MattG_Sydney Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Hi Folks Just noticed 100s of little snails in my tank .. I have never seen them before.. during the day time I have not seen them at all. Tonight when I I came home decided to check the tank. Please find attached a photo for your reference. Any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucem Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Malaysian trumpet snail. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattG_Sydney Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 17 minutes ago, brucem said: Malaysian trumpet snail. Thanks Bruce.. they are everywhere.. any ideas how I can get rid of them? Of course I don’t want to mess up the tanks and the fish .. any ideas would be appreciated.. I am at a loss how they ended up in there .. I have not introduced any new fish or plants for possibly near 12 months .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucem Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 (edited) Almost impossible without thoroughly stripping down the tank, drying it out and all the media, substrate and decorations that are in the tank. I’ve tried to keep tanks clean of them. Only my fry tanks that have no substrate appear to be free of them. Clown loaches and other loaches will eat them and can really suppress the population but are unlikely to eradicate them. Loaches may also affect your breeding success of substrate spawners etc. I’ve given up at the moment and the populations have exploded. They shouldn’t affect the breeding success of substrate spawners, in my experience. Edited March 13 by brucem 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattG_Sydney Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 Thanks for that Bruce. Appreciate your insights.. will see how I go .. but it seems there are 100s and 1000s of them in the tanks .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJK1818 Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 I found that clown loaches didn’t kill the trumpet snails. The only way I beat them was by removing all the substrate, letting it sit in a hot shed for a few months to fully dry out, then it was fine. I know that’s not an easy option but it worked and didn’t need chemicals. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattG_Sydney Posted April 7 Author Share Posted April 7 2 hours ago, TJK1818 said: I found that clown loaches didn’t kill the trumpet snails. The only way I beat them was by removing all the substrate, letting it sit in a hot shed for a few months to fully dry out, then it was fine. I know that’s not an easy option but it worked and didn’t need chemicals. Thank you for that. They are everywhere now, gotta do something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 11 hours ago, MattG_Sydney said: Thank you for that. They are everywhere now, gotta do something! Cut back on your feeding for a bit, and DIY some snail traps. Manual removal via the traps won't get rid of them but it will put a dent in their numbers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattG_Sydney Posted April 8 Author Share Posted April 8 (edited) Thanks @Skippy.. I will catch some as part of tank cleaning on the weekend.. good idea, will stop feeding for a few days and see how that helps. Thanks for the tip Edited April 8 by MattG_Sydney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 They could survive a nuclear war 😉 Try a bottle with a few food pellets in it and just let it sit for a while You'll be surprised by how many come out 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattG_Sydney Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 You are not wrong @Link2Hell .. I could see 1000s of babies floating ! I have given up now .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanymph Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 I’m just going through sorting out my tanks to kill both the MTS and the tiny rams horn snails. My 3’ tank and sump were hit with both teaspoon of Potassium permanganate and potassium sulphate ran that through the tank for a week then drained it. Now for the next 14 days I’m running the tank and sump with the copper treatment Quarrantine. Once the 14 days is up then it will be completely drained and refilled with fresh water and treated with copper removal. As for the substrate I’ll be replacing it with new sand which will be boiled before it goes into the tank and the plants I have will have 5 day 12 hour soaking in the potassium sulphate to ensure all snails and eggs are killed. it may seem like overkill but it’s the only way I have found that kills the snails completely 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattG_Sydney Posted April 24 Author Share Posted April 24 7 minutes ago, seanymph said: I’m just going through sorting out my tanks to kill both the MTS and the tiny rams horn snails. My 3’ tank and sump were hit with both teaspoon of Potassium permanganate and potassium sulphate ran that through the tank for a week then drained it. Now for the next 14 days I’m running the tank and sump with the copper treatment Quarrantine. Once the 14 days is up then it will be completely drained and refilled with fresh water and treated with copper removal. As for the substrate I’ll be replacing it with new sand which will be boiled before it goes into the tank and the plants I have will have 5 day 12 hour soaking in the potassium sulphate to ensure all snails and eggs are killed. it may seem like overkill but it’s the only way I have found that kills the snails completely Thank you ! Good luck with the treatment. I might have to do the same.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdance Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 (edited) Chemicals and dehydration won't kill Malaysian Trumpet Snails. They simply close up water tight until favourable conditions return. I've even tried pool chlorine. I've had them survive 9 years of bone dry gravel storage for example. The only way I've found to kill them is baking the infested gravel spread thinly over tin roofing or a concrete driveway in the scorching summer sun for a day or two. Microwave or an oven should work if you only have small quantity of gravel. Edited May 27 by fishdance 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattG_Sydney Posted May 28 Author Share Posted May 28 @fishdance thanks for your response. It seems I am doomed. I have multiple tanks with coral sand, so taking all out is nearly impossible. Need to find an alternative way to keep them under control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdance Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 I read here that someone had success with Kusuri wormer treatment which I find very hard to believe. You could try heating your tanks (remove fish obviously) to say 55 degrees Celcius for a few hours? I'm not sure what temperature or how long you need to kill them but an aquarium heater or adding boiling water isn't too difficult to trial. Be sure to turn over sand periodically. Put a couple of snails into a net or floating container as a control. If they all die, hopefully all the others in the gravel will too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattG_Sydney Posted June 3 Author Share Posted June 3 (edited) Thank you 🙏.. sounds like a good plan .. will try that when I have a good clear few days to transfer fish etc before heating the water in the tanks ! Edited June 3 by MattG_Sydney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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