# Help! Found ...snails? in my tank. I think? what are these?



## Grafx (Nov 8, 2010)

My new tank is currently cycling. I bought used substrate off someone, he said sand was clean and what not, so my tank has been cycling about 9 days now, and nitrites started forming, and what not, and today i went to go look at the tank and noticed THE SMALLEST ... like... smaller then a pencil eraser maybe a mm or 2 like white shell snail looking things crawling on the glass. i counted about 7 in my 60 gallon. the shells are an off white/tan, and the 2 whisker antenna things look white as well.

Are these harmful to the tank? I plan to put african cichlids in the tank. Im kind of worried I might have to start over!

Will these grow into crazy population!?


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## KiDD (Aug 20, 2010)

The breed like crazy. Go get you a clown loach and he will eat em...


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## daninflorida (Sep 7, 2010)

you have only been cycling for 9 days, if it were me, i would play it safe and empty the tank and make sure they are all dead...and start again. you dont want a snail infestation, because i understand they are hard to kill in a running aquarium. from my limited experience, the very small ones dont seem as sensitive to copper as the larger apple snails.

i agree on the loach, however, dont know if he would survive being thrown into a cycling tank. you could give it a shot


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## Teggy (Nov 5, 2010)

I second the Clown Loaches. I know they are a great way to get sanils in check. And yes they would multiply like crazy, but don't worry you don't need to start over


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## Grafx (Nov 8, 2010)

ahhh. i dontk now what to do!


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## KiDD (Aug 20, 2010)

I'm sure it will not be the first time you have to deal with snails... They pop up in every tank from time to time... Weather its from getting new fish to new plants or something new.


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

Grafx, I never accept substrate from anyone just for that reason. Any plants I buy or are given to me I always disinfect to get rid of snails, worms or other unseen critters. Not all snails are uncontrollable. I have nerite snails which do lay eggs, but the eggs only hatch in brackish or salt water. Nerite snails are great algae eaters and don't damage plants. I have also had Japanese trap door snails and they give birth to living young, but not very many.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I know this is late but there is good reason to disinfect used tanks and equipment. I find the only way to truely avoid importing snail eggs is a good bleach soak. The chlorine will react with the organics and kill all eggs. Even if live snails are buried in the gravel, the chlorine acts to penetrate the trapdoor and kill the adult snails. Sorry about your situation. How much effort to put in to get them killed depends on your future plans. If plants are planned I would stop and remove the snails now, otherwise I would leave them. Hope this helps with the decision.


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## Glaneon (Sep 27, 2010)

Heck, I _put_ snails in my tanks.


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## Grafx (Nov 8, 2010)

i do not have any live plants in my tank


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## paradigmsk8er (Apr 13, 2009)

When I purchased plants online, I rinsed them however did not do a bleach soak or anything...some snails snuck in. I contemplated letting them be...but it wasn't worth the risk to me. I only had about 6-8 and spent about 2 days vigilinatly lookign for them...when I saw them i would pluck them off the glass and drop them in the water or flick them into the center of the tank...

my haps/peacocks went crazy! it was a savory snack for them and they would suck the bugger right out of the bigger/stronger shells..then fight over the shell.

It's a risky proposition since its hard to tel what type of snail it is (some are very very parasitic whereas others are more managable) when they're small. I luckily curbed mine early and haven't had any problems since.


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## Stellaluna (May 8, 2006)

What is the problem with a few tiny snails? They occur in nature and can be accepted as part of the aquatic ecosystem, IMO. They will not harm a single thing in your tank.

Many cichlids will eat them, and if you don't overfeed your fish and dont' have a ton of decaying organic material you ought not to have an infestation.

I'd not accept substrate from someone for other reasons, like ich cysts or other parasites, unless you are able to heat sterilize or otherwise nuke the substrate before using it.

I would not get a clown loach unless you WANT a clown loach and have the right setup for it, lol. JMO


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## Britnick (Apr 18, 2008)

Problem is a few snails can get into your filter and then they are just a pain. I spent an hour last weekend 'de snailing' my ProIII.

Pain in the behind. Loach is a good idea...


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Another case where there is no single true answer. We all have different priorities in different tanks. The types of snails I have had all turned out to be a nuisance I wanted to avoid. The only way my fish woud eat them was if I crushed them which was not a fun way for me to go. I find it far easier to leave the used substrate in the tank and when I disinfect the tank with an overnight bleach soak, the substrate gets it at the same time. Next day or when I get to it, I dump the water and rinse it all. By the time I have rinsed,washed and rinsed numerous times to get the glass clean, the bleach is washed or dissipated into the air. i guess I've never been lucky enough to buy substrate that was clean enough to feel right about using it without rinsing so the disinfection part is no additional trouble. I have trashed gravel because of the number of snails shells left.


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## Grafx (Nov 8, 2010)

Ok so *** decided to empty the tank and remove the substrate

would be the BEST way to clean the tank (after its empty of everything) and clean the few fake plants inside? (to make sure no snail eggs or bacteria is left)

ill be adding new bagged substrate.


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## Grafx (Nov 8, 2010)

ok well.

I redid my WHOLE tank tonight... brand new sand substrate (im very very happy, its so white and nice and clean). and redid the landscape.

Actually looks SO much better now!

Since I have to cycle the tank from start again, I washed the tank out with boiling water and vinegar.

I then let all the fake plants and rocks sit in a bucket of vinegar and water.

I even dunked them in a container of hot water with ammonia (since i had to add ammonia to the tank anyways)

I took apart my eheim 2215 and found baby snails on the inside of the media filter and stuff. cleaned it all out and what not the best i could.

here's hoping to have getting rid of them all.


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## juliocromus (Aug 1, 2010)

geez guys, all u gotta do is buy assassin snails, they eat up all unwanted snails and since they breed in saltwater, they wont infest your tank, they look pretty neat too, like a bumblbee snail, I put 3 in my 30 g and they were all gone, and I had thousands of those pests.


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