# Problem with Mini-Ramshorn Snails



## Simpsoid (Jun 26, 2012)

Hi,

A few years ago I got some plants from my LFS that had Mini-Ramshorn snails on them. These are small spiral shelled snails that seem to be impervious to everything.

I previously had some regular Pond Snails from the plants at the LFS and they annoyed me but they were manageable, these Mini-Ramshorn multiply and nothing seems to kill them.

I had dosed and old tank with a product called No-Planaria that managed to kill all of the pesky Pond Snails (which I don't mind, they look nice) but it didn't do anything to the Mini-Ramshorns.

Recently I've been setting up a new aquarium. I had it perfectly hardscaped and went to seed it with some gravel from my old tank. Big mistake. Some egg-sacs or snails must have come across and now my new tank is infested. I've tried a few things but I just can't get rid of them at all.

Edit: I should add there's no food or anything being added to this tank since it's sitting empty (well it has the wood) while I build my LED lights. I'm not sure what the snails are eating but they keep growing.

Now some information about my tank. It is a Mineralised Topsoil tank that presently only has a piece of driftwood in it (no fish or plants) as I'm waiting for the driftwood to finish leeching tannins before I stock the tank. So the only thing that's living in there is an excellent bacteria colony and these pest Mini-Ramshorn snails (they are just like Ramshorn snails in shape but they grow to about 2 - 3mm across ad are hideously ugly).

I have tried squashing them. I've used the No-Planaria again but it doesn't seem to affect Mini-Ramshorns at all. I have (over)dosed on Cupramine for a few days. It knocked them down but they came back after about 5 days (I guess more eggs hatched). I have dosed with Copper Sulphate and this hasn't affected them (the dosage was quite small and testing with my new copper kit it didn't even seem to break 0.25ppm in my 200 Litre tank). I've previously dipped plants in Potassium Permanganate (and so I have that) but I don't want to dose it into my tank presently in case it kills my bacteria colony.

I have nothing in my tank and every 2 weeks I am draining it fully to get rid of the tannin infused water so I don't mind dosing strongly with copper based products.

Is there something I can try? I can't get access to Assassin Snails (illegal in Australia) and I don't really want to stock any Loaches or anything into my tank yet (because I don't want them in there in the end when I set up my fish community). I'm happy to try traps or poisons but I really don't want my bacteria colony to suffer and I also want to kill them all. What can I do to wipe them out completely for good in my tank (nuclear options welcomed)?


----------



## ch3fb0yrdee (Oct 2, 2008)

Is the current tank going to be a shrimp only tank? The reason I ask is because I have the same type of snails infecting a couple of my tanks and I notice that the tanks with the snails actually do BETTER than the tanks without. I think it has something to do with the snails eating the excess waste and the babies (shrimplets) feeding off the microorganism in the snail's poop.

Also, these mini-ram horns snails lay flat against the glass wall of the tanks as they climb so it makes for really easy for spot target killing. I would just squish the snails when the population gets wildly out of control. They're a good source for fresh protein if the tank is a shrimp tank.


----------



## Simpsoid (Jun 26, 2012)

I'll have shrimp in my tank. Probably just Cherry Red's (since I've never kept shrimp before). It'll mostly be an Australian Community tank with some Cardinal Tetras, Otos and Rainbowfish schools of various type (Praecox etc.).

I assume the shrimps would have plenty to feed on with plants and other fish waste in there so I don't really want the snails.

As I said I already overdosed my tank with Seachems Cupramine. It killed all of the live snails I could see but a few days later there were babies (and some bigger ones, obviously ones that stayed alive during the poisoning).

I just don't like the mini-ramshorn. they are very ugly and look really weedy (and yes they are the one's that lie flat against the glass). I do like the pond snails so I'd rather have them in my tanks than mini ramshorns.

I have been squishing them when I see them but I've since read that if you squish a pregnant snail (female I assume?) that they could possibly release their eggs into the tank and they'll then grow. It sounds correct but I'm not sure whether this in fact happens.


----------



## azjenny (Dec 2, 2011)

I'm confused, why did you even seed it if you weren't putting anything in? If nothing is being added to the tank aren't you going to lose your cycle?


----------



## skystrife (Feb 20, 2010)

azjenny said:


> I'm confused, why did you even seed it if you weren't putting anything in? If nothing is being added to the tank aren't you going to lose your cycle?


I'd bet he's adding an artificial ammonia source (like household cleaning ammonia) to keep the bacteria colony around.


----------



## auban (Jun 23, 2012)

pour carbonated water (seltzer water/club soda) into the tank. it wont kill the bacteria below the top of the substrate, but will kill anything that requires lots of oxygen(snails). it drops the PH so fast that the snails instantly start suffocating while their shells start dissolving. just turn off the filter and any source of flow, or they might be able to survive by hiding around the substrate. you will likely see them try to leave the water. if they do, just collect them up and dispose of them as you see fit.

when you want to add something to the tank later, you wont have to worry about any chemicals remaining that could harm your livestock.


----------



## genetao (Jun 25, 2008)

auban said:


> pour carbonated water (seltzer water/club soda) into the tank. it wont kill the bacteria below the top of the substrate, but will kill anything that requires lots of oxygen(snails). it drops the PH so fast that the snails instantly start suffocating while their shells start dissolving. just turn off the filter and any source of flow, or they might be able to survive by hiding around the substrate. you will likely see them try to leave the water. if they do, just collect them up and dispose of them as you see fit.
> 
> when you want to add something to the tank later, you wont have to worry about any chemicals remaining that could harm your livestock.


Man, that's genius!!! I gotta try that!


----------



## pinoyghost2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Just keep them until they are a half decent size then sell them off to other members. I raise ramshorns in all my shrimp tanks (sell them at auctions) the shrimps don't care, and the snails eat any leftovers, so its a good trade.

Pond snails I would pick off and keep in one tank (no filter just some plants for them to snack on) and when they grew a bit I would squish them and feed them to my CPOs....great for growing those babies fast as the meat from the snails is high protein.

Always a way to make something off these snails...no need to kill then just re-organize your thinking and find a use for them. :icon_lol:


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

He's not talking about regular ramshorns. The mini ones (which I also got an infestation of from plants from a major online seller) don't ever get bigger than a few mm. They're just a fricken mess. Assassin snails were the only thing that worked for me. Haven’t seen a mini in almost a year (plenty of regular ramshorns and pond snails though!).


----------



## genetao (Jun 25, 2008)

Betta Maniac said:


> He's not talking about regular ramshorns. The mini ones (which I also got an infestation of from plants from a major online seller) don't ever get bigger than a few mm. They're just a fricken mess. Assassin snails were the only thing that worked for me. Haven’t seen a mini in almost a year (plenty of regular ramshorns and pond snails though!).


Betta Maniac is right. These little mini ramshorn snails are pretty freakin' tiny. Like 1 mm in diameter. Hard to pick out of the tank because they're so stinkin' tiny. A total nuisance much more so than regular sized ramhorn snails, because at such a tiny size, these guys are already breeding. 

Wait, so you're telling me that an assassin snail that's like 20 times bigger can still get into the shell of a tiny ramhorn snail? I originally thought of going the assassin snail route, but scrapped that idea because I thought there's no way an assassin snail is gonna be able to get into an tiny ramshorn snail's shell.


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

I can't promise you that they're what did it, but they did disapper within a few months of my adding the assassins (who have now moved on to pond and regular ramshorns, of which my tanks also has plenty, LOL!). So glad too. They were like tank acane.


----------



## Simpsoid (Jun 26, 2012)

azjenny said:


> I'm confused, why did you even seed it if you weren't putting anything in? If nothing is being added to the tank aren't you going to lose your cycle?


It was my mistake. I was going to try to get the tank set up quickly but I got sidetracked with programming my light controller. It's just been empty for about 6 weeks so I shouldn't have even bothered with the seeding and just let it cycle itself. Oh well.



skystrife said:


> I'd bet he's adding an artificial ammonia source (like household cleaning ammonia) to keep the bacteria colony around.


I did try with rotting shrimp and also some fish food. It turns out the fish food might have had nematode eggs in it because I got an outbreak of little white worms but they've gone now. I also added in some urine :hihi:. It worked well, the next day I had a bacteria explosion that clouded my tank. But the water smelt and I've emptied it a few times since then. I'm not presently adding in any ammonia source (clear / pure ammonia is restricted in Australia so don't have access to that either, I'm just relying on the dying snails to supply this now).



auban said:


> pour carbonated water (seltzer water/club soda) into the tank.


Thanks for this info. I might try this. I want to lower the pH a bit (it sits at about 8.2 now) and was waiting until I got my pressurised CO2 but I think a seltzer tablet will be very easy. Does it just carbonate the tank? It doesn't release anything else into the tank does it?


----------



## Koro-chan (Mar 30, 2012)

Try this..

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=203684&highlight=otos


----------



## CookieM (Feb 7, 2012)

Best method I've ever use to get rid of pond snail and ramshorn is introducing Assassin Snails. Depending on the size of your tank and infestation. I use 5 assassins in a 10 gallon with approximately 100 ramshorm.


----------



## trueblu8 (Mar 3, 2012)

Do you need baby assassins or will adult sized ones do it? I ask because I had a limpet problem a while back and since they're so small much like these mini ramshorn snails I was thinking you might need smaller ones if not babies to do the job. First limpets, then scuds, and now these mini ramshorn snails. If it's not one thing it's another. Lol.


----------



## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

Ugh. Sorry to revive older thread, but I am suddenly finding a bunch of these annoying little bastards in my tank, too. Look like small bird droppings. I don't want Assassin snails since I have Nerite and Mystery snails that I actually like. Anything work other than constant manual removal? (and the lettuce trick to get more out)


----------



## wheatiesl337 (Mar 30, 2011)

I have been completely unsuccesseful in removing mini-ramshorn without poisoning via copper.

They are the plague. I have had them survive bleach and potassium permanganate dips. I finally got rid of them in a 10g quarantine tank (which I had bleached... wtf), via copper. I haven't tried the H202 method, suggested above, yet. Sounds promising to me though. Either method would requiring removing the snails you wish to keep.


----------



## trueblu8 (Mar 3, 2012)

I've scoured the net trying to find a way to get rid of these unsightly bastards. Adding assassin snails does not work. It appears the only way is to remove all the snails and shrimp that you want to keep and then either add aquarium salt or snail be gone. Let me know how it goes. And good luck.


----------



## Sheila (Aug 26, 2021)

auban said:


> pour carbonated water (seltzer water/club soda) into the tank. it wont kill the bacteria below the top of the substrate, but will kill anything that requires lots of oxygen(snails). it drops the PH so fast that the snails instantly start suffocating while their shells start dissolving. just turn off the filter and any source of flow, or they might be able to survive by hiding around the substrate. you will likely see them try to leave the water. if they do, just collect them up and dispose of them as you see fit.
> 
> when you want to add something to the tank later, you wont have to worry about any chemicals remaining that could harm your livestock.


The carbonated water, can i use that with plants, cardinal tetras, phantom tetras, male betta, 2 angels, 2 female swords, and a nerite snaile already in the tank?.


----------



## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Sheila said:


> The carbonated water, can i use that with plants, cardinal tetras, phantom tetras, male betta, 2 angels, 2 female swords, and a nerite snaile already in the tank?.


No, you should not do that.

If you're having a problem with snails? Limit their food source. Their population will dwindle very quickly.


----------



## LidijaPN (12 mo ago)

somewhatshocked said:


> No, you should not do that.
> 
> If you're having a problem with snails? Limit their food source. Their population will dwindle very quickly.


What’s their food source there tho? The op said he has literally nothing in the tank except the substrate and one piece of wood?


----------



## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

LidijaPN said:


> What’s their food source there tho? The op said he has literally nothing in the tank except the substrate and one piece of wood?


The OP's post is from nearly a decade ago. You'll note I responded to someone new (5 months ago) who dredged up the old thread with their own question.


----------



## LidijaPN (12 mo ago)

somewhatshocked said:


> The OP's post is from nearly a decade ago. You'll note I responded to someone new (5 months ago) who dredged up the old thread with their own question.


For sure, I noticed that.... I was just wondering about OP's original question..... how were those snails doing that? 

I'm really coming around to your theory that snails are just an ecosystem health indicator (and thank you for that!), I'm even thinking of returning or rehoming my assassins. But I do see people posting about snail explosions that seem somewhat inexplicable? Like OP..... What do you think his snails were thriving on? You seem to be the resident snailologist, if you don't mind me saying <3


----------



## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

LidijaPN said:


> For sure, I noticed that.... I was just wondering about OP's original question..... how were those snails doing that?


They were just feeding on what was in the tank. Biofilm and microfauna, decaying matter - like from the wood. 

Snail population explosions can happen because a ton of eggs come in on plants and in hidey holes of things that go into our tanks that we don't examine or clean well. Sometimes it's actual snails that come in on those plants and in those hidey holes and they quickly lay eggs. More often than not, it's just one egg clutch and by the time it's noticed, there are already 20-30 snails that are laying eggs of their own.

I like to give any plants I receive a good examination and cleaning. Any eggs or critters I find get moved to their own container to see what happens with them. If the plants are meant to go into an already established system, I put them in a quarantine tank (really just a 20gal Rubbermaid tote with some random leftover clay/dirt-based substrate) to help make sure I don't introduce anything risky. In doing this, I haven't really had to treat or dip plants in decades. Certainly sucks on the patience front, however, and I'm almost never happy about waiting.


----------



## LidijaPN (12 mo ago)

somewhatshocked said:


> They were just feeding on what was in the tank. Biofilm and microfauna, decaying matter - like from the wood.
> 
> Snail population explosions can happen because a ton of eggs come in on plants and in hidey holes of things that go into our tanks that we don't examine or clean well. Sometimes it's actual snails that come in on those plants and in those hidey holes and they quickly lay eggs. More often than not, it's just one egg clutch and by the time it's noticed, there are already 20-30 snails that are laying eggs of their own.
> 
> I like to give any plants I receive a good examination and cleaning. Any eggs or critters I find get moved to their own container to see what happens with them. If the plants are meant to go into an already established system, I put them in a quarantine tank (really just a 20gal Rubbermaid tote with some random leftover clay/dirt-based substrate) to help make sure I don't introduce anything risky. In doing this, I haven't really had to treat or dip plants in decades. Certainly sucks on the patience front, however, and I'm almost never happy about waiting.


Yeah also on the space front, I barely got my hubs to accept we have space for a tank, now if I started to set up quarantine buckets that have to sit around for weeks.... he’d launch me to the moon 😅

I’ve made peace with my bladders and kind of enjoy them now... they get up to antics. I wouldn’t love having an explosion of mini ramshorns though. I’ve seen about 2 so far but people’s experiences worry me a bit


----------



## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

LidijaPN said:


> Yeah also on the space front, I barely got my hubs to accept we have space for a tank, now if I started to set up quarantine buckets that have to sit around for weeks.... he’d launch me to the moon 😅
> 
> I’ve made peace with my bladders and kind of enjoy them now... they get up to antics. I wouldn’t love having an explosion of mini ramshorns though. I’ve seen about 2 so far but people’s experiences worry me a bit


What he doesn't know won't hurt him. That's my philosophy. Just have to disguise your tank goodies in places one wouldn't expect them. I disguise my RO/DI water reservoirs & almost no one notices.

But Ramshorn and mini ones are great. Mini ones are just like any other snail and their populations stay in check dependent upon food supply. I find that minis disappear faster than any other in the hobby, as well.


----------



## LidijaPN (12 mo ago)

somewhatshocked said:


> What he doesn't know won't hurt him. That's my philosophy. Just have to disguise your tank goodies in places one wouldn't expect them. I disguise my RO/DI water reservoirs & almost no one notices.
> 
> But Ramshorn and mini ones are great. Mini ones are just like any other snail and their populations stay in check dependent upon food supply. I find that minis disappear faster than any other in the hobby, as well.


I'll keep an eye out, don't have too many so far. They also appeared much much much later than the bladders, which is weird, because I hadn't added any new plants.... maybe they were just hiding better because tiny. 

Hahah it's a tiny apartment I don't know where I could hide it.... maybe in the oven lol, he never goes in there


----------

