# Mini Ramshorn - They Gotta Go!



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Usually I don't mind snails. The population is never that bad and they only eat unhealthy plant leaves but these mini ramshorn are another story. They probably hitchhiked on something and are causing problems with healthy plants. 

What are you guys using to eliminate that would also be plant and shrimp friendly - thanks!


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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

I see a snail trap in your future whether purchased or homemade. I don't think there's much fauna out there that you could add without fear of them eating shrimp. 

I successfully eliminated ponds snails with homemade traps and manual removal and just smushing the small ones against the glass when I saw them. I did this daily after work for 5 minutes and they were all gone in about 2 weeks.


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## Deedledee (Sep 13, 2016)

I had a similar issue with tiny ramshorn snails a couple months ago. I tried doing the snail trap method, however there were so many it didn't work. Another member on here suggested I try assassin snails. I bought 3 of them & have not seen one ramshorn since!! I did see the empty shells for a couple weeks, as the assassins suck the snails out . The assassin snails don't breed in my tank, so they are a welcome addition 

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## KrypleBerry (May 23, 2017)

houseofcards said:


> Usually I don't mind snails. The population is never that bad and they only eat unhealthy plant leaves but these mini ramshorn are another story. They probably hitchhiked on something and are causing problems with healthy plants.
> 
> What are you guys using to eliminate that would also be plant and shrimp friendly - thanks!


Id recommend assassin snails. Ive never had issues with assassin snails or any whelk relatives for that matter. They wont eradicate the snail population but they will dwindle it down til you never see adults or even developed young. I use 1 per 10 gallons.



Deedledee said:


> I had a similar issue with tiny ramshorn snails a couple months ago. I tried doing the snail trap method, however there were so many it didn't work. Another member on here suggested I try assassin snails. I bought 3 of them & have not seen one ramshorn since!! I did see the empty shells for a couple weeks, as the assassins suck the snails out . The assassin snails don't breed in my tank, so they are a welcome addition
> 
> They can breed in our tanks and reach a high population if there is sufficient food for them. As long as not overfed their population should stay well under control and they will be valuable helpers. Ive noticed mine prefer hunting baby snails above all else. Those tiny soft shells are hard to resist I suppose.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Thanks all. Most snails I actual purchase don't survive too long. I think my water is too soft and the trap i a good idea, but these guys are so small and numerous I don't think I'd get them all. Pond snails are a welcome addition next to these guys.


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

I've had mini-ramshorns for years, and I've never been overrun or seen them eating healthy plants, but maybe there are different strains? Mine mostly stick to the glass or floaters.

When I first got them, I did try getting rid of them, but without a full tank reset, I don't see how you could do it. I never see eggs from them (they must be so small), and I just let people know I have them when I give away plants.

I have seen a drop off when I started injecting more CO2 and keeping KH low, so maybe they are mostly dieing off before they get big enough to actually eat plants?

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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Yep that was always my take that healthy leaves will not be touched, but I'm seeing alot of damaged leaves that I never saw with just pond snails and they're aren't any fish in or other critters in the tank. You mentioned floaters. I do have red root floaters and they are being affected as well. I'm not sure what else it could be.


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## Matuva (Jun 8, 2015)

I had problems with these dwarf ramshorn in several of my tanks:
- discus tank:
the snails do settle and grow in number very quickly. They didn't harm healthy plants, but they were so numerous that it was hugly and that was driving me nut! Following the suggestion of the pet store, I put 2 synodontis in the tank, and I have none left now.
- Red cherry tank:
snail bloom. I did nothing, except hand cleaning. The tank became overcrowded with shrimps, and snails have completely disappeared
- Orange tank:
snail bloom, and planaria. I dosed the tank with "No Planaria" from Genchem. All Planaria dead, all snails dead! ^^) Shrimps OK.
- Plant nursery tank:
snail bloom. I put 6 dwarf puffer: cleaning in progress, almost no more snails left.

my .02


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Thanks, I think I might try the "No Planaria" since its shrimp/plant safe. Hopefully it will weaken or kill the snails as well.


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## gtu2004 (Feb 17, 2010)

Man, wish you guys would just gimme ramshorn snails. My pea puffers would love them haha


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## Matuva (Jun 8, 2015)

Do not overdose the No Planaria. Regular dosing is enough
Do not forget the water change just after the 3 days treatment, to avoid the Nitrite spike caused by dead snails.


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

Matuva said:


> Do not overdose the No Planaria. Regular dosing is enough
> Do not forget the water change just after the 3 days treatment, to avoid the Nitrite spike caused by dead snails.


And the follow up treatment since batel nut extract does not affect eggs 

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gtu2004 said:


> Man, wish you guys would just gimme ramshorn snails. My pea puffers would love them haha


Not to detail the thread, but they should give them to you for free at Petco and Petsmart. 

I've got both mini-ramshorn, limpets, pond snails (and maybe MTS - haven't seen them in a while), so if you can't get them from a LFS, I can ship you a bunch if you can cover packaging and shipping costs 

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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Thanks for the additional No Planaria info. Just to add some illustration. Here's a couple of leaves from my red root floaters that have been eaten. 



















Any ideas what it could be beside the Mini Ramshorn. One has no livestock the other has a betta.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Are you sure its the mini ramshorn snails causing the issue with the plants? my bookshelf tank is riddled with mini ranshorn snails, tho at the moment the population is really low but it seems to fluctuate, has dropped since adding a lot of fish, hopefully they stay away. But when the population was crazy high I never had a problem with them eating plants, even floaters (frogbit) was untouched.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Am I 100% sure no, but one of those tanks that the pic is from only has pond/mini ramshorn in it so I'm not sure what else it could be. I never had this problem until the ramshorn hitchhiked their way in. I don't think it's a deficiency.


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## Aquamarina.india (Aug 23, 2017)

https://youtu.be/rhaNoygTP_c


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Aquamarina.india said:


> https://youtu.be/rhaNoygTP_c


Thank you for that link. Not the same plant, but very similar holes. What are you trying to tell me? Pic from Video:


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