Another snail thread - need help identifying

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thecarl

Member
I wanted to get some help identifying these little guys. They are tiny, I had to borrow a special macro lens just to photograph them. My tank is covered in them inside and out when the light is off. They are in all three of my aquariums (traveled by plant likely).

I'm hoping once I know what kind they are I can find out the safest, and most effective way to remove them. Assassin snails haven't touched them and only got each other. I have two yo-yo loaches in the 75 gallon and they haven't touched them either. Any suggestions? Pics below:

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thecarl

Member
Reading that page it says they love cucumber, I tried that last night and this morning only found a grand total of one snail on it, rest were covering the plants.
 
flamechica

flamechica

New Member
I don't know what kind of snail they are, but I found one in my frog tank the other day. They are tiny buggers. I couldn't get a pic of it. I fed him to my yoyo loaches and the first one to get to it ate it right up. They say overfeeding is the biggest reason for snail population. My guess if you have a ton of them and your loaches aren't interested interested in eating them, you probably are feeding too much.
 
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thecarl

Member
reading the wiki on limpets, they are specifically snails with no coil to the shell, these have coils so maybe they are tiny ramshorns. I left the cucumber in the tank all day today and this evening there is finally a handful of them feeding on it. I'll let it sit in there for night number two and hopefully have a good number stuck to it when I remove it tomorrow morning. Using the 75 gallon as the test tank for removal, if this works I'll start doing it with the 20 and 4.

I may be feeding a lot, but I have 6 growing angels and 6 growing discus, they consume a lot of food. The shrimp tank I don't feed at all, 20 gallon gets food maybe 3 times a week for the beta, so for those two tanks I don't think over feeding is really the cause. Keep in mind these are all high light CO2 injected tanks so plenty of green stuff for these guys to eat.
 
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thecarl

Member
I did some more research on ramshorns... assassin snails don't like them i found out, unless they're real little assassin snails. Explains why the 6 I put in haven't done much but get each other.

Looks like other than getting clown loaches (which destroy plants) my option is bait and trap, so that's the method I will do for now. the cucumber is covered in them this morning so I guess it just took two nights in a row to get them.

I believe I have identified these as "small ramshorn snails" or mini ramshorns. The shell is always flat on whatever surface they are on, and none of them are bigger than 5mm in diameter.
 
GinnyFinny

GinnyFinny

New Member
I have dozens exact same snail. Hitchhikers on the last couple of plants I bought. Amazon sells a piece of junk snail trap. There's a pretty cool video on you tube on how to make your own trap from 2 plastic water/soda bottles. Traps a ton of the little buggers. The smaller the trap hole the better so your Assassin snails don't get in there. I wish my corys or shrimp would eat them - they don't even like cucumbers, spinach, etc. Harmless, unsightly!


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thecarl

Member
I'm not even building a trap, just sticking a lead weight bar through a slice of cucumber, works well enough. I need to get some more lead weights though, I only have the one right now.
 
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