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Old July 16th, 2009, 11:33 PM   #2
MartyK
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Westbury, NY
Posts: 13
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First of all, your snail population most probably started as "stowaways" on some live plants you introduced into your tank, or it might even have been a few egg masses that were adhering to the leaves and/or roots of those plants.
Snails are not such a bad thing, but the common pond snail, and ramshorn snail are very prolific and can soon blanket the tank and number in the hundreds or even thousands in large aquariums. Which is definitely increasing the bioload of the tank & upsetting the balance that we all try so hard to maintain. That being said, I would have to surmise that you are probably feeding more food than your fish can eat - giving the snails plenty to eat and thrive on.
Cutting back on feeding your fish will slow down the increase in the snail population, but not reduce their existing numbers. A few snail eating loaches, ( clown loaches are the most popular ) A school of 3 to 6 will make quick work of the snails sucking them right out of their shells.
There's actually another method especially useful when you can't introduce clown loaches to your tank because of larger predatory inhabitants; It's something I learned over 40 years ago while working at Al's Aquarium on Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn. I've recommended many times over the years and used it many times myself. It involves tying a chunk of steak like a bale of hay with some lightweight fishing line, then leaving a long enough line attached to reach out of the tank, drop it in the tank at night after you've turned off the lights. In the morning pull up your line and see how many snails have gathered on your "bait".
Good Luck! & Happy snail hunting Marty
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