Snail explosion

[Munchen]

Have noticed a lot of snails in tank lately and today when cleaning filter noticed it was full of them too.

I'm wondering how much impact do they have on the tank environment and what's the best way to get rid of them?

[albatrozz]

Too many snails can overload your bio-filter (that is very rare though) but if it is only a bit then they are harmless and will eat algae and leftover food scraps. If your worried then introduce a couple clown or yoyo loaches into the tank. Let's see them snails survive that :lol:

[Matt15]

I've actually got a simular problem atm. I've been using the siphon to suck them up as well as just pulling them out by hand and so far so good.

But should this problem get worse what other alternatives to chemicals have members here tried?

I've had a chain loach recommend to me but i haven't found any yet.
Things i've been considering are:
- Loach eating plants?
- Size of loach? dwarf size is pref as yoyo and clowns grow awfully big.
- Will they work in small groups... say 1-2?

[ILLUSN]

dwars will do nothing in a small group, they only eat snail eggs and VERY young small snails you'll need atleast 6 to make a dent in a snail population.

they are very good at eating ramshorn type snails, they really struggle against cone type trumpet snails.

[Hollowman]

We in the uk use a worming treatment in the water to kill all the snails. You must make sure that you siphon out all the dead ones from in the gravel as they will start to rot and contaminate your water. :)

[jkshi]

get a clown loach in the tank they will be disappeared.

[pink66]

I have a clown in my african tank and he has finished off all the snails.. Yeah, snails under control. Why is he living in the african tank and not the discus tank I hear you ask.. Well that is because he liked nibbling on the discus way too much.. Bad Freddo :x

[BigDaddyAdo]

Just remember that clown loaches and the like need to be in groups rather than on their own or in pairs.

Alot of impeller shafts have snapped due to snails in the filter.


Ado