# getting rid of snails with shimp in a tank...



## foremptyfields (Jun 14, 2006)

Hey guys.
Im in a bit of a pickle. I seem to have boughten some plants from a local fish store and a few of those pesky snails hitchhiked into my tank. Now there are literally dozens of them all over the place. I have singapore wood shrimp and cherry shrimp in the tank along with some cardinals and ottos. I was wondering what i can do to get rid or help keep the population of snails at bay. Its a 20H tank and i heard that loaches can eat the snail eggs, is this true and if so what kind of loach should i get for that size of a tank? Do any other fish eat them? Or is there any sort of product that will kill the snails that isnt copper based that would kill my shrimp?!

Thanks a bunch, i really need help.


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## lailastar (Aug 28, 2006)

How big are your shrimp? I have clown loaches, they Are Awesome at getting rid and keeping away snails. BUT- they eat shrimp. I mean- you could take your shrimp out and put them in a hospital tank and then let the loaches loose in there for like a week or two. And then remove the loaches to your main tank (if you have one) and then put the shrimp back in. 
Being invertebrates I think that any medications that will kill snails will DEFINETLY kill shrimp too. Like snail-rid and stuff. I wouldn't use that.
Does just plain salt harm shrimp? You could just very slowly up your salt and that will kill the snails too. Some people say do heat and salt -but very slowly...
I have done heat and salt before- but this combo is NOT good for shrimp. Mine boiled and became little pink bodies floating around. I was so sad for days. They were the happiest little ghosts ever. 
I have also heard some people say just scrape them off and keep doing it- but I don't have much faith in this -it only takes one snail to make hundreds. They reproduce on the lonely-sooo romantic. Also- whatever you do make sure you take apart your filter and treat it too...they get in there and just live off the fishpoo till they are like huge and you're like "what the?" 
Show us pictures....of the infestation and the process if you will....


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## YuccaPatrol (Mar 26, 2006)

If you are diligent about it, you can hand pick the larger snails out. Just pick off any that are easy to get to every time you walk past the tank. Small ones can be crushed against the glass and become free shrimp food!

With a little patience and persistence, the snails will be gone and you won't have to do anything that could be harmful to your shrimp.

Loaches will eat your cherry shrimp.


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## Cassie (May 27, 2006)

to see a discussion about the fish route,  here's  a topic currently discussing it


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

My reply to snail problem would be as I also mentioned at another post:

Best way of cleaning snails would be mechanical. This would include handpicking them, checking the plants for any eggs and removing those leaves, placing traps, like lettuce leaves at night and removing it before or at lights on time. Second way would be naturaly, which will include some loaches in the tank. Not feeding them properly will make them to show interest on snails. The chemicals would not be a choice for me as most of them are copper based and extremely harmful to plants and fishes and especialy shrimps. Before introducing a new plant to the tank, careful examination of them is a must.

First method (mechanical) is not so hard to achieve. Just make it 2 or 3 times during your weekly maintenance and you will see the success in no time.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

reduce the snails' food source and you should reduce the populations. detritus and other organics need to be removed bc its a virtual snail heaven. 

the tanks i do the most maintenaince on have the least ammount of plant snails.

i would never ever encourage anyone to use copper in any system, least of all one with shrimp, plants, and fish. fish can tolerate it, but it wears the immune system and it straight up kills the others. it can also leave residue in the decor and silicone which can cause problems long term.

water changes/gravel vacs should work, just a lot of them.


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## Wood (Jul 27, 2006)

VERY FUNNY. I JUST POSTED THIS IN ANOTHER THREAD. haha

I used to be terrified of snails a long time ago after reading about all the horrors they can cause. Now I love them. I have a 10 gallon with one big blue mystery snail, a couple of medium sized rams horns, and a ton of baby trumpets. I bought the blue mystery, the rest hitched a ride with plants I bought. They aren't eating any of my plants, nor glosso. I think that they are the BEST algae cleaners. I have otto's and shrimp, and the snails are the ones that really clean the plants. The otto's take care of the glass and the shrimp eat the fish food  . 

My feeling is that the smaller they are the better.

If you feel you have a problem with snails there is a simple technique you can use: 

1. Get a film canister (for old camera, you know what you would store the film in). Cut about 2-3 holes on top of the lid about a quarter inch in diameter. Put an algae wafer inside of the canister and close the lid (or use a piece of cucumber, squash, etc. Put it on the bottom of the tank overnight and in the morning remove the canister and a bunch of snails will be inside. The fish wont be able to get inside of the canister because the holes will be too small. If you have bigger snails that you want to get rid of, simply make the holes on the lid bigger, but make sure you dont make it too big so that others can enter.....

If you have small shrimp they may get inside the canister as well, but when pouring out the contents of the canister, use a net to catch any shrimp and put them back in the tank. 

2. Or just get a Clown Loach.

DONT USE SNAIL KILLER CHEMICALS, IT IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN POSSIBLY DO TO YOUR TANK!


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