So, I have been finding holes and ragged edges on some of the leaves of some of my plants, and I've been trying to figure out the problem...
I'm well versed in what CO2 deficiency looks like:icon_roll and this wasn't it.
I already add 1 1/2 times EI levels of ferts, so nutrient deficiency was unlikely, but still possible.
My bristlenose is too big to hang on the leaves affected, so it wasn't him/her.
It turns out....
Pond snails eat plants You can clearly see the gas bubbles coming out of the recently sliced tissue! Grrrrr, there is gonna be a snailicide!
Yeah, I'm not going to use chemicals.
I'm starting with a two prong plan, leaving cucumber slices in the tank overnight, then putting any snails attached in the freezer come morning.
When (if) I see a serious decline in these guys, I'll introduce a bunch of ramshorns. I don't know why, but I've never had pond snails get a foothold in a tank that already had an established ramshorn population. I think the ramshorns might eat the pond snails eggs.
Hopefully it will work out, I have a ton of dwarf narrow leaf J fern that should look great, but looks more like a madagascar lace plant:frown:
I sympathize with your pain. I got pond snails on my plants and their population exploded before I had any fish in the tank. At first I thought they were helping me out by eating algae off of my plants, until I finally realized the truth. And since the plants were weakened, algae was gaining the upper hand.
Lucky for me, I had planned to get loaches for my tank and they have taken care of the problem. My plants are in good health so the algae is almost gone and the water quality is vastly improved. I tried the cucumber trick but had little luck. If I was lucky I would get 10 baby snails but that was a drop in the bucket to how many were in the tank.
Ooh, A. petite is another they are shredding
Unfortunately, there is no room in the tank for loaches, they might be a little aggro for the residents anyway.
I've never had pond snails before but my guess would be a two pronged attack:
- borrow some baby loaches from someone and let them put a big dent in the snail population. Then you can pass them on to a bigger tank.
- Next, I'd get myself some pretty non-plant eating snails that will eat all the other snail eggs. I got some beautiful Asolene Spix snails from Ebichua that I heard really decimated his snail population.
If you originally planned to get ramshorn snails, then try them out. Otherwise if the cucumber trick does not work, I would try assassin snails. But read up on them here:
when i had a pond snail break out i just picked them out of the tank. since they laid their eggs in big sacks i just found those and pulled them out too. havent had a pond snail since.
I battled with MTS for a year in one of my tnaks... I finally gave in and used had a snail. No Fish or plant losses and I have some very sensitive fish. NO regrets on using chemicals.
I've never seen any of the common snails (pond, ramshorn and MTS)in my tanks eating plants. Just algae and uneaten food.
I actually try and promote them in my tanks. Big beautiful Red Ramshorns are pretty neat little creatures.
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