# Itty bitty snails



## Olivia (May 5, 2006)

Hello all,

I have a 46 gallon, pretty heavily planted tank with 2 female swordtails and 10 neons. Apparently some of the plants that we planted came with their own little friends. We have dozens of small snails. They don't seem to get larger than about 1 cm. I think they are 'pond snails' and from what I've read, are harmless. They don't seem to be doing a whole lot of good though so I wonder if I should try to catch as many as possible (using blanched lettuce...how do you blanch?) and put in some Nerite snails since I know they do good work. I am getting some brown algae on the glass that I would love for the snails to take care of.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Olivia


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

If they are pond snails they will get larger. I personally would leave them. They may not look like they are helping but they are.


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## nanobettaman (Sep 6, 2007)

To blanch a vegetable, place it in boiling water for a minute or two, then place it in cool/ice water until the heat is gone.

What you're doing is stopping cellular processes. This preserves the color and freshness - IE before you package green beans up for freezing. If you don't blanch, you end up with nasty brown sticks.

I've never blanched lettuce, but I'd assume you don't need to have it in boiling water long (maybe 30 seconds for a few leaves) and it should keep the lettuce from turning brown and wilting very fast (maybe a day vs a couple hours in the tank) YMMV


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## NoSvOrAx (Nov 11, 2006)

New tank? If so the brown is probably diatoms. Snails won't be much good but it sounds like a small pack ( 3 or 4) of ottos would fit nicely in your tank. They get about the same size as a neon. They love the brown stuff and do ok on some other algaes too. Someone might say its wrong to buy a fish for algae but ottos are neat fish in their own right and are pretty active little guys.


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## Olivia (May 5, 2006)

I thought about ottos but we had them in a previous tank and they ate our plants! We know it was them since we saw them doing it and had no other fish that even acknowledged the plants. I don't think I could convince my husband to put them in his dearly loved planted tank that is growing and looking really nice. 

I guess I'll leave the little snails. 

Thanks,
Olivia


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

I suggest leaving them as well, but if you want to rid your tank of them overnight. Pick up a dwarf puffer. He/she will make the population dissapear as soon as the puffer is comfortable.


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## Cliff Mayes (Jan 29, 2007)

Snails can be (as with Duckweed) a blessing or a curse. I can not believe that I am getting some MTS to put in a couple of sand bottom tanks. I spent a lot of effort getting rid of MTS many years ago because I considered them a pest.

Blanching is another word for parboiling usually used to stabilize various foods. Some things (Eggplant) need to be blanched for 5 minutes before freezing. Lettuce is almost all water plus a little bit of cellulose and other very minor things. I would think that blanching Lettuce would get you mush. Try the 30 second or less time. It will be interesting to know how it turns out.

Putting something like lettuce in a bottle to attract Snails to accumulate the Snails works OK. A few smaller Botia fish can be good Snail controls too. According to folks here who have tried it appropriate feeding, with no extra leftovers, also controls the Snails.

Snails are interesting creatures in their own right as well and are worthy of study.

I have never noticed Otos being a problem. I have been using them for about ten years and have found them to be useful and entertaining. I will have to watch closer.


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