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How to get rid of Ramshorn snails?

12K views 26 replies 12 participants last post by  jester56 
#1 ·
Is it possible to get rid of Ramshorn snails?

My fry/shrimp tank is slowly getting taken over with tons of the miniture things. I know feed less will help reduce it.. how ever that is hard to do when im trying to grow out a a bunch of fry.. any suggestions other then tweezing a batch every few days
 
#5 ·
get ready for plenty of "oh I love ramshorns they are part of a healthy ecosystem peace and love"

you'll never get them all without using assassin snails. You can always put a saucer in the tank with an algae pellet, come back in an hour and pull out all the snails that congregate.
 
#7 ·
Ramshorn Snails

Is it possible to get rid of Ramshorn snails?

My fry/shrimp tank is slowly getting taken over with tons of the miniture things. I know feed less will help reduce it.. how ever that is hard to do when im trying to grow out a a bunch of fry.. any suggestions other then tweezing a batch every few days
Hello shift...

Ramshorn snails thrive in water high in phosphates. Phosphates are one of the main ingredients in most flaked fish food. If you're like 99 percent of fishkeepers, you feed your fish too much. So, you create the perfect environment for the snails.

Gradually cut back on the amount you feed. Start feeding more frozen foods, these have little or no phosphates, just the frozen animal and water.

Stay up on your weekly water changes and add some floating Waterweed (Anacharis), this plant is a "nutrient hog" and will use up some of the extra dissolved phosphates in the water.

Reduce the amount of dissolved food in the water and the snails will slow their reproduction rate accordingly.

Just a couple of suggestions.

B
 
#16 ·
It was predicted that someone would come here and say this, and I'm here now.

Snails are an awesome part of every ecosystem. I've had the same strain of snails breeding for years on end.

They've never been out of control. I feel snails are an essential marker of how much you feed. Feed too much? Prepare for babies. Too little? Population shrinkage.

The great thing is it only takes a few weeks to grow up and a few months to die.

They keep things neat, and help feed your shrimp.

Quintessential, I'd say. And I know many others who would agree.
 
#24 ·
I already touched on that.

They breed based on available food.

If they over reproduce, that is your fault. And it is something you can control; keep it that way or easily fix it.

There is no might as well do this or that. It comes down to preference. I like all snails. I can't keep pond snails alive, but I keep varieties of MTS, Nerites and lots of Ramshorns.

My recommendation to everybody is learn to control the snails you have. You'll eventually fall in love with them and their goofy antics. Ramshorns have unique personalities MTS, Nerites don't have.

I do not keep pets for utility. I keep snails because they please me visually and I know they are happy in their environment.

I'd similarly never recommend an assassin snail just to contain a snail populace. I'd recommend one as a pet, as I think they're neat as heck.

Same with nerites. The root of algae should be addressed ahead of buying a creature to satisfy a problem which will manifest itself in other ways.
 
#25 ·
I'm one of those hippy snail lovers too.

Yes, they will reproduce in proportion to the food supply. And if you have to overfeed, for example to make sure fry or whatever gets enough food, then you will have a lot of snails - more than you probably want.

But speaking pragmatically, I believe they're still performing a useful function.

They eat, digest, and poop out that excess food in a form that is easily converted by the biofilter, or absorbed by plants. Now I don't know for sure, but that seems better than the food simply rotting.

And not all of what they eat is pooped out. Some is retained to fuel growth, and the production of new snails. So it seems like they work as a form of nutrient export, too.

Though if they were actually competing for food - for example covering sinking food pellets to the point where the intended recipients can no longer reach them - then I'd have no qualms over decimating them, snail lover or not.
 
#26 ·
Though if they were actually competing for food - for example covering sinking food pellets to the point where the intended recipients can no longer reach them - then I'd have no qualms over decimating them, snail lover or not.
Cheers hippy mon!

Really, I like the way you put it. I've never seen them in competition. They just always are eating up stuff I don't see.
 
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