This is a discussion on How Do I Get Rid Of These? within the Invertebrates forums, part of the Freshwater and Tropical Fish category; -->
Hey....I Have Snail Issues.There every where.
Any 1 Know a Good SMALL Fish That Eat Snails for a Snack?
Thanks....
I feel that tank is already overloaded especially considering the filtration you have available so I don't think a snail eating fish is the way to go. I would also avoid chemical means of killing the snails as the decaying snails will severely deteriorate your water quality. However there are two relatively simple ways to cut down the snail population to manageable levels. 1. Remove snails that you can see. Just pick em out and dispose of them, simple as that. 2. Cut down on their available food. They have to eat. Take away the source of their food (overfeeding is generally a big one) and you'll cut down the snail population by starving them. A combination of those two things will curb the snail population if not outright eliminate them. Unfortunately its hard to completely clear a tank of snails once it has been infested but in your particular case I strongly disagree with you adding another fish as it will cause more harm than good.
I'm suprised that so many people decide to use fish to clean up snails and algae...both of them can be easily fixed by simply taking away what they need to survive without adding any new fish to a tank that may already be overstocked. In the case of snails take away excess food and just pick em out when ya can and the population will dwindle. In the case of algae scrape off what ya can and let some live plants suck up the nutrients the algae needs and it will also be kept in check. While lots of fish that happen to eat snails or algae are interesting in their own right theres no need to add new fish to deal with these problems as they can cause problems of their own.
Add a little aquarium salt with you next water change. Most snails do not like salt. Do not be real aggressive. One tablespoon per 5 gallons with your normal water changes to allow your fish to acclimate to the changing conditions.
:D
