# Mbuna and snails



## harveyb27 (Dec 15, 2008)

I bought some plants for my mbuna tank about 6 months ago. Decided i didnt like the look of them so gave them away. When i introduced them i soaked them in salt water, thinking i would kill any snails and thier eggs. Ofcourse, evidently that did not work and a few weeks ago when i was cleaning the juwel internal filter i realised there were loads of them. They are all really small.

I never see them out in the open. Only in the filter. Do the mbuna/synos eat them, so i dont see them?

I moved some rocks to my 30g, and saw a 4mm snail in that tank too. Do people have problems with snails in mbuna tanks?

Anything important i should know? I dont mind them, just dont want a tank full of them.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I had a problem with them a few years ago. I did the same thing you did...Brought them in on some live plants, which I knew I was going to kill, so I could have kicked myself for buying them to start with!

My advice is to try to get them out now...They will take over your tanks.

Don't use any of that snail removal stuff the LFS sells...I've never seen that do anything other than cause problems...

Place a slice of cucumber in the tank at lights out for the evening. The next morning, scoop the slice out with a clean cup or something they can't fall through - snails should be all over it. Do this repeatedly for several nights.

You may not get rid of every last one of them, but you can keep them under control by doing this every so often.

I occasionally saw my mbuna eat them, but I guess they were too well fed because they didn't even touch the problem.

Brichardi, on the other hand, will clean a tank quite quickly for you! :thumb:


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## jdt199 (Jun 17, 2009)

I did the same but I quite like my plants. As for the snails, my Mbuna ate the lot so I don't know what yours are playing at?

Do yours not seem to feed on snails?


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

If one is buying live plants, what is the best method to kill any snail eggs which might be on the plants?


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## harveyb27 (Dec 15, 2008)

I think they do but i never see it :-?

I only find the snails in the filter, where they are "safe".

I have never seen one outside of the filter... never on glass, rocks, rim of tank etc.

There are points where they can escape the filter, but i think the mbuna get them then, not sure though. What about synos, do they eat the snails? Maybe they are busy eating at night.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I had synos in every one of my tanks and they never seemed to even make a dent in the snail population...

Maybe I had tons more than I thought I did and they were eating all they could hold???

I occasionally saw an angry dominant mbuna snatch one off the wall of the tank and eat it, but not enough to help me get rid of them.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I was inundated with snails at one time in a planted Tang tank. Oddly enough the only tank I have that really ate the snails was my mbuna fry tank. Those lab babies were bloodthirsty!

The tang carnivores and syno lucipinnis did nothing.

Even when they are eaten though, it's a problem. The empty shells are light enough and small enough to be picked up in my python and clog at the faucet end.

I was also trying to get hair algae under control. When I tore down the infected tank to switch from Tangs to peacocks, I also removed/dried/sifted most of the substrate and even some of the plants. I dribbled a small amount (tablespoon or two) of hydrogen peroxide solution down my in-tank background during the water change. Soaked all rocks in hydrogen peroxide and water bucket. Scraped the glass. Blasted the filter.

That got rid of most of them. I still see one once in a while, but nowadays it's a surprise.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

I'm planning to buy some live plants at an auction this weekend and would rather not introduce snails into my tanks. 
Do you think rinsing the plants in diluted hydrogen peroxide would be enough to kill any snail eggs that could be on the plants?


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## BoostedX (Mar 1, 2009)

I had them all over my tank and my fish ate them all.. The only place where i find them is in my filter every now and then.. The last auction i went to there was a guy there with some plants that had never been in water. That would be the way i would go now.. It kinda sucked but he cut all of his plant prices in half close to the end of the auction. By the end of the auction he was sellin them for $2.00 a piece it didnt matter how big they was..


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Actually I would never buy plants grown emersed. When submersed, they die back to the roots. They regrow, but it's a pain waiting.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Kanorin, I'm not sure if the peroxide would damage the plants or not???


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I've read about using a hydrogen peroxide solution (I don't know the ratio) that you can use for a brief dip. But there is a lot of controversy about it. Some suggest quarantining your plants instead.


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

Probably the best way to kill adult snails and eggs is to soak the plants in a solution of Alum which you can purchase at drug stores or grocery stores. Put 10 level teaspoons per gallon of water. The adult snails will die rather quickly, but to kill the eggs soak the plants for two days with good water circulation. The plants should be fine.

You could also use a very weak bleach dip (19 parts water to 1 part bleach). It may kill fine leaved plants though. Potassium permanganate can also be used. These two will definitely kill algae. I have heard about using hydrogen peroxide, but have never tried it.


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## caseyof99 (Aug 5, 2009)

Thats how i mainly ended up with my clown loaches. I had a bad infestation of ramshorn snails form live plants i bought. Got the clown loaches and in a week I could hardly find any. By the second week they had polished them off and were going around the glass, plants, etc. slurping all the egg sacs off. They ended up being good cleaners of uneaten food aswell in my mbuna tank. Multi-tasking at its finest.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Although they can acclimate, clown loaches prefer a lower pH and groups of six. A 72" tank is ideal since per www.loaches.com


> clown loaches reach sizes of up to 12 or 13 inches


If you want to consider a loach, I'd look into tigers or yo yo instead.


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## karlfishing (Aug 4, 2009)

one assasin snail will take care of any other snails in the tank


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