[timmcg1011]

Hi,

Have a 65 gallon African cichlid tank with 10 fish and a couple thousand snails. I read that assasin snails will eat these and thin the population. Has anyone tried these to get rid of "pest" snails? I believe they came in on some live plants and they've taken over the tank. Not sure what species they are, but they're very small, about 1/2" max with a conical shell. At certain times they come out of the gravel and cover all 4 tank walls. I hate em. Thought about taking the tank apart and getting rid of all the gravel and stones, but that would be really stressful to the fish and would like to avoid if possible.

Any thoughts on this? I know they're not necessarily harmful, but they do make the tank look crappy and I'd love to get rid of them. Many times per week I scoop them out with a net, literally dozens of them and obviously they just keep making more.

I read about making snail "traps", but wondered if people here have picked up assasin snails to deal with this situation.

Thanks

 

[DJRansome]

They are MTS or Malaysian Trumpet Snails. I have not tried assasin snails...not sure they can "get" the MTS and what would you do with them after???

I do tear down the tank when I get them...including removing the substrate, drying it out to kill them and sifting out the biggest shells.

Hydrogen peroxide can knock back populations if you soak the decor during water changes.

 

[timmcg1011]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have a second tank to put the fish in while I break it down. When you tear down your tank do you leave fish and take up the gravel? I imagine you move the fish to a holding tank rather than do this?

 

[DJRansome]

Yes I move the fish. The inside of the tank is washed with a peroxide solution.

Mine were also all through the filter media and everywhere.

If you feed less and remove as many as possible during water changes, you can reduce them significantly.

 

[fredd1e]

Another good option to get rid of MTS is 'No Planaria'. But you'll probably need to clean out the substrate after to avoid the dead snails causing an ammonia spike.

https://www.reddit.com/r/shrimptank/com ... _and_pond/

Cheers