# Hundreds of tiny snails on Driftwood



## gabriel.basso (14 Dec 2017)

Today I noticed there were a lot of white little spots laying on the driftwood of my planted tank. At first I thought this could be some kind of mold but no, paying closer attention I noticed some of them were moving!

They appear only on the driftwood and no where else in the tank.

I'm afraid to have snail infestation since I dont have any predator for them in the tank. Only 9 otocinclus. 

Should I manually remove them? Is it going to be a real problem?

I could use some advice from you. 

Thanks



















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## Keith GH (15 Dec 2017)

gabriel basso

If they are snails I would remove all the DW and scrub it clean then leave it in the sun for a few days.   If you still see the snails give in another big scrubbing.

If you can buy a few small Clown Loaches they will clean them up very quickly and and snail eggs in the tank.

Keith


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## mow said (15 Dec 2017)

Its hard to remove all those snails by hand as you might have snail eggs in your aquarium . Even if you remove the driftwood and clean it a moth later you will have the same problem again. Best way introduce some assassin snails and they will get rid of them maybe not all of them but you wont see as many.


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## ian_m (15 Dec 2017)

I got a snail infection a year or two ago from plants not bought from my usual shop.

To be honest didn't really mind them (miss them now gone) watching them race across the glass, attacking odd algae patches, clogging filters, making holes in plants...

However each water change I removed as many snails as I could, often finding 50 odd per week !!!, I wiped off any obvious egg patches on glass, including all the snails and eggs in my filter and after about a year no snails.


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## gabriel.basso (15 Dec 2017)

I got the visible snails off on yesterday WC. 
Guess it was something around a hundred. 

I can't take off the driftwood for cleaning or it would destroy the scape. It is partially buried in the substrate and is holding it.

And as I read around here clown loaches would be nice to eat snails but they get too big and make a mess on planted tanks. I have ottos and I will introduce some neon tetras or rasboras. Do they eat snails? I don't think so. 

To be honest I don't care having some of these snails on the tank... just don't want to have thousands of them lol. 

Cheers

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## Edvet (15 Dec 2017)

Make a DIY snailtrap and put it in the tank at night


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## gabriel.basso (15 Dec 2017)

Thanks Edvet real nice and clean alternative!

I will use it when snails get bigger. And still better because I dont want to use chemicals for this. 

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## Konsa (16 Dec 2017)

Hi
Why don't you go for some Assassin snails.While your so called pest snails a small the assassins should do a good job eating them.
Regards Konsa


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## zozo (16 Dec 2017)

Now they are so little there probaly is enough food for them to live off. Those tiny ones don't need a lot but while they grow bigger the food source will get less sufficient to sustain them all and than they slowly die off.. The more snails you have the less snails reach adulthood and will prematurely die if your tank is clean enough.

I got 5 different snail spp. in a 100 litre tank, all potential pests. and my substrate counts dosens empty snail shells of all sizes. I count as much empty shells as living snails. The ones that die are shrimp food i also got an unknown number of cherry shrimp competing with the snails food source.. The tank only sustains the amount of snails and shrimps it can feed. Imho it balances eachother perfectly out.

If you think you have an infestation, than mind you have a foodsource feeding it. Than getting rid of the snails, means the food source remains and since it's not eaten it will accumulate. so maybe it's best you get rid of that source too.

It works hand in hand they are there for a reason..


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## sciencefiction (17 Dec 2017)

The snails are there because part of the wood is decaying. They've found a food source, therefore they multiply. Once they eat all there is to eat, the amount will diminish providing you don't give them a second major food source. The amount of snails one has is always in proportion to food availability. And in fairness, that helps keep the balance. If you remove the snails, the food remains to rot for longer. I had a piece of similar wood in one of my tanks, same snails all over it too. It was just a new set up and time solved the issue until the wood was "well polished"  Unless you hate the sight of snails for some odd reason, leave them be. If snail population is out of proportion, evaluate your feeding practices.


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## mort (17 Dec 2017)

Are you sure they are definitely snails and not ostracoda (seed shrimp). I have a new setup with no fish and have seen these bloom. They are just a neat part of the ecosystem.


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## Keith GH (18 Dec 2017)

gabriel.basso,

I did say small Clown Loaches.  As far as growth if lucky 1cm per year.   Yes they can dig plants up but that is when they get large and older.  I had some live to 20+ years in a 5ft tank. 

Keith


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## gabriel.basso (18 Dec 2017)

Yeah I agree with you. These creatures (whether snails or ostracodas) evolved there for a reason. They are eating something I can't see on driftwood and probably this would turn into organic matter and amonia. I will give nature a chance and let things evolve for now. 

If it turns into an infestation later I'll handle with traps, assasins snails or fishes like small clown loaches. 

Thanks for your advices. I will keeep posting updates.


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## tam (18 Dec 2017)

I don't mind the teeny little ramshorn 'pest' snails, they don't cause any trouble and mostly disappear with the lights on and keep themselves in check - if they aren't it's a good signal you are over feeding/not cleaning enough (or your tank is full of new tasty wood apparently!). I like the scale better than the big snails people deliberately keep. They often look too big in comparison to the other inhabitants for my liking. Nice to have harmless little critters to spot. 

I think chain botia eat them as well if you want a more plant friendly, won't grow a foot long species.


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## mort (18 Dec 2017)

tam said:


> I think chain botia eat them as well if you want a more plant friendly, won't grow a foot long species.




Chain botia are lovely fish even if you don't have snails. They do best in decent sized groups.


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## Chubbs (24 Dec 2017)

I’m not so sure about the snails.

They irritate me more so when they invade my filter as I clean it out every couple of months and there must be at least 30 -50 in there each time. I don’t mind them in the tank but I dislike it when they cover my big wood.

I have a small team of 14 assassin snails and also tend to squash any of the larger adults or any snail that invades the big wood. I feel they just make it look messy.


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## splatteredbrainz (31 Dec 2017)

They're a good indicator of either dying plants or over-feeding. Other than that they're not really a bad thing. Clown loaches wont stay small. That being said sidthimunkis will though they're not as easy to find. Yoyo's will also grow quite a bit.  Zebras are another smaller loach good for snail-control. Really any botia loach will do the trick. There's a bunch of them. They are social however so make sure to get a handful or they can annoy other non-conspecifics looking for companionship. I recently sold all my yoyo's and definitely see myself getting some more after I move. 



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## Chubbs (1 Jan 2018)

Do they eat bog wood as well? I often see the snails on my bog wood and not on my plants.


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## gabriel.basso (12 Jan 2018)

Chubbs said:


> Do they eat bog wood as well? I often see the snails on my bog wood and not on my plants.


I guess they do. Probably the wood is totally matured so it realeases some kind of organic matter. I guess that's what is happening to mine. 

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## alto (13 Jan 2018)

Most gourami will eat baby snails (if not overfed) - I have S osphromenoides & S vaillanti & any snails unfortunate enough to emigrate via plant purchases, don't live long 
M ramirezi (Rams) & dwarf cichlids -  snails disappear
Betta (splendens & hendra) also keep snails in check

I have some intentional snails - nerite sp - they also love wood


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