# What do you do with snails?



## Steeners (Mar 28, 2010)

I bought some plants about a month ago and made sure I got rid of all the snails prior to putting it into the tank. I saw a few snails in my tank then and got rid of them and then one dropped down to the substrate, I didn't worry much about it.... until now... they multiplied! and yes, it only takes one! yay asexual reproduction!
They are small snails with a pointy shell, not sure what kind but worried that they are going to take over my tank and I really don't want them to.

So what should I do? 

I can feed less to reduce food waste at the bottom, therefore reducing reproduction rate
Put a piece of lettuce in the tank and fish out the snails on them
Grab them out of the tank as I see them
Get some yoyo loaches? - where would I get them, have not seen them around and would they be okay with tetras, corys, plecos and rainbowfish? - 
will they uproot my plants?
Can I rent them? hehe.

Chemicals are not an option.

I'm sure almost everyone has gone through this but I want to prevent an outbreak of them. They are all over my malaysian driftwood (well I see about 5) - I've been picking them out.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

"I can feed less to reduce food waste at the bottom, therefore reducing reproduction rate
Put a piece of lettuce in the tank and fish out the snails on them
Grab them out of the tank as I see them"

Sounds about right, but don't bother grabbing them out of the tank. Whenever I try to "Rescue" them I usually end up knocking them off of the glass, if you find them to really be a pest, just squish them with your thumb or finger.


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## Steeners (Mar 28, 2010)

I was just looking at some sites and wondering if they are Malaysian Trumpet Snails.... I will try to get a pic up. They are really tiny and I remember the guy at Alternative Aquariums (Doug I believe) mentioning that they are beneficial to planted tanks? - he had them in his tanks (definitely how it got carried over)

He said that they were not the nasty snails. I'll call them tomorrow to confirm. My plants don't even look damaged at all.

If that is the case then I will keep them.  Just don't want them taking over.

They are tiny and have a cone shaped shell.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Assassin snails. Buy some.  
They assassinate other snails.

Malaysian Trumpet Snails, and their 'beneficial' properties are something you'll get different opinions on from different people. They move the substrate. They act sort of like worms do for terrestrial plants. In exchange, they breed like crazy and produce a lot of poo.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Yep sounds like Malaysian Trumpet Snails.they do not hurt planted tanks and are beneficial because they churn up the substrate and aerate the plants roots. They come out at night while the lights are out and will retreat soon after the lights come on. If you can live with them it will be much easier.It is almost impossible to get rid of them.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

TBemba said:


> Yep sounds like Malaysian Trumpet Snails.they do not hurt planted tanks and are beneficial because they churn up the substrate and aerate the plants roots. They come out at night while the lights are out and will retreat soon after the lights come on. If you can live with them it will be much easier.It is almost impossible to get rid of them.


Assassin snails will completely eliminate all other similarly sized and smaller snails from their tank. You just need a few.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

AquariAM said:


> Assassin snails will completely eliminate all other similarly sized and smaller snails from their tank. You just need a few.


I think assassin snails will control MTS but to completely eliminate them? I have my doubts.

Assassins will eat just so many other type of snails a day or week and assassins will also reproduce pretty quickly but as fast as MTS?


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## Steeners (Mar 28, 2010)

How are the assassin snails with plants? I keep thinking of Assassin's creed...of snails ... hehe  That is what they would become.

I attached a pic of the critters


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Yep, those are Malaysian Trumpet Snails.

Assassin's snails will deal with the snails but they'll leave their shells, which I find quite troublesome to search for in my planted tank.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Ya I had that problem too with shells littered around my old tank, now I have sand so if I ever want to get rid of the snails, I just run my net through the sand, it leaves the sand behind but picks up larger things such as snails and their shells


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Steeners said:


> How are the assassin snails with plants? I keep thinking of Assassin's creed...of snails ... hehe  That is what they would become.
> 
> I attached a pic of the critters


Yeah, that's a MTS. Do you not like the look of them or afraid of them reproducing too much? I've always had snails including pond, ramhorn and these guys recently. They help with uneaten food, clean the algae on the leafs/glass and more so its good to have them.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

I forgot to add, the Assassins will not touch your plants, they will eat dead plant matter but you should not worry about them eating all of your plants.


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## NVES (Apr 21, 2010)

Steeners said:


> So what should I do?


Garlic and butter, simmer for 5 min, add some parm cheese and a little parsley! Yummy!!


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## vrb th hrb (Feb 20, 2010)

NVES said:


> Garlic and butter, simmer for 5 min, add some parm cheese and a little parsley! Yummy!!


LOL I was just thinking that when i opened the thread


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

vrb th hrb said:


> LOL I was just thinking that when i opened the thread


The EXTREMELY odd thing was that I made escargot for myself right after school and I was eating while I saw this thread.


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## Steeners (Mar 28, 2010)

lol, if you can't beat 'em, eat 'em.

I will see how it goes. I am just worried about them reproducing like crazy, but if I don't overfeed then I should be able to control it. I don't even have algae in my tank.


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