How to get rid of snails???

I set up another planted tank last week and I've noticed some tiny little snails crawling around... First there was one, then two, now three....

From what I understand these things can get out of control in a hurry.

Anybody have any suggestions on how to nip this in the bud?

I read somewhere on line that clown loaches will take care of them but I'd rather ask on this forum and get some trustworthy answers.

yes clown loaches will eat them. I myself like the snails as they dig in the soil and eat waist in my planted tanks. If you over feed they will take over. You can put a plate in the tank with a peace of lettuce at lights out and in the morning the snails will be under the lettuce on the plate and just remove the plate.

THANKS FISHVIXEN...

I really don't mind having a few snails but what I fear is having an "infestation"...

I guess if it gets out of control I'll get a few clown loaches and when they are finished cleaning up I can move them to my 50g

what size tank is it

I don't know vix i had a snail issue place in some cichilds in the tank they ate all the snails know I'm having allot of issues with green hair algae and diseases in the 55g planted tank. I guess by removing them from the eco system the system has gone array.

its just a 15 gallon tank with 2 small angels in it. I'm gonna let them grow out and then move them to a 50 or 55g that I am planning (and budgeting) to get in mid-febuary

Yes that can happen. I don't mind algaes either I have a wonderful growth of black beard algae in one tank and it looks neat IMO. Just in one corner for the past year so I leave it alone.

By mid Feb those angels will have to be moved or you'll risk stunted growth. A clown loach is not going to work in a 15 gal tank I hate to say. Try not to overfeed and the lettuce trap before putting in any fish to eat them. This is what I would do. They also sell snail traps but to me the lettuce on a plate works just as well.

Definately your best bet is to trap them. Especially in such a small tank.

One simple way to get rid of ALL SNAILS............ every last one...
borrow someones MBU puffer they eat they all..... no matter what size, LOL

Oopssss just noticed it was only a 15g tank, better get a smaller one! cause mine got to 8in pretty quick, lol

Clown loaches will eat snails, but get quite large. They also tend to "root around" in the substrate, so if you are just getting the plants established, they may up-root them.

If you have other tanks with larger fish, you can keep them under control by netting them off the tank walls in the morning to feed to your other fish. I know my jacks, flowerhorns, and green terrors love 'em, and usually spawn after getting them for a few days!

Trapping them is your best bet to keep them under control. In that size tank, most snail eaters will get too large too fast to make it a worthwhile endeavor.

I like to use a tupperware that i punch holes into with a heated screwdriver(philips head)...the holes the screwdriver makes kinda turn it into a one way opening. Left over lunchmeat containers(hillshire farms works great because they bag their meat so container is uncontaminated) with a few spirulina algae tabs. Botias also work pretty good assasin snails little slower but they will get the job done.

Most snails do not hurt your plants and like FV said they do help move substrate and get rid of extra food.

I use assassin Snails. They kill any snail moving.

Sorry. I know this is a "sort of" old thread, but I figured I'd give my little $0.02. This is something we use at work at it seems to work well.

Take a baby food jar and empty the contents. Make sure it is a glass jar, not the plastic ones. You can punch holes in the lid using a screwdriver and a mallet/hammer. Punch 3 holes across the top so that you can still screw the lid back on with no issues. We put a shrimp pellet or two in each jar, along with an algae or veggie wafer. Then submerge the jar in the tank, leaving no bubbles. (We found that it works best if put on its side, so that the holes are closer to the substrate. By morning, the jars were full of snails and snail eggs. The water can be emptied and the eggs scraped off the glass. Using 6 jars in a system like ours (Petsmart fish wall), we easily pulled close to 50 snails a day. Not that you have that many, but it did work!

That is a good method. I got lazy and got a bunch of assassin snails and tossed them in most all of my tanks.

I've just noticed some of the little snails in my 10G planted tank. Leave them to help clean up the place - or do something about them?

Get one assassin snail to keep their population under control

I pulled the apple snails out because they were bulldozing through the lava rocks and making a mess of the aquascape. Won't Assassin snails give me the same problem?

Ive never had any but I hear clown loaches or assasin snails work good.
the good thing about the loaches is that they look good.
and Clark just made me wanna have snails (knock on wood) so I can try hes method

assasin snails

my huge apple died tonight :(

I have one tank that I put 5 clown loaches in . Now that tank is just about snail free. I also bought 6 Assassin snail and put then in my 30g tank . That tank is snail free now and the A, snail have slowly reproduced . I have now moved 8 ea A.snails in to 4 different tanks each.Snails are disappearing .
Assassin Snails are slow but effective. And they look good !
Ray

Assassin snails stay smaller than a large ramshorn so they are fairly discrete.

so you don't think they'll burrow under the lava rocks and move my entire planted tank around?

I have Java ferns and Marimino moss attached to different rocks so that when I get bored with the aquascape I can move it around. That's ME MOVING IT - not a snail! grrrrrrrrrrrrrr