# Snail control question. Salt or Copper?



## SyndicateX (May 19, 2007)

I have a trumpet snail problem. There are so many, manual removal is not working or even putting a dent in the population. The clown loach and yoyo loach I have are not helping and the bioload on the filter is too large. I don’t use any chemicals in my tanks, and I have been told that adding copper will prevent me from using it as a saltwater tank in the future as well as kill any inverts in the tank such as shrimp. I do not have any at the moment. My plan was to move all the plants and fish to a quarantine tank and then salt the heck out of the tank. I am not sure if this will work or how long it will take. Is this an adequate solution? Looking for additional suggestions/comments.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Have you tried using a lettuce leaf to lure the snails out and then remove the leaf w/snails from the tank. This along with reducing the amounts being feed to the fish, should cut their numbers down. It may take a few weeks though.


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## dodgefreak8 (Jul 26, 2006)

feed your fish the least amount of food as possible and make sure NO food is left on the bottom after 5mins . MTS are almost impossible to kill because they have a trap door that seals them off from most chemicals. I used a HUGE overdose of the had-a-snail killer and it didn't even touch them. Yuo have to limit the feedings until they are reduced in numbers and remove the rest with a trap as suggested before.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

If you are removing all the fish and plants out, you might as well go ahead and clean the tank completely. I ran extremely hot tap water through my substrate (Eco complete) and that killed all the snails. Just make sure you don't introduce any snails from the plants you took out in the beginning.

-John N.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

I don't know how big your tank is, but if it is at least a 20 gallon, you may want to look into getting a Raphael Cat Fish(aka: Talking Catfish http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_costatus.php.) This otherwise docile fish is known to eat snails whole and poop out the shells.

Regards


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## Yeaulman (Jun 23, 2005)

I used yoyo loaches but over time when the snail population decreased I noticed an increase in their aggression.


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## NatalieT (Mar 20, 2007)

Since you're planning to take out the plants and fish, can you empty the water from the tank and let it dry out for a while? I don't know how long the snails can live out of water, but I imagine they'd die eventually.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

dodgefreak8 is on the right track IMO. I've always found that an overpopulation of snails is due to overfeeding.


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## JG06 (Nov 5, 2006)

Borrow some cichlids. 

I tried to introduce MTS to my cichlid aquarium and my tilapia and convicts ate every snail I dropped in.


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## Rob Tetrazona (Jun 21, 2005)

Chemicals are bad if you plan on keeping anything in the tank without emptying it out completely and may get undesirable results. Thinning the water out with RO water wears down on the shell due to lack of macros eventually getting the achieve result over time. Less overfeeding & manual removal via baiting w/ veggies will get you into shape in no time. As good as you clean the tank, you may never get rid of snails do reintroduction by plants, net, or otherwise. Temporary visits from Goldfish are another option. Now go with what you know to keep them in control and stay on top of it if need be.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

a bit of aquarium salt & manually removing them helps.


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