# SNAILS!!!???



## timmcg1011 (Apr 24, 2019)

I have a 65 gallon African cichlid tank. First time since I set the tank up we lost power tonight. I added H2O2 to the tank and added prime to keep them safe until power was restored. About 45 minutes later the power to the house was restored and there were 100s of cone shaped snails on the four tank walls.

My questions are: 
What drew them out of the gravel? 
How did I not notice I had a problem until everything in the tank went off?
How do I get rid of these guys safely and effectively?

Literally 100s of them. I have no live plants. Other than not really wanting a snail breeding ground are there any other things I need to be concerned about with them?

Thanks for any info in advance.


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## timmcg1011 (Apr 24, 2019)

I'll add I was able to remove a bunch with a net, but not nearly enough.


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## timmcg1011 (Apr 24, 2019)

Did some reading here (should have done that first, but freaked a bit). Looks like I'm over-feeding and these are completely normal. Might look into buying something that will thrive in the tank and feed on them. Other snail species were mentioned. Still curious to know what may have driven them out of the substrate when power went out. very odd. Thanks


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## ken31cay (Oct 9, 2018)

I've never had any snails in my tanks so no experience with them. But my simple solution to get rid of all the adult snails would be to remove all the substrate & decor (with the snails), change to sand and put back all the decor after cleaning it. That is assuming your current substrate is relatively clean and you've been doing = or > 50% regular weekly water changes. If the answer to either of those is no then there would be additional steps involved to implement that solution.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Maybe it was the h202, never heard of doing that for oxygenation. Get a battery operated air pump for one or more air stones...$10 expense. They do come out at night so maybe just a coincidence that it was also a power failure?

IME you get them when you get new fish. Coincidence or immature snails in the bodily fluids of the fish? IDK.

Changing the substrate is a good first step. You will likely find them throughout your filter media as well.

I sift the substrate...gets the adults but not the tiny ones. I soak the decor in a bucket of water with hydrogen peroxide. I squirt Hydrogen peroxide under the rim and down the exposed glass walls of the tank while doing a large water change. Manually remove as many as possible from filter media. Then feed minimally ongoing.

I have never gotten rid of them entirely without discarding the substrate. Or you could dry the substrate in the sun for several weeks and leave the tank without substrate for several weeks as well.

The snails that do well with Africans have this issue...MTS and pond snails...overpopulation and filter clogging. The snails that don't reproduce seldom do well with Africans...you may get them to live a year or two but not for their full life spans.


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