View Full Version : Snail Infestation
Tommydeal
10-05-2008, 12:47 AM
I've got a Malaysian Trumpet Snail problem. They're breeding out of control in my brackish tank and I would like to know if there is anything I can do to control this overpopulation. I've always wanted a puffer and I know they eat snails so that would be two birds with one stone but I'm not sure a pufferfish would work in this community. I've got 4 Mono Sebae 5"-8", 10 Flounder 2"-4" and 4 Black Mollies. This is a 75g tank. I'm sitting on a 125 that it will be upgraded to soon and then upgrades to even bigger tanks will take place as the Monos grow. Would a Pufferfish work in this community? Would it eat the snails? I would not get a puffer for the sole purpose of eating the snails but that would be a welcome side effect. Is there anything else I can do to get rid of these MTS or at least control the population?
dzb912
10-05-2008, 1:17 AM
try buying some loaches
snailmaster
10-05-2008, 1:33 AM
well with my puffer hes only happy when he is butchering other creatures. but i dont know that much about puffers so i wouldnt know if one would work.
cnoel08
10-05-2008, 2:07 AM
everything i have read about puffers is that they dont do well at all with other species
srikamaraja
10-05-2008, 2:36 AM
furthermore, there is anecdotal evidence that MTS have too thick/strong a shell to be a regular food source for any puffers, they may break their beaks.
Pyramid_Party
10-05-2008, 3:24 AM
Remove as much as you can manually, then you can try for a fish that will eat them and keep it under control. If you know what the snails are surviving on, maybe remove that. They would need a food source etc.
Also you can make a trap, which you put a piece of cucumber or potato in a bottle, and lay it down over night and you'll wake up with a good concentration of snails in it. Take the bottle out, freeze them, then dispose of the whole thing.
SalmonAfrica
10-05-2008, 8:33 AM
I'm with the above. Pufer won't work in your community, so removing the snails manually will have to be the solution.
I don't know to what extent MTS will tolerate salt in the water, so perhaps do some research and you can 'salt' them out the system by rasing the SG for a short period.
xspainx69
10-05-2008, 9:03 AM
Yeah I agree, Raise the SG level until they all die:headbang2
Cichlaholics Anonymous
10-05-2008, 9:27 AM
just raise the salinity to the point where the snails can't handle it, I wouldn't bother with ading snail-eating fish, esp. puffers who can cause chaos in a tank
Pyramid_Party
10-05-2008, 9:58 AM
Adding more salt to kill them is a bad idea. You dont want lots of dead and rotting snails in your tank. This will raise your ammonia. Remove them manually, with a trap and by hand.
dzb912
10-05-2008, 11:12 AM
but if i were u i would buy some loaches
they love snails
SalmonAfrica
10-05-2008, 1:30 PM
but if i were u i would buy some loaches
they love snails
They love snails, but hate brackish water.
Adding more salt to kill them is a bad idea. You dont want lots of dead and rotting snails in your tank. This will raise your ammonia. Remove them manually, with a trap and by hand.
This won't remove the population, only control them.
Perhaps removing as many as possible and then raising the salinity. He'll just have to do water changes to control the ammonia spike, which should be short term, and he has eliminated the entire problem.
ValGal20
10-05-2008, 1:37 PM
I had the same problem in my brackish- I already had a Green Spotted Puffer, and mud skippers. The puffer was lazy, he would only eat certain ones, but not the tiny snails, nor the big ones. I bought two skunk botias, put them in a seperate tank and acclimated them to my brackish SG and then let them loose. they would come out at night and have a snail feast, then hide during the day in a cave to stay away from the puffer. No more snails- they dug through the sand and found even the little ones.
wanyusri84
10-05-2008, 2:20 PM
add more salt...
brackishdude
10-05-2008, 7:39 PM
They are actually pretty salt tolerant.
I take A piece of shrimptied to a piece of string and wedge it uner a piece of driftwoodafter lights out. Go by aevery 10-30 min and pull it up, shake/rinse off the shimp, repeat. Some version of a "trap" would also work and be less labor intensive.
They are great sand sifters and clean up crew, so I wouldn't like to do wihtout them. I also find that not feeding for a few days slows down the breeding and makes the bait in the traps all the more alluring.
Tommydeal
10-05-2008, 8:38 PM
Thanks for all the advice. I will try taking out as many as possible manually, setting a bottle trap and shrimp on a string. Maybe all of this after not feeding for 3 days.
Tommydeal
10-07-2008, 4:51 PM
I did the cucumber in a bottle trick and it worked fairly well but there are just too many tiny ones!
I had the same problem in my brackish- I already had a Green Spotted Puffer, and mud skippers. The puffer was lazy, he would only eat certain ones, but not the tiny snails, nor the big ones. I bought two skunk botias, put them in a seperate tank and acclimated them to my brackish SG and then let them loose. they would come out at night and have a snail feast, then hide during the day in a cave to stay away from the puffer. No more snails- they dug through the sand and found even the little ones.
How long did these botias last in the brackish tank and what was your SG at?