I've planted my 20T tank and I obviously got some little black snails with the plants. I thought I read on these forums somewhere about a fish/critter that will eat them?! If not that, does anyone have any suggestions besides picking them out when they appear???

There are a few things that like to eat snails, loaches are fun. They like snails. If you want something really cool, ask your lfs for an "Assassin snail". They actually hunt and eat other snails....

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55gallon
Light - 6500K CFL, 23wattsx5 5hr/day
Substrate - Red Mexican Clay, Sphagnum Peat moss, Eco-Complete
Misc- Pressurized CO2, EI Dose KNO3, KH2PO4, CSM-B
Plants -Limnophila Aromatica, Stargrass, Dwarf Hair Grass, Christmas Moss, Baby Tears (HM), Dwarf Baby Tears(HC), Rotala Rotundifolia, Ludwigia Glandulosa, Riccia Fluitans

I second the loach suggestion. If you don't have the space for a full grown clown loach, dojo and yoyo (who comes up w/ these loach names?) would be good choices. Snail traps work great, as well.

When I had a green water problem, I noticed that the API algaecide I used killed off quite a few of them. Also watch for small groups of tiny bubbles (snail eggs) on the glass. A magnetic algae scraper made quick work of those.

However, first try to identify the snail species. Applesnail.net is a good resource for identification. There most snails aren't very harmful to plants and make a great cleanup crew. You will know in a few days if they are eating you plants - leaves will look like those on above ground plants and trees after an insect has had its buffet.

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Aquaholic since 9/2009, and I don't plan on going to AA!

Welllll...actually...if you're persistant...you can manually wipe them out. I have done this now on two of my tanks (thank goodness).

Just employ several methods and you will eventually get them.

Here's my trick to it:

Start with blanched zucchini. After awhile, it of course gets really mushy. The snails can't resist it. This will of course depend on other tank inhabitants too.
Time for a water change you say...no problem...[takes gravel vac tube and does his biz...whistle while you work]....woops...I just sucked up all them snails that were eating the zuc....oh well...too bad.
Continue with water change using the tube to suck up any stragglers you find.
Monitor the tank and remove any that you find. Continue with the vac tube when you do your water changes.

Presto...they will eventually be gone. BUT...you have to remain diligent on it or that will defeat the purpose.

All that being said...traps are definatley your best bet.

gl

Here are pictures of the snails. I guess I'll give the zucinni in the bottle trick a try, but I need to watch out for my baby Mollies. Thanks everyone for you suggestions.

That looks like one of the few species I have. Not too worried here - they just add to my cleanup crew, keeping the red/brown algae off my plants until I can get some CO2 injection setup. (need a snail smiley here. ;-) )

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Aquaholic since 9/2009, and I don't plan on going to AA!

Every planted tank I have started has had a initial snail bloom. Then a year later there only a few left.

So I do and recommend doing nothing.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Thanks for the advise, folks. I have noticed, before so many snails appeared, that when one of my Amazon or Melon swords had a leaf turning brown, I would let more than 50% turn before I would remove it. Now, something is "eating" the brown from the spots and leaving just a spiderweb looking skeleton of the leaf, which is not as bad looking as the brown part, so I leave them longer.

Snails definitely love decaying matter over fresh - especially dying plants.

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Aquaholic since 9/2009, and I don't plan on going to AA!

I found this link that may be useful a while back.

Aquamaniacs :: View topic - What is this snail? Will it eat my plants?

I apologize if its bad to link to another forum, but this is a very good topic.

Also, those are definitely the same species of pond snail I have. The ramshorns that drifted over on my plants got eaten/accidentally killed at a young age :(

only certain snails, those pond snails that were displayed above are plant killers. they will eat every bit of vegetation in your tank.

Never known a pond snail to snarf the plants. I have several tanks with pond snails in them and they don't bother the plants. I know some species of Briggs will though.

they snarfed 200 dollars in plants here just a month ago, I had to nuke the tank. it ate neatly everything down to roots.

I have some still in a bucket I feed to my banjo cats, I dont have any pics of the destruction but I sure know it wasnt the discus that ate all the plants and I mean all, close to 100 plants eaten.
"
- Pond snail: This snail is distinguishable by its football-like shape and is a species of snail that can easily take over an aquarium if left unattended to. They are generally introduced to aquariums with plants or live food and can reproduce at a rapid rate. The Pond snail is also known to have a taste for plants and can quickly devour most aquatic plant life."
Facts about Aquarium Snails

The only snail I found to be useful in a planted tank is the MTS.

When I had a fresh water tank I had this same issue. I absolutely hated those snails! You gotta be really careful when your purchasing plants from the pet stores. I never did find a way to get rid of them. They grow by the hundreds!

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4396841

Wowsers! I guess mine are keeping to everything else in the tanks other than the plants. Glad to hear that as I as well have lots of $$ invested in them. I just hate how rapidly they spread. A third tank is just about wiped out now. I still find an occassional small one here and there.

I had to use algae controller from tetra to nuke then out, literally overnight there was an explosion and being a brand new tank, I dont think there was much for them to eat but the plants. yeah it threw a big wrench into my plans.

my 52 donated ALOT of plants to the 210 now my 52 is barely there.

You know, I do have a few of the snails in the pics above. According to the thread posted afterwards, they will devour plants. That may be what's causing some wisteria leaves to surface quite frequently.

Purely speculation here, but I've noticed orange stains in my bath tub, toilet, and porcelain sink in the bathroom. This could either be iron or copper stains. If it's copper, then maybe my water changes are keeping the more vulnerable, younger snails at bay.

Time to get copper and iron test kits, if I'm going to keep the apple and ramhorn snails.

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Aquaholic since 9/2009, and I don't plan on going to AA!

Copper will definately do the trick. Unfortunately...it will also do a number on all inverts as well. That is why you have to be very cautious when it comes to using chems to rid snails as most are copper based.

Even in snail populations in outdoor ponds, people will use copper pipes. Just throw em in the water and things will eventually fade away.

__________________
55gallon
Light - 6500K CFL, 23wattsx5 5hr/day
Substrate - Red Mexican Clay, Sphagnum Peat moss, Eco-Complete
Misc- Pressurized CO2, EI Dose KNO3, KH2PO4, CSM-B
Plants -Limnophila Aromatica, Stargrass, Dwarf Hair Grass, Christmas Moss, Baby Tears (HM), Dwarf Baby Tears(HC), Rotala Rotundifolia, Ludwigia Glandulosa, Riccia Fluitans