Should i have snails in my aquarium

The most common means is through adding live plants. Snails, or their eggs, can hitch on most types of plants and arrive in your home aquarium. Old time aquarists recommend soaking aquarium plants in a solution of teaspoons of alum dissolved in a quart of water. After days in this solution, all snails and eggs should be gone. A stronger solution, substituting tablespoons for teaspoons, will do the same in a few hours.

However, alum can be harsh on plants, particularly fine leaf plants, and caution must be used when dipping plants. If soaking the plants for several days, remember that they do need light. Nowadays, many aquarists have begun using a bleach solution. The plants are dipped in here for a few minutes, then immediately placed in a second container of water and gently rinsed, with the addition of a lot of dechlorinator. The rinsing must remove all bleach residue. This will kill all hitch hikers on the plants, and probably also kill the plants.

Better yet, the plants can be placed in a separate quarantine fish tank and observed for several weeks. Any snails that appear are picked off and crushed. This has the added benefit of giving the aquarist an opportunity to be rid of other pesky hitch hikers, including duckweed, insects, etc. However, if you miss a snail or two on your quarantined plants. Controlling the snails once they get into the aquarium can be difficult.

The gut reaction of many of us is to try a snailacide, the most popular of which are copper containing chemicals. These will kill some plants — beware! They will also kill every invertebrate in the tank. Some snails, such as the MTS, will also watch you pour this chemical into the tank and then resume their daily business while laughing at you. There is a major downside to using a chemical in the aquarium to kill all your snails, though.

Each and every snail is a living organism and, as Kings and Beggars do, it will rot. September 25, Isabelle Madore. This overpopulation is a common occurrence for those who first encounter pest snails in the hobby, and l eaves many aquascapers mulling over the following questions: Why are there snails in my tank?

Where did they come from? Are these snails harmful to the aquarium? What kind of snails are they? How do I get rid of them? This article will answer all those questions and more! Sneaky Stowaways Pest snails and planted aquariums often come hand in hand with one another. A clutch of snail eggs on a piece of driftwood When shipping live plants , the plants will normally be kept sealed in a plastic bag to maintain moisture throughout their trip. There are three main factors that contribute to their ability to reproduce and overpopulate so quickly: 1.

Fast Reproduction Many types of snails lay eggs with each egg sac containing dozens of eggs. Quick to Mature Snails grow quickly, which means they start reproducing quickly! Some species can begin reproducing at only 35 days of age. Many Species Are Hermaphrodites This means they have both male and female reproductive organs.

When reproducing, snails will adapt to their partners through chemical cues. One will take on being the female, while the other will be the male. So even if there are just two snails in the aquarium, they will typically be able to reproduce, regardless of their sex. Many are able to reproduce asexually without another snail present. This means a single snail would be able to reproduce solely on its own by basically cloning itself!

Harmless Helpers Although they are often called pests, these aquatic snails actually transform your aquarium into more of its own ecosystem. Malaysian Trumpet Snails Many people believe pest snails eat the plants in their aquariums and chew holes through them. What species of snails do I have in my aquarium? Listed below are 3 most common species of aquatic snails that may be considered pests in freshwater aquariums with some general noted facts about each respectively: 1.

These snails can adapt to a large range of water conditions - 64FF but prefer cooler water - Can survive a large range of pH levels 2. Malaysian Trumpet Snails Melanoides tuberculate Appearance: Cone-shaped cream or brown colored shell which allows it to dig into substrate - This process prevents the risk of harmful gas pockets building up in your substrate that can be harmful to your fish or shrimp - Provides extra breakdown of any detritus that has slipped under substrate - Can grow up to 1 in.

Diet: Omnivore - will eat decaying plants, algae, leftover meat or fish food, insects Reproduction: Live-bearing snail - not hermaphroditic - Females can reproduce with or without males Life Span: Up to 3. These snails can adapt to a large range of water conditions - Prefer temperatures of 65FF - Can survive a large range of pH levels - Has gills and can breathe underwater 3.

Diet: Omnivore - likes to eat decaying plants, algae, leftover meat or fish food, insects Reproduction: Hermaphrodite - they are of both male and female sex - Asexual reproduction is possible - Reproduces quickly - Lays clutches of eggs with each clutch potentially holding dozens of eggs Life Span: Up to 1 year Other Details: Air-breathing snail. Very active and will move around your entire tank day and night.

How do you get rid of pest aquarium snails? Pea puffers eating bloodworms. Filed in: aquarium , beginner , guest blog , guide , snail. Snails can reproduce very quickly in a home aquarium, so if you have a nuisance snail population, you should act quickly to get it under control.

This problem will grow from bad to worse in no time. Your first instinct for snail control might be to buy some kind of chemical solution from the pet store, but that would be a mistake. The chemicals that kill the snails could also harm your fish or impact the water chemistry in your tank.

You might also end up killing off your beneficial bacteria. These chemical solutions are far too unpredictable and unsafe for most home aquariums. Your best bet is to add some fish to your tank that feed on snails. However, if adding more fish will disrupt the balance of your tank in any way, your next best option is to remove the snails manually.

To do so you can simply pick them out by hand or add a piece of blanched lettuce to your tank before bed each night. Why blanched lettuce? Because snails love it! The snails will flock to the lettuce and feed on it so you can just remove and throw away the piece of lettuce along with all the snails in the morning. One way to get rid of unwanted aquarium snails is by introducing fish that will make a meal of those snails. Before you head out to buy these fish, however, there are a few things that you should think about.

Or they may not eat all of the snails. And you guessed it—each one of them can have children all by itself. Even though the snail has the advantage of reproducing quickly, and can easily hide, you can still win this battle. All you have to do is use your superior brain power. Snails can be lured out by simply clipping a lettuce leaf to the glass before you go to bed. In the morning there will be a whole family of snails feasting on the lettuce, which you will scoop out of the tank and dispose of.

You won't eliminate every snail that way, but you can keep their numbers under control. Another option is to put snail-eating fish in your tank. Any respectable Clown loach or Yo-Yo Loach would give their right fin for a snail dinner. They will sift through the gravel, sucking any snail they find right out of its shell. Loaches will even dive under the substrate in their snail hunting quest. Labyrinth fish, such as Bettas and Gouramis , will also eat snails. However, they are not as adept at tracking them down in the gravel.

There are commercial preparations, usually containing copper, to add to aquariums to reduce snails. Care must be taken to use it at the correct dose to not harm the fish.