans.


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Hater said:


> Has anyone had problems with snails in their tanks? My 55 where I keep my two reds is covered with them. Is there anything you can do without tearing down the tank?Any suggestions are appreciated.


Bro, I know that having a lot of snails is not pretty but snails are actually very helpfull for your tank. They will scavenge any leftover food and trim down the algae growing on the gravel and glass of the tank.

*You should control the population instead of eliminating the snail population. Simply put a piece of cucumber on the tank and it will be full of snails by the following morning. Then remove it.*

Keep doing this when the snail population gets out of hand but don't kill the snails.

Hater
[/quote]

Agreed ^^^^

With a good hand on controlling the snail population, they can be very beneficial to the health of your tank. However, if you really want to removed them. Follow Hater's recommendation, and use the cucumber method. It is the best way to go without adding chemicals to your tank.


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## Ibanez247 (Nov 9, 2006)

I have the same issue. My snails I know came from the plants I got at my LFS. For the most part I dont mind because well they keep the tank pretty clean. At the same time I hate coming home to see around 30+ snails on the front glass of my 125 gallon tank. Ya no lie I must have over 100 in there but they're all real small. Most of the time you cant tell theyre in there unless theyre on the glass. They're the size of a pencil eraser I'd say. I take a bunch out anytime Im doing tank maintainence. Ive heard of getting those worm things if you over feed but not snails those come from plants most of the time. Once they start laying eggs though it can get out of control if you dont do anything. Id simply remove them as needed. I think they do more use than harm. Im not sure but I think my pleco chomps on the bigger ones cause they seem to get to a certain size then they vanish. That or my P's munch on em.


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

I guess I need to be a little more careful in my phrasing. If there's a snail outbreak, there's a good chance that they arrived in another manner but are in outbreak mode because of overfeeding. (I don't subscribe to the non-scientific idea--NOT THEORY--of spontaneous generation...)


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## CaptMicha (Mar 29, 2006)

I have thousands of snails in all my tanks and I wish I didn't. They make more mess than the fish do. The bottoms of my tanks get covered in droppings from them faster than I can clean it.


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## fiveo93 (Jan 19, 2004)

try some of this

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...p;N=0&Nty=1
notice what its says about water conditions first
the cucumber method works good too, but it wont get em all


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## CaptMicha (Mar 29, 2006)

Been there. That's the worthless cr*p I used. Followed directions too.

I'm thinking about getting some freshwater puffers for another tank. I also use a tank scraping took and scoop them up and feed them to my red eared slider. Mmmm.... crunchy. I feel kind of bad sometimes because he cracks the shells on some of them and they're still alive but naked. But I think he finds them and eats those too after a while.


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## zuccinigi (Jun 3, 2007)

[quote name='77gp454' date='Aug 20 2007, 05:50 PM' post='2019449']
Will the snail be gone harm my rbp or my plants?


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

I'm confused by the above...it looks like you tried to quote another member and ask a question, but I don't know what it is you're asking and in what context...?


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## Reddish (Jul 24, 2007)

Try the cucumber thing i've done that before with some luck.

I had a breakout of snails after buying live plants online, luckily for me my rhom picks them off the sides of the tank as they grow out so I only have between 5 to 10 at a time. Goodluck


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

CaptMicha said:


> Been there. That's the worthless cr*p I used. Followed directions too.
> 
> I'm thinking about getting some freshwater puffers for another tank. I also use a tank scraping took and scoop them up and feed them to my red eared slider. Mmmm.... crunchy. I feel kind of bad sometimes because he cracks the shells on some of them and they're still alive but naked. But I think he finds them and eats those too after a while.


I put snails in my empty tank (for my diamondback terps) and from what my LFS says they probably brought on the Planaria I have in the tank now!!


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Well its funny you started this topic bc I introduced a few snails in my P tank which have disappeared. I saw one on my silicone aerator line and next thing you know I have bubbles flying out of the tube and the snail gone!
I have 2 bite marks in the line just had to fix it! Hopefully for you your P eats them too!
I was hoping them would clean a bit and I would pick them out of the 2 tanks to feed my Terps.

Good luck getting rid of them. The only advice I have is worthless being its in a P tank bc goldfish destroy them as well as cichlids


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

shanker said:


> Be careful puting your hands in the water. Snails are a vector for Schistosoma which causes flat worm in humans.












I don't think I'll lose any sleep over my snails...of course I live in the U.S. and ask infected people to refrain from using my tank as a toilet.

CDC: Schistosomiasis

It's a shame I missed this post earlier!


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## L.Poore (Aug 17, 2007)

BioTeAcH said:


> Be careful puting your hands in the water. Snails are a vector for Schistosoma which causes flat worm in humans.












I don't think I'll lose any sleep over my snails...of course I live in the U.S. and ask infected people to refrain from using my tank as a toilet.

CDC: Schistosomiasis

It's a shame I missed this post earlier!
[/quote]
Thank's for the info. I won't worry my tank isn't used for a toilet either.


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## zuccinigi (Jun 3, 2007)

Thanks used the cucumber worked fine. Decided against using the "had a snail" since didnt want it hurt my boys.


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## L.Poore (Aug 17, 2007)

zuccinigi said:


> Thanks used the cucumber worked fine. Decided against using the "had a snail" since didnt want it hurt my boys.


does anyone know if using spinach would work the same as cucumber?


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

You can try making traps...
I'm using traps to catch shrimp and snails seems to find their way in as well.
Cut the top off a plastic soda bottle and invert the top back into the bottom part.
The snails will crawl in and they can't find their way out.Add some algae wafers and sand/gravel in the bottle.
I just use small 500 ml water bottles.
PM me if you'd like pics.


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## holmes14 (Apr 15, 2007)

When using the cucumber method do u just slice up the cucumber and let them float on the top or what? cause i tried that once and it didnt do sh*t? what did i do wrong


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

People either weight the cucumber or use a cooking method called "blanching" to get it to sink.


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