Page 16 - TBAS-may-2018

-16- TBAS May 2018 ....................
While peering in my
tank I noticed large holes
in my dwarf lilies. This
usually means the snails
are back. They don’t eat
my Cryptocorynes which
take up most of the tank.
I have used freshwater
puffers in the past to
control them, but the
last one I had in my tank
seem to like the marble
angels. I moved the puffer to my small backyard pond to control the mosquito
larva and he does a great job. Now back to the problem of snails in my tank.
A number of methods can be used for controlling snails. First, there are
several chemicals sold that will kill them, but if a large number of snails are present,
a mass die-off will pollute the water.
Another way is to use bait. Feed the fish very lightly or not at all. Snails
eat a lot of fish food. Wait till a few hours after the lights are off and then take a
saucer and place it upside down at the bottom of the tank. On the center of the
inverted saucer place a sinking food tablet of any kind and wait about one hour.
Then carefully pick up the saucer and throw away the snails that went for the
bait. Doing this once a week will help keep them under control.
An easier way to control snails is to keep fish that eat them. I have already
mentioned the freshwater puffers such as the Figure 8 and the Green Spot, but
these can be too aggressive for some tanks. Other fish, including several members
of the Botia family, like clown loaches and skunk loaches, also work well. In my
55 gallon live plant tank I keep clown loaches and have not a snail in sight. The
other tank is another story. I will be adding several skunk loaches to this tank
soon. There are several cichlids that also eat snails, but some of these can be
very aggressive and eat plants too.
One of the more time consuming methods is to remove them by hand. The
best time to get them is first thing in the morning when the lights come on. They
are hungry and are usually close to the top of the tank.
Not all snails are bad. The Malaysian Trumpet snail doesn’t each the
plants and burrows through the gravel keeping it open and breathing. You can
control these by regulating the amount of food they get. Some snails sold at the
local retailer are sought after, such as the Apple and Ramshorn, but if you have a
snail overpopulation problem try one of these methods to control them. Until next
month, happy fish keeping.
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