Removing "pond snails"

Hello everyone, I was just looking at my 20 gallon tank and realized, "I need to get rid of these *bleep* pond snails." I have had them in the tank almost since I set it up, and didn't really care about them; at the time they seemed harmless, and while they are sort of ugly, I didn't feel like trying to get them out. I guess I was just lazy.

Now I realize that as their numbers grow, they are really doing work on some of my plants, most noticably my val and other broad-leafed plants like crypts and even anubias. I have noticed more and more holes in leaves and some almost being cut completely off, and I think this is probably due to these snails making a buffet out of them, I now realize. Otherwise all my plants look colorful and healthy, and I try to doze flourish once in a while to supply micronutrients, so I don't think it's a deficiency causing the holes.

I am going to use this thread to document the most efficient ways I find to remove pest snails from this tank. It's pretty heavily planted, so there are lots of places for snails to hide, so this will be an ongoing project.

So far I have 2 assassin snails in the tank, and I have noticed them taking out quite a few ramshorn snails, but I don't know how well they are affecting the pond snails. This may actually work out in the pond snails' favor, because if the slower ramshorns all die out, there will be more food for the pond snails! This might be because they are much faster-moving than the ramshorns, or just not as tasty?

The best method I have come up with so far has been fresh butternut squash, blanched for 1 minute and then soaked in garlic juice. The snails swarm it, and even plecos will come and have a bite. I might try making my own snail trap with this stuff inside. The only downside is that when I froze the extra squash and then tried it again, all that happened was my tank got very cloudy- freezing it seems to kill some of the aroma, or maybe make it less tasty.

are you sure they are pond snails...or bladder snails?

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If its bladder snails they are not eating your plants and that is another problem.
Trapping them works but you have to work on the real problem.

you are over feeding if you are seeing an increase in "pest" snail populations. No food = no babies

To keep them from coming back you will have to cut back your feedings...traps will never get them all.

Pea puffers will take care of that problem ^_^

Pea puffers will do it. But the dead you need to remove. But once all snails are clear. You need feed frozen blood worms to pea puffers.

Great minds think alike.  Was typing last post while you were also typing.

fishNAbowl wrote:PEA PUFFER DESTROYER OF ALL THINGS WITH A SHELL!
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NOT ALL. Any snails bigger than them, they dont touch or try but fail. Nerite snails or mystery snails are too big for them. Nerite snails are the best snails to have because they dont breed. Their babies need brackish water to hatch.  Nerites have designer shells. Colors are olive, black, tiger, or horned. Only snails I have in my tanks are nerites snails and now abundance of MT snails. And ALSO no pea puffers anymore.

Oh....

They don't mess with mystery snails? This is good to know. I would like to put one in a tank I have these puffers in.

fishNAbowl wrote:Oh....

They don't mess with mystery snails? This is good to know. I would like to put one in a tank I have these puffers in.

They try and give up. Unless they are super hungry like to the point of starvation like mine did. Still failed but injured the foot of one mystery snail. Mystery snails can breed like crazy. Try nerites. I know not as colorful as mystery snails. They have tiger, olive, black, and horned types. And dont multiply like rabbits.

Anyone have any good links to tell the difference between pond snails and bladder snails? I don't know which I have, actually. I guess the holes in leaves could be due to something else, but they look to me like they are being eaten.

I don't really want to try pea puffers, because of a similar problem I already have with assassin snails: they leave half-eaten snail carcasses all over the place, which then create a lot of waste products. I have heard this can happen with pea puffers too, and I have already seen an increase in nitrates once I got the assassin snails, so I don't really want to add more.

Not sure what you have in your sphere of friends.. but my wife and I got a trio(yeah I know I need atleast 2 more) of clown loaches. They seem pretty indiscriminate about what they eat. They cleaned the whole tank of snails in two weeks. Downside... they moved onto the ghost shrimp I had to clean up the substrate .

If you know a few people you might even be able to buy a few, have them clean your tank and then pass/sell them to your associates. Or if you ever travel to pierce county... I would be willing to buy em off you.

...Its not always the best Idea to add stock, to a tank to fix a problem that can be dealt with by by you the owner of said tank.

can you not see the pic I Posted about pond snails vs bladder snails?

LuminousAphid wrote:Anyone have any good links to tell the difference between pond snails and bladder snails? I don't know which I have, actually. I guess the holes in leaves could be due to something else, but they look to me like they are being eaten.

I don't really want to try pea puffers, because of a similar problem I already have with assassin snails: they leave half-eaten snail carcasses all over the place, which then create a lot of waste products. I have heard this can happen with pea puffers too, and I have already seen an increase in nitrates once I got the assassin snails, so I don't really want to add more.

+1 this is an okay fiX but one has to watch parameters. Waste WILL build up due to half eaten snails.


I deal with snails as well. I would refer to Kaosu comment regarding feeding. This is the best way to manage a balance . I do use assassin snails & puffers. And in a tank that's completely over ran its re-do time.

Here is a link on how make a trap to help decrease population while assassin snail do their job. So less snails less nitrites.

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Pond snails have gold spots

LuminousAphid wrote:I guess the holes in leaves could be due to something else, but they look to me like they are being eaten.

Snails of all varieties will consume unhealthy plant tissue.  So if you have a nutrient deficiency (holes are most likely caused by a lack of potassium), snails will make this more apparent, but they will not eat holes in healthy plants.

The upside of this is that you have to work really hard to over-does potassium. In your situation I'd up my potassium dosage - either via a liquid product like Seachem potassium, or dry ferts via Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4).

Kaosu wrote:...Its not always the best Idea to add stock, to a tank to fix a problem that can be dealt with by by you the owner of said tank.

can you not see the pic I Posted about pond snails vs bladder snails?

I actually didn't see it before, I think the internet was having issues, thank you!

I am not at home right now to check for sure, but I'm pretty certain it's bladder snails, not pond snails. Thanks again for posting that.

And I totally agree with what you said about adding stock, I don't really want to add anything else to get rid of these, because I think I have a fairly good balance in the tank right now, just a few too many of these snails.

So bladder snails don't eat plants, then? Do dragonfly nymphs? I found a newly-metamorphosed dragonfly on one of my floating plants the other day, which was shocking at this time of year, but it must have been hanging out for a few months ever since summer. I wonder if he could have been eating my plants?

fishNAbowl wrote:
I deal with snails as well. I would refer to Kaosu comment regarding feeding. This is the best way to manage a balance .  I do use assassin snails & puffers.   And in a tank that's completely over ran its re-do time.

I'm actually not completely overrun, I think the populations of the different snail species have stabilized pretty well. I just thought that the snails were eating my plants, but I might have a different problem since I guess these snails don't eat plants.

Kaosu wrote:...Its not always the best Idea to add stock, to a tank to fix a problem that can be dealt with by by you the owner of said tank.

can you not see the pic I Posted about pond snails vs bladder snails?

I am all for adding new stock! New stock means I can justify to the wifey another fish tank   

Yes I saw your posting. The OP asked how to get rid of them. I offered a solution. Whether it was right or wrong for the OP's problem is up to the OP no? In my case my tank had become over run with snalls and do to no other tanks to move the stock that was currently residing... a re-do was out of the question.

I bought an assasin snail along time ago and he resides in my guppy tank. Based on the growing number of snails I am going to say my assasin snail must be retired.

Chiisai wrote:

Kaosu wrote:...Its not always the best Idea to add stock, to a tank to fix a problem that can be dealt with by by you the owner of said tank.

can you not see the pic I Posted about pond snails vs bladder snails?

I am all for adding new stock! New stock means I can justify to the wifey another fish tank   

Yes I saw your posting. The OP asked how to get rid of them. I offered a solution. Whether it was right or wrong for the OP's problem is up to the OP no? In my case my tank had become over run with snalls and do to no other tanks to move the stock that was currently residing... a re-do was out of the question.

 I bought an assasin snail along time ago and he resides in my guppy tank. Based on the growing number of snails I am going to say my assasin snail must be retired.

all of my comments were directed at the OP