# snails, worms & algae



## jayo76 (21 Mar 2012)

Hi - Im a fretting newbie in Need some advice please guys.

Have a new heavy planted set up, 180l not even 2 weeks old. Found tiny snails in the tank last night, so obviously come on the plants. Ive spotted 4 so far which have been exterminated by my finger!    Will these kind of snails grow big? Should i get rid of them by intervention? I dont have any fish yet as the tank is only cycling at present. 

I also saw what im assuming is some kind of larvae, tiny white worm that moved like a caterpillar? Ive only spotted a few.

Thrid problem im encountering is some opaque very fine threat algae forming on my struggling / melting HC and gloss.

Would a combination of assassin snails and a dozen shrimp tackle my problems? (obviously this wont help the HC or gloss!) or should i get some chemicals and kill everything?

All advice would be much appreciated!


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## tekopikin (21 Mar 2012)

Hi,
I wouldn't really recommend chemicals as a means to eradicate problems apart from fighting disease.  Here's a handy article on snails http://tinyurl.com/77frfle 

I have found them to be beneficial in my planted tank on the long run providing that they’re kept under control. I have assassin snails but I've never seen the dossers in action all they do is sit tight and look pretty   I also have trumpet snails and one apple Snail. Every now and then when I clean out my external filter, I find loads of juveniles - I crush some and feed to my fish and the rest I exterminate  

With regards to the 'threat algae' I think what you are referring to is "hair algae" this is one mean mother of an algae species and I did suffer a lot from it till I discovered the *siamese flying fox fish* - this fish *loves* hair algae and quickly dispatched all traces of hair algae which I suffered from. I haven't found any other fish to be as effective in getting rid of hair/thread algae as this species of fish. I have two of these fish & two ancistrus pleco fish(these don't grow massive like the common plecos).

Hope this helps & good luck with your new tank.


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## jayo76 (21 Mar 2012)

Thanks my friend. Just called my LFS and they have flying fox just in yesterday so a spot of luck there, ill get a couple and see how they get on, just hope they survive in my half cycled tank! ill do a big water change b4 adding them.

With snail problem, im going to try the leaf of lettuce trick to get them to congregate, and remove them naturally that way and keep them under control until I get some assassin snails next week from my other LFS.

I definately want to get ancistrus, they are on my wish list but ill hold off until i have the tank stable and im comfortable that ive the system under control.

That just leaves me with the mystery of the little white worms, which im pretty sure are some kind of larvae! Perhaps the flying fox will gobble them up too for me!


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## tekopikin (21 Mar 2012)

Oh no !  I forgot to add that you should only ever add the fish after a complete cycle! Trust me that is not the way to go and you'll only end up with very    or dead fish in no time.  As much as you want to get your planted tank started the best to do is wait till it's fully cycled. If you need to get rid of the algae, just use a toothbrush to snare the hair algae with a twisting motion or try & pick it with your fingers  :idea: It'll take some getting used to, just try and shift as much as you can manually for now then as you start to establish a tank community you can start introducing the algae eaters - they're pretty sensitive so they should only be introduced once you're certain that your water parameters are A-Okay. Useful article on fishless cycling  :arrow:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishless_cycling
Take a sample of your tank water to your LFS they'll be more than happy to test it for you and let you know when it's ready to start stocking tour tank. Don't be tempted to buy a whole heap of fish at once, I made a similar mistake too. My advice is to start with some *zebra danios* as they are rather hardy fish give them two weeks and see how they go...  
'Worms' in your substrate? ...Not sure what you're describing but I can't see them as a good inhabitant to have in the tank; I suspect they're some sort of parasite (but I could be wrong). You could try taking a picture of the critters and post in a reply - that would help. I'm pretty sure the s  in this forum will tune in soon and hopefully dish out some better advice on the topic that could help. In the meantime fish out the 'worm' and try taking a clear picture of it against a black background, try not to use flash. This will help in identifying the citters . 
And one last thing - if you ever buy plants, always *wash* them thoroughly to rid them of snails (carried as invisible eggs) and other parasites they may be harboured on them before you introduce them into your tank. Wash in fast running water and then rinse in a mild solution containing water conditioner before you plant them in your tank.


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## doobiw55 (21 Mar 2012)

*snails, worms & algae*

In my experience the best way to control pest snail is with a couple of assassin snails


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## Calzone (21 Mar 2012)

Little white worms are most likely planaria.  Harmless but ugly and will multiply.  Usually worse if you overfeed.  Only way to get rid of them is to use dog-deworming powder, containing fenbendazole.  I can vouch that it works and is fish and shrimp safe at the concentrations described.  see link below.

[url=http://www.planetinverts.com/...w.planetinverts.com/killing_pl ... hydra.html[/url]

Re snails - these are overwhelmingly likely to be standard pond snails and will grow to maybe 7-9mm.  Assassin snails will get rid of these, albeit slowly.  My small tank is absolutely full of snail shells.  I reckon I had maybe a hundred, and two assassins eventually did for them.  I have 5 assassins now, so they're not as prolific as pond snails...


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## jayo76 (21 Mar 2012)

Thanks everyone for all the info, its great to have a forum to learn from, much appreciated.
Picked up 2 assassin snails today

Also got 2 SAE to work on my algae, and prevent it from taking over, (also added api quick start and did 50% water change) the shop said they were flying fox, but having googled the whole thing, between false, true, siamese, fox and SAE, its hard to determine what exactly they are!


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