# Getting rid of snails while leaving shrimp unharmed...



## rebel

This question does come up often and there is no easy answer. Any meds containing copper can be devastating for shrimp.

Until now..... [drum roll]
Or so they say.

ISTA snail remover
http://www.aquariumonlinestore.com.au/products-page/medications-additives/ista-snail-remover-120ml/

Any ideas as to how this works and whether it's shrimp safe?


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## zozo

Depending on the amount of snails and or other critters you'd like to kill, the aftermath can be as devestating for shrimps. As i experiensed with No-Planaria (some herb extract) reportedly shrimp save and fish save, but it killes snailes as well as planaria and maybe more invertebrates. It should be used for 3 days to be realy effective.. All fine, till all dead tisuue starts to rot and the substrate starts to leach this. Strange is, water parameters didn't show any significant spikes as far as tests can be trusted. But 15 of my shrimps told me someting different.. All died of some kind of poissoning. At least Amano's coloring ember color and jump around like mad is poissonong symptoms.

Since i breed snails for Puffy i experience snails not living a long happy live in my high tech tank, tho they thrive in any low tech environment i setup with same water parameters. I believe it's the co2 acidity preventing them to develop a shell and do not live to repropduse.. I keep putting snails in this tank and all of them  just disapear after a while. The only difference is co2.


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## EdwinK

Why not to use the services of _Clea helena_?


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## rebel

EdwinK said:


> Why not to use the services of _Clea helena_?


Us down under can't have the services rendered without getting a visit from DAFF who will put chlorine in all your tanks and wait for everything to die before leaving.


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## rebel

zozo said:


> Depending on the amount of snails and or other critters you'd like to kill, the aftermath can be as devestating for shrimps. As i experiensed with No-Planaria (some herb extract) reportedly shrimp save and fish save, but it killes snailes as well as planaria and maybe more invertebrates. It should be used for 3 days to be realy effective.. All fine, till all dead tisuue starts to rot and the substrate starts to leach this. Strange is, water parameters didn't show any significant spikes as far as tests can be trusted. But 15 of my shrimps told me someting different.. All died of some kind of poissoning. At least Amano's coloring ember color and jump around like mad is poissonong symptoms.
> 
> Since i breed snails for Puffy i experience snails not living a long happy live in my high tech tank, tho they thrive in any low tech environment i setup with same water parameters. I believe it's the co2 acidity preventing them to develop a shell and do not live to repropduse.. I keep putting snails in this tank and all of them  just disapear after a while. The only difference is co2.


Hmm fair call. I guess the ammonia won't be welcomed by most livestock. 

I already have no planaria but never tried it. I've got a large sachet. I always assumed that it will only kill planaria, which I don't mind. 

It's the mini ramshorns which is so impossible to eradicate.

I agree with you that high co2 low kh tanks are not welcomed by them. As always, one survives, and the rest is history. Best option I guess would be a loach of some sort but they would munch on shrimp afaik. For example one could not put them in with expensive CRS and the like.

Lastly, any ideas on how this works/could work?


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## Sarpijk

Drop in a piece of cucumber or blanched  zucchini and just remove it after a while with all the snails munching on it.  

If you have so many ramshorns you may be overfeeding.


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## X3NiTH

I'll second the courgette/zucchini, I have it in the tank all the time, I don't blanch it as it falls apart too quickly if you do this, I give it a good rinse under the tap and then just cut about a half inch from the rounded terminal end (not the cut stem end) and drop it in the tank, it floats for a few days and gives the shrimp a chance to eat away from the substrate out of the snail poo for a while, the shrimp will sink it if enough congregate on it, the snails then climb aboard when it hits the deck, they then burrow into the soft white flesh, they get trapped there if the outer skin is still intact forming a cup, it's then easy to lift a large amount out in one go with long tweezers in one action (I net it out if the outer skin has been breached to stop it coming apart and dropping the snails back in). 

You can always skip the floating part if you don't want to wait, to do this I use a bamboo satay skewer and just skewer it on (put it through the brown woody circle on the bottom because that doesn't get eaten and doesn't disintegrate, it's always the last thing left on the skewer), it needs to be weighted down though as its buoyant for a few days otherwise, I use a large stainless fly tying clamp on the end, anything tank safe and heavy would do as long as it stays put (make sure it can stop the veg falling off the end of the skewer when lifted out) I make sure it's sitting on the substrate like an upside down umbrella, then it's an easy lift out if they're stuck in the cup, if the snails are on the outside they drop off before you can get it out the water, so use a net in this case underneath to catch the jumpers!


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## alto

X3NiTH said:


> to catch the jumpers!




Snail jumpers    



rebel said:


> It's the mini ramshorns which is so impossible to eradicate.


Chocolate gouramis will make these disappear ... you might try some of the small Dario sp

I tried Licorice gouramis (unidentified _Parosphromenus_ sp) but they were avid shrimp hunters despite the shrimp being almost as large - they just nipped, grabbed, shook ... & managed to take out several shrimp in under a minute (the time it took me to net them back out - their response was instantaneous ... impressive  if I wanted shrimp hunters )
I only brought the "pair" home as I felt sorry for them  ...

In contrast the CG's (though also wild caught) seem to have a very different approach, they may do away with some newly hatched shrimp but you could always just place the CG's in the tank for a few days, intermittently ... I find that once settled, CG's can be moved between tanks with minimal stress
CG's aren't difficult keepers, just difficult to source healthy stock
(disclaimer: I have very soft water) 

There are also the _Parasphaerichthys_ which sometimes trade as Burmese "chocolate gouramis"  - I've not managed to source any of these
_Parasphaerichthys_ _lineatus_
_Parasphaerichthys_ _ocellatus_

re Loaches, you might consider
_Petruichthys_ sp. 'rosy'


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## Daveslaney

Candy loaches get rid of them in no time


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## Nelson

I put some Trichopsis vittata in my tank and the snail population fell very quick,as well as my last few TBS .
I've also now got some Botia Striata,great looking fish ,and I only see really big Ramshorns.


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## Sarpijk

Ι still can't wrap my head around the fact that some hobbyists want to wipe out snails from their tanks. In normal populations all snails are part of a ecosystem that we are trying to replicate. A snail overpopulation is the sole result of overfeeding which is what we should be worried about. Just my two cents.


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## alto

Nelson said:


> well as my last few TBS .


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## Daveslaney

Most of the snails i had where intoduced as unwanted guests with plants i assume. I have trumpet snails that burrow in the substrate that are fine with the candy loaches.
Fish that will eat snails are part of the ecosytem we create too. Circle of life


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## rebel

Sarpijk said:


> Ι still can't wrap my head around the fact that some hobbyists want to wipe out snails from their tanks. In normal populations all snails are part of a ecosystem that we are trying to replicate. A snail overpopulation is the sole result of overfeeding which is what we should be worried about. Just my two cents.


Probably true in my part. 

I am keen to rid them in my shrimp tank. I have noted that they explode regardless of overfeeding etc.

thanks for all the answers guys!


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## alto

rebel said:


> I have noted that they explode regardless of overfeeding etc.


I observed this in one shrimp tank as well - tiny ramshorn snails everywhere even though I rarely fed the tank ... interestingly they never seemed to get beyond the tiny stage (insufficient calcium perhaps) but there also seemed to be new waves appearing from somewhere ... I never added flora or fauna to this tank as it was a Q tank that had lapsed into a shrimp tank ...

*Spontaneous Generation Observed in Hobbyist Shrimp Tank!!!*


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## rebel

alto said:


> I observed this in one shrimp tank as well - tiny ramshorn snails everywhere even though I rarely fed the tank ... interestingly they never seemed to get beyond the tiny stage (insufficient calcium perhaps) but there also seemed to be new waves appearing from somewhere ... I never added flora or fauna to this tank as it was a Q tank that had lapsed into a shrimp tank ...
> 
> *Spontaneous Generation Observed in Hobbyist Shrimp Tank!!!*


LOL! it certainly feels like it.

I have found that removal (not crushing) helps to keep numbers down better.


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## zozo

rebel said:


> I have noted that they explode regardless of overfeeding etc.


I can only second that, i'm breeding them in the garden without feeding, little ramshorn and pond snails only thing they have is plants and what the 125 liter bucket provides by nature.. And they reproduce like mad and yet did not see them eat from the vegitation. Most of them are attached to the wall eating off the biofilm. 

If you have no other territorial fish a little pea puffer can be very happy in a snail infested tank, then you only need to clean empty shells behind it on regular bases. But if you have any other territorial fish it's not a good idea that could become Terror in the Tank. Don't mess with Puffers or they mess with you(r other fish). They own the tank. Best to keep them solo, mating them up is to much risk involved and one pea puffer is good for 10 snails a day at least. But then you also have to start breeding snails elswhere..


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## Manisha

Hi, I know overfeeding is assumed to be a major contributing factor in overpopulation but I haven't found this in my (limited!) experience.

I introduced physa (bladder snails) into my tank by accident with a single pot of java fern which at that point had aquasoil cycling, a filter and heater running and nothing else! They seemed to appear overnight and increased in numbers without any introduced food and little plant matter.

I knew little about these snails and asked on here for advice. Troi recommended eSHa Gastropex however I haven't tried it. (I bumped the thread on it as I'm hopeless at linking threads!) Also dw1305 recommended baiting with cucumber to keep the numbers with cucumber to control their numbers.

I came around to the idea that they would be beneficial in the tank and decided to take no action however & Ironically have far less now that the tank is stocked with shrimp and fish - so perhaps a combination of competition for food and predation of snail eggs have lead to their numbers declining have caused this.

Hope you find a method that works or at least keeps them at a level you can live with


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## rebel

Thanks for all the opinions guys.

I am definitely chasing a definite method to get rid of them in my shrimp tanks.I will probably introduce a loach into my display at some stage.

I have one low tech I can experiment with, so will report back.

Another member in another forum is having success (short term) so it's encouraging so far.


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## rebel

alto said:


> Snail jumpers
> 
> 
> Chocolate gouramis will make these disappear ... you might try some of the small Dario sp
> 
> I tried Licorice gouramis (unidentified _Parosphromenus_ sp) but they were avid shrimp hunters despite the shrimp being almost as large - they just nipped, grabbed, shook ... & managed to take out several shrimp in under a minute (the time it took me to net them back out - their response was instantaneous ... impressive  if I wanted shrimp hunters )
> I only brought the "pair" home as I felt sorry for them  ...
> 
> In contrast the CG's (though also wild caught) seem to have a very different approach, they may do away with some newly hatched shrimp but you could always just place the CG's in the tank for a few days, intermittently ... I find that once settled, CG's can be moved between tanks with minimal stress
> CG's aren't difficult keepers, just difficult to source healthy stock
> (disclaimer: I have very soft water)
> 
> There are also the _Parasphaerichthys_ which sometimes trade as Burmese "chocolate gouramis"  - I've not managed to source any of these
> _Parasphaerichthys_ _lineatus_
> _Parasphaerichthys_ _ocellatus_
> 
> re Loaches, you might consider
> _Petruichthys_ sp. 'rosy'


Hiya Alto, great suggestions!

I have considered. In Australia, most of these are very rare species!!

I agree with your shrimp concerns. If one didn't have shrimp, getting rid of snails is easy. 

I have CRS, snow whites in this tank....


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