# Feeding: Snails eating my shrimp pellets



## PMD (May 3, 2005)

Do you guys keep ramshorn snails with your shrimp? 

It seems like my snails are eating more of my shrimp pellets than the shrimp actually are. A minute or two after they're dropped in the tank my snails have surrounded the pellets and it doesn't look like the shrimp can get to them very well. Any solutions besides killing all my ramshorn snails?


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## Rob Tetrazona (Jun 21, 2005)

I have this problem too in a couple of my tanks w/ scavengers. Are your snails pests or pets? If they are pests, then manually remove them and stop over feeding. If they are pets, then you need to get creative and figure out how to place the food in the tank w/o the snails getting to them. I don't really think you have much choice other than thinning down the snail population. All of my snails are pests and get manually removed when my shrimp & fish are being out competed for food.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I have ramshorn and Malaysian trumpet snails in with my shrimp and if the shrimps' food falls to the bottom of the tank the snails will cover it in no time and block the shrimp from eating it. I've found that putting the food on a mass of lace-leaf java fern attached to a piece of driftwood and about 5" from the bottom of the tank works quite well. The shrimp have no trouble getting to it but it takes the snails a lot longer to reach it and the shrimp have it mostly consumed by the time they get there. I also sometimes put a bit of food toward the top of a dense tangle of HM - same thing, the shrimp are there quickly and the snails have a heck of a time navigating the tangle to reach the food. I've even managed to balance a shrimp pellet on a mass of floating hornwort I have in their tank - the snails didn't have a chance.  This works well for me because the only fish I have are threadfin rainbows that won't bother the shrimp or try for their food. 

So look around your tank and see where you can feed your shrimp that snails would have trouble reaching. I find it cool to see the shrimp forming a near ball around a pellet that's stuck in the lacy fringes of the java fern - they use every imaginable foot-hold, including each other, to get to that pellet.


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## yum (Feb 11, 2008)

that's curious since my MTS seem to be mostly nocturnal so feeding my shrimp with the lights on doesn't ever seem to be an issue.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Sometimes I don't get around to feeding the tank until quite late and my MTS will come out in the mid-evening. They tend to be more cautious in tanks that have more inquisitive fish like bettas, gouramis, and loaches. When I moved some of the shrimp tank snails to a tank with yoyo loaches I had quite a few deaths before the "smart" ones figured out it was best to stay hidden.


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

The more shrimp you have the more they will eat.
I have the same problem.
I try and remove some and take them to the betta tank. He likes them (for lunch).

At least there is never any food left over.

I'm thinking about hanging algae wafers from a string and see if they like that.

Do your RCS like flake food?
Mine love it.


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## PMD (May 3, 2005)

I have RCS and Greens.

I feed them Tetra Color Granules,Tetra Microcrab Granules, Hikari Sinking Algae Wafers, and zucchini. They seem to love the granules the most.


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## PMD (May 3, 2005)

Are there any shrimp-safe medications that will kill snails?

There's just so.. many..


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## neilfishguy (Mar 10, 2008)

Yes. It is called snail crusher. It is invisible and naturally occuring on the tip of your finger. It will need to be applied to each snail. Simply push down on the snail shell untill you hear a crunch. It will allways kill the snail and is fish safe!


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I've recently found that Amano Shrimp seem to do quite the number on my snail population. All of my tanks with Amano Shrimp have quite a few empty snail shells in them in comparison to the tanks without Amanos. I doubt the snails are starving so I would have to assume the Amanos are pulling them from the shell and eating them though I have never seen it happen.


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## PMD (May 3, 2005)

neilfishguy said:


> Yes. It is called snail crusher. It is invisible and naturally occuring on the tip of your finger. It will need to be applied to each snail. Simply push down on the snail shell untill you hear a crunch. It will allways kill the snail and is fish safe!


I heard of a few people that got some really nasty infections from this practice. (Funky snail shards cutting into their finger.) I don't think it's a good idea. It's kinda like eating raw eggs. Sure, there's a very small chance you'll get sick. But if you do, I'll guarantee you'll never do it again.

Here's a trick I found that worked:

Turn off your filter and pump. (Eliminate all the flow in the tank.) Dig a small basin in the gravel. Drop the shrimp pellets in the bottom of it. After the snails have surrounded the pellet, take a small syringe and *very slowly* spray about 3-5 cc of 3% hydrogen peroxide a centimeters or two over them. After a minute or two the snails will start releasing a slimy bubbly goo. They are dead at this point. Wait a few minutes and then turn your filter or pump back on. Net them out and repeat the process at the next feeding. Alternatively you can also leave the dead snails in there temporarily and EVEN MORE snails will come to feed on the slimy goo remains. This process can be repeated after half an hour or so. The shrimp also really enjoy feeding on this snail goo. (Free food = BONUS!) Just be sure not to leave a whole pile of them sitting in there to rot overnight. You ammonia levels will spike up.

I've been able to get like 50+ snails at a time with this. After 3 treatments I only see maybe a dozen or two snails left in my 55 gallon tank. (I had hundreds before.) Be warned that hydrogen peroxide becomes harmful to shrimp around 1ml/gal. Do not exceed this dose and do not spray the peroxide directly on your shrimp. If your shrimp come near the basin while it's bubbling they will quickly jump away from it once they start to sense the H2O2. (It stings.) While this is obviously not good for them, I've never had any shrimp experience any lasting effects from this.

If you have your flow turned off in your tank, the H2O2 will stay localized in the bottom of the gravel basin. H2O2 completely breaks down into water and oxygen. The reaction will begin immediately on exposure and then fizzles out after a few minutes. Exposure to light and turning the flow back on increases the rate of breakdown very rapidly. The by-products are completely harmless.

I discovered this after using hydrogen peroxide for Cladophora spot treatments. Killed the snails on the algae dead as doornails right away.


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

Could cut a water container, place food, sit on bottom, let them feed for 1-8 hours. Pull out container.
Haven't tried it, but I have baited them before.
Good thing is the shrimp will jump away, but the snails are too slow.
I'll be doing that in a few weeks.


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## praxis5624 (Apr 22, 2006)

I have removed them (snails) by hand, used a trap and crushed them to their demise and all the ways work. The snail crushing method had it's benefit since the RCS fed on the snails remains but each way was good because my snail population grow faster than my shrimp and they consumed a major portion of the food offered. The numbers had to be reduced fast because I felt the shrimp could not really compete with them for the food.


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## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

Heres a way you guys could use...

Place a piece a cucumber the moment your lights go off~

Collect snails in the morning LOL!! they're sitting ducks on / around the cucumber.. do this a few times and i guarantee they'll be removed for sure~

Drew


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

I feed thawed zuchini.
The shrimp loved it and the snails loved it more.
The zuchini was floating in the morning due to all the snails.
Took the zuchini and the snails.


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## milalic (Aug 26, 2005)

Chuppy said:


> Heres a way you guys could use...
> 
> Place a piece a cucumber the moment your lights go off~
> 
> ...


Good method!


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