Hello everyone, I am sort of having a snail problem that i know isnt uncommon. These things are everywhere. Ive been thinking/reading n have came up with a few possible choices n would like your input on whats most efficient/effective.
1. Baiting. I have a few saucer like objects ive been putting algae wafers on and then removing the snails . Seems to work to an extent but i doubt it will remove them all.
2. Nuking. I only have 4 ottos, a bumblebee goby, and an adf in there atm. I could move them in with my betta in a 10 divided n work from there.
3. Gutting. I could gut the whole tank..and restart the cycle. Would the cycle still be painful even with saved filter media and gravel?
4. Starving. take out the 3 plants and move fish. That would cause a loss in bacteria though wouldnt it?
If you have invertebrates like shrimp or something (or ever plan to have them) then you can't use the copper. Gutting and then reusing the gravel would be useless because there most likely would be eggs in the gravel and it's not so funny sometimes how those little pond snails can survive. Nuking would probably do a number on your plants and possibly bacteria (I'm assuming you want to turn the heater wayyyyy up). Same with starving. Baiting-wise you might actually have more luck with some romaine lettuce (it doesn't get nasty as fast as other lettuce) and it's far less stressful on plants and fish than the other ideas.
If you have the room and tank conditions I'd get a loach. They won't get ALL the snails but they'll keep the numbers down. Hope this helps!
Thanks. I think ive settled on baiting them and loaches. Should solve the problem relativly quickly. Thanks for help flashygrrl and any specific kind of loach? I was looking and liked zebra/khuli and yoyos.
I don't know a whole lot about loaches myself but I don't think Khulis eat as many snails as the rest of them but looking at your tank blurb you'd be overstocked with yoyos because they like being in a group and they grow a max of 6 inches (do you still have the pleco, btw? I have trouble keeping track of who's got what ).
Sorry, I don't like the use of copper nor the fish to do the job especially if the tank appears to have insufficient spacing for a group. Imagine the consequences if you fail to retrieve all dead snails. Rising ammonia, dead fish, etc.
o flashy haha i forgot to update that..i only have 4 otos and a bumblebee goby right now. I took the rest back besides a goby who kicked the bucket. Should have room with that right?
I have a small Botia striata that is a snail eating fool. I'll drop a small bunch if snails in the tank as a treat and he, literally, does loops. Then goes to the bottom to chow down. Weird fish. Quite comical though.
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