here's a snail strategy

[aspen]

i was having a conversation yesterday with a very experienced aquarist friend of mine, who has had many planted tanks over the years. his snail strategy: loaches. 'i wouldn't run a planted tank without 3 clown loaches.'

well, i'm not a fan of keeping fish i don't want. so, i told him, that if i pp the plants, then i won't get them, right. 'nope, not necessarily. while you can be diligent, nothing kills snail eggs for sure, not pp, not alum, nothing that won't kill the plant. sooner or later, even just a single snail egg will get in, and you will be looking for loaches.'

'but' he says, 'a product called 'snail away' will work, if used by the instructions and in courses of treatments as per the pkg. the problem is, that if you use it in your show tank, you now have snail bodies rotting in the substrate, and snail shells adding to the kh- something we don't want in a planted tank with soft water.

so why not use snail away, in a plant q-tank? the purpose of the q-tank would be, to get those little tiny plants that you buy in cubes, turned into decent looking specimens suitable for your show tank. you can treat with the snail away, without worrying about your show tank getting messed up, and you can also store your spare algae eaters in there, when their specialty is not needed in your show tank. or, any clippings from the show tank, can be turned into decent sized plants for re-sale, when you aren't in need of new plants.

rick

'prevention is the best cure.'

 

[nicola]

I've heard that if you stick a lettuce leaf in the tank overnight, the next morning all / vast majority of the snails are on it. Then just remove it and dispose! :wink:

 

[aspen]

nicola, if you are trying to remove snails this way, it is likely that you are over-run. this is only a control method. it will not cure your problem. snails that are 'pests', like pond snails or malaysian trumpet snails, are prolific breeders.

rick

 

[mordor]

One I left my fish without feeding for five days and I found lot of empty shells after that. Apistos must get hungry to start interesting in snails. Of course they will not do this on regular basis like loaches
BTW I got a lot of malasian trumpet snails and it does not bother me, these snails spent most of the burried in grovel which may actually be beneficial for plants since they allow oxygen penenetrate it.