Malaysian Live Bearing Snails Problem

[Gill Plate]

Anyone had luck ridding

their aquariums of malaysian live bearing snails?

[fishmaven]

<!--quoteo

(post=8117:date=Feb 9 2008, 07:40 PM:name=wet again)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wet again

@ Feb 9 2008, 07:40 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=8117"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>Anyone had luck ridding their aquariums of

malaysian live bearing snails?</div>
I've never been able

to control much less get rid of them. I don't even think drying the gravel kills them. Replace

the gravel. Soak any decorations, including plants in an alum solution, then carefully inspect each

items before using it in the new set-up. I don't think puffers will eat them either. If you

discover something that works PLEASE post it here. Dan

BTW, I moved this to the disease

section from the Trading Post... I don't think anyone wanted you to send them your live bearing

snails.<grin>

[Mrfiremouth]

I love these snails

and have them in all my tanks. Loaches will decimate their populations. The horsehead and weather

loach go nuts on them.

I use them to maintain the substrate for me as they are great

burrowers. If you have extremely dense populations then you are not vacuuming the gravel enough and

are a heavy feeder. These snails grow/multiply in direct correlation to their food source. More

food=more snails!

They are predatory to fry that ball up together at night on the

sand. When fry are small the first 2 weeks they huddle together on the bottom of my tanks and I

have seen large Malaysians feeding on them.

I also keep the Ramshorn snails and one

unknown variety. Most of my cichlids eat the Ramshorn snails when they get to adult size and are

big enough to crush their shells. My Firemouths are very good at crunching the Ramshorn ones.

You can also remove the fish and any live plants you want to keep and treat the tank with

copper. That gets rid of them pretty well. Then do 2 big water changes and add carbon, test the

water with copper kit, and return fish and plants if test is OK.

[jmtrops]

Has anyone tried that snail

rid stuff you can buy, they claim to not be harmfull to fish but I have not tried them.
Jim

[Pam Chin]

Hi Jim!

I

would rather see you control it with fish then a chemical. I had a 55 gal tank that had so many of

these snails, that you couldn't even see in the tank. I put in (2) Vieja maculicauda; Black

Belts, and the snails were gone in hours!!!! I was totally amazed, and haven't

seen a snail since. Of course it wasn't my intent to use the black belts as snail eaters, but

it sure worked and worked quick.

There are many cichlids that love snails, not just

the centrals.

Cichlid Power!
Pam

[jmtrops]

<!--quoteo

(post=8152:date=Feb 10 2008, 12:18 PM:name=Pam Chin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pam Chin

@ Feb 10 2008, 12:18 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=8152"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>I would rather see you control it with fish then a

chemical.</div>

I would rather do that also but I would

like a way that won't interupt my breeders.

Jim

[Le0]

Even though the snail has

the advantage of reproducing quickly, and is able to easily hide, you can still win this battle.

All you have to do is use your superior brainpower. Snails can be lured out by simply clipping a

lettuce leaf to the glass before you go to bed. In the morning there will be a whole family of

snails feasting on the lettuce, which you will scoop out of the tank and dispose of. You won’t

eliminate every snail that way, but you can keep their numbers under control.

Another

option is to put snail-eating fish in your tank. Any respectable Clown or Yo-Yo loach would give

their right fin for a snail dinner. They will sift through the gravel, sucking any snail they find

right out of its shell. Loaches will even dive under the substrate in their snail hunting quest.

Labyrinth fish, such as Bettas and Gourmis, will also eat snails. However, they are not as adept at

tracking them down in their home under the gravel.

Lastly, remember the equation, less

food = less snails. Reduce the amount of food your fish are given, and there will not be as much

leftover for the snails.

Removing Aquarium Snails
From Shirlie Sharpe,

[Claudia]

<!--

coloro:#006400--><span style="color:#006400">Hello, Jim!

Pam, Le0,

and Mr. Firemouth's advice of controlling your snails with species of fish with a penchant for

snails as a part of their diet, such as the clown loach or particular species of cichlids, is

excellent and a method that I use, if necessary, as well.

Snails in small numbers

can also be used effectively in your fry tanks when added after the fry are up and free-swimming,

two weeks and older. Here, they will efficiently take care of excess food (as long as the amount

of food is not too great!), helping to maintain stable water quality along with your regular

water changes.

Please do keep in mind Le0s words, "Less food = less

snails!"

The lettuce attraction method sounds like a great suggestion, and

one that I plan on trying here the next time the need arises! This may be the way for you to

go if you do not wish to disturb your breeders.

With all of the wonderful input from

the members of the forum on ridding your tank of snails, your will surely have no need of any snail

removal chemicals!

Another thought ~ a few snails can be a good thing!

Good Luck, Jim, and we look forward to hearing how you make out!

All

the Best!
Claudia



</span>

[dstuer]

I'm with Mr Firemouth, I

think they're great for keeping the substrate mixed and cleaning up debris.
The only

problem for me is when they get big and end up momentarily plugging a venturi.
They are in

all my tanks except one, the menerambo tank. They don't last but seconds. When pulling the

large ones out of a plugged venturi, I drop them in with the menerambo, and even the large really

hard shelled snails leave their gills as a cloud of dust.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/menerambo/11_14_06_1941-3.jpg
The menerambo are always digging for them, a lot like Geophagus.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/menerambo/image001-125.jpg

[Gill Plate]

What about eating

the eggs of the substrate spawners?

I will have to find a Tanganyika that will relish

them

[jmtrops]

<!--quoteo

(post=8189:date=Feb 12 2008, 03:54 PM:name=wet again)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wet

again @ Feb 12 2008, 03:54 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=8189"><

{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>What about eating the eggs of the

substrate spawners?

I will have to find a Tanganyika that will relish them<!--QuoteEnd-

-></div>
They don't seem to eat the eggs but it could be that the

Tanganyikans keep them away from the eggs. Some of them, like my leleupi seem to control them but

my helianthus don't.
Jim

[jmtrops]

<!--quoteo

(post=8176:date=Feb 11 2008, 12:47 PM:name=duane)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (duane @

Feb 11 2008, 12:47 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=8176"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm with Mr Firemouth, I think they're

great for keeping the substrate mixed and cleaning up debris.</div><!--QuoteEEnd--

>

Yes I agree but I use sand in most tanks and the debris stays on top, when I feed the

snails come up and eat the food before the fish come out and eat.
Jim

[bobrfish]

Yes they burrow but imo,

these trumpet snails are ugly.
i purchased yoyo loaches to control them and yoyos like fish

food better than snails. thus no control.
best control method is starvation imo and it is

just control not eradication.
it is also true that these snails will consume fry. in my case

it was Telmatochromis sp. "red cheek" fry, but this is not a popular fish and thus no big

lose.

[CichlidJim]

OK, I did find a way to

get rid of the little buggers, and it won't hurt your cichlids! A double dose of Fluke Tabs

does the trick. The only drawback is you better not have any catfish or loaches in the tank as they

will get killed. And since there will be a bunch of decaying bodies, you will need to scoop them

out. This works best for a light infestation.

I have also tried the copper based snail

eliminator products but they just seal themselves in their shell. Same reason that drying them out

doesn't work (I had one guy mention that the gravel was dry in the garage for five years and

the MLBS came back).

For a heavy infestation, I remove the fish first because I'm

going to clean the tank anyway, so I use a triple dose and then wait about five days. I then remove

all of the gravel, clean it as best as I can, and then place the gravel (and the snails) in a bowl

with water and place them in the microwave on high for 30 minutes (smells wonderfull). If the Fluke

Tabs didn't get them all, the heat will. Rerinse to remove as many bodies as possible, and then

put the gravel back in the tank, add water and you are ready to add fish.

I need to

give credit for the Fluke Tab remedy to Rich Bireley. He didn't give the details, just the

idea.

[Gill Plate]

I have found that the

Neolamprologus Mustax will eat the snails. I place four adults in a 55 that was loaded with snails

and they reduced the population to very low levels (you never rid them all) and then two Mustax

pair bonded. I moved the pair to a 30G tank with thier cave and they spawned so I am now raising a

spawn of Mustax in one of my 20G nursery tanks.

So the snails must have been a good

source of food and stimulant for the Mustax - I'm a happy camper! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif

John

[Mrfiremouth]

Ha! Live food

works wonders for the passionate!!!!

[Curator]

<!--quoteo

(post=8133:date=Feb 9 2008, 10:59 PM:name=fishmaven)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (fishmaven

@ Feb 9 2008, 10:59 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=8133"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>I've never been able to control much less get

rid of them. I don't even think drying the gravel kills them. Replace the gravel. Soak any

decorations, including plants in an alum solution, then carefully inspect each items before using

it in the new set-up. I don't think puffers will eat them either. If you discover something

that works PLEASE post it here. Dan

BTW, I moved this to the disease section from the

Trading Post... I don't think anyone wanted you to send them your live bearing

snails.<grin></div>


I want some of his

snails!!! LOL, I wouldnt mind a bag of the buggers! but I dont have allot of

money, So pm me if you want to send me some of your snails and we can try to work something

out!!! I really want some,lol.. they can be very useful...

[snakeskinner]

MTS

suck.......Period.... they WILL eat eggs, I have proven it to myself. There is no way to

mechanically remove them short of tearing down and boiling or bleaching everything in the tank.

They can live in stored substrate for months without being submersed. I've yet to find a fish

that will get rid of them totally although many larger cichlids will eat some of them. Most of the

common snail eaters like loaches and puffers can't break the shells. No common snail control

drugs will work either. I did find a cure though. Flubendazole is commonly used for a de-wormer.

the only place I'm aware of to get it is from Charles Harrison, http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/ who sells it

more for hydra and parasite control. It will kill internal and external parasites as well as any

inverts. It will not harm any fish... For MTS, I dose at the recommended dosage of 1 gram per 10

gallons, wait 48 hours and do a 30% waterchange, add another dosage and wait a week before removal.

MTS are good at closing up their trapdoors tightly and avoiding the meds which is why I wait the

week so they will have to come out in that time period. MTS travel from tank to tank super-easy

and being a livebearer, it may only take one snail transferred. Kyle

[Lisachromis]

I know someone who took

all their gravel out of a tank with all the snails. Left it outside in a bucket all winter long. He

then cleaned the gravel and put back in a tank and there were still survivors! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif

[snakeskinner]

doesn't suprise

me. I bought some aquariums from a guy that had been in a mini-storage in 100+ degree temperatures

for a few months. many of them had damp soil, no water. there were MTS in all of them... I

even found an Amano shrimp that had lived in half an inch of muck though style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif Kyle