# How do I get rid of snails?



## a628627 (Jan 24, 2013)

I bought a new tank and when I brought it home I noticed there were a lot of small white snails everywhere. Are they safe for red eyed tree frogs or poison dart frogs? If not, how do I get rid of them?


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## Toxic (Jul 9, 2012)

You can put i piece of lettuce in the viv and take it out the next day. The lettuce will attract the snails. But once you have snails, its really hard to get rid of them.


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## a628627 (Jan 24, 2013)

Thanks, not very happy to hear that. Will the snails hurt red eyed tree frogs, poison dart frogs, the plants or the micro fauna in the tank.


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## Toxic (Jul 9, 2012)

snails love to eat frog eggs.


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

You mean to say you bought someone else's old tank (new to you ... )? 

s


a628627 said:


> I bought a new tank and when I brought it home I noticed there were a lot of small white snails everywhere. Are they safe for red eyed tree frogs or poison dart frogs? If not, how do I get rid of them?


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

a628627 said:


> Thanks, not very happy to hear that. Will the snails hurt red eyed tree frogs, poison dart frogs, the plants or the micro fauna in the tank.


Just to be clear, do you have the red eyes and darts in the same tank?


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## a628627 (Jan 24, 2013)

Yes, I bought somebody's old tank. No I don't have the darts and red eyed tree frogs in the same cage. The cage came with a male orange lamasi (Which is currently in the cage, but I have no need for him). The cage is to be used as a red eyed tree frog cage, and I wanted to make sure I didn't have to break down the tank or take the lamasi out of the cage. Thanks for all the advice.


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Honestly (and you're not going to like this), the best thing to do if you're using that tank for other inhabitants is to completely tear it down, sterilize it, and start from scratch.


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## Blue_Pumilio (Feb 22, 2009)

I've seen red eyes and darts in the same cage for many years, without any problems.




epiphytes etc. said:


> Just to be clear, do you have the red eyes and darts in the same tank?


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## a628627 (Jan 24, 2013)

You are right. I really don't want to break down this tank. Is there any other way to get rid of snails?


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## mankc (Jul 26, 2012)

Honestly I wouldn't take any chances.. I would clean/sterilize tank completely before adding the lil ones..


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I haven't heard any success stories of getting rid of snails in a tank. The best folks can do it to keep them somewhat under control with the lettuce trick.

That said, Wendy's post wasn't out of concern for snails. The concern is with pathogens in the tank from the current inhabitant. This could cause harm to the red eyes. It's best to sanitize a tank between creatures.


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Sorry...I should have clarified why it should be sterilized. 
Thanks, Kris, for typing what I was thinking.


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## Tincman (Jan 18, 2013)

Im not sure If I have the same species or quantity of snails as you, but my Vivarium is crawling with the small black shelled snails for years..? They seem to like eating the growth off of the plants & glass, They have never bothered my frogs or stopped the Morphing of Tadpoles in any way as they are not competeing for the same resources...I never viewed them as a problem as they are just another natural existing part of the food chain in the ecosystem helping keep things clean.. If you have the larger ones Or a large quantity I can understand your frustration though having them all over? If you do elect to completely rebuild your setup make sure you rinse everything thoroughly that you wish to carry over as any remaining eggs will just restart the population & make all the work pointless. I would try the other members suggestion with the lettuce & manually remove as many as possible to see if you can control the population 1st & leave the complete makeover as a last resort.


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## Sea-Agg09 (Feb 2, 2013)

a628627 said:


> You are right. I really don't want to break down this tank. Is there any other way to get rid of snails?


Snails are a major pest in fish aquariums. Honestly you probably wont ever get rid of them entirely. Are they just staying in the water or are they crawling all over the glass?

If they are strictly aquatic, there are predator snails that will eat your pest snails (Assassin snails, Anatome helena), that don't multiply nearly as fast as pest snails. I don't know if that species eat frog eggs, but just the shear numbers will make a difference. 

There are pest traps that work in the water, such as this one on Foster/Smith. It will be a slow process, and you will never really get rid of all of them. It's meant for aquariums, but you can use it out of the water too. Again, because it doesn't actively kill snails, you will never get rid of all of them this way, but just keep their numbers in check.

In my garden, I use the organic pesticide Sluggo. It is Iron-Phosphate, which kills snails. I have NO IDEA if that will be harmful to your frogs. I would assume it will kill your micro-fauna populations in the soil, so if you're culturing foods, you will want to definitely up the feedings. I would definitely talk with more veteran keepers before trying that method.


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## a628627 (Jan 24, 2013)

Okay, so it is impossible to completely get rid of sails without redoing the whole tank. If I keep their population in check, will they hurt the frogs, or just be a pain to take out? Thanks to everybody who responded.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

The snails will not likely hurt the frogs. Not sanitizing the tank, before putting the frogs in there, might hurt them.


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## jeeperrs (Jan 14, 2010)

I assume you have not put the plants in the tank and built the tank. Use some bleach water and clean the tank. They probably won't hurt the frogs. However, a little effort now will save a lot of heartache later.


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

The snails are really a mute point and have no real meaning here. Several people have posted concerns about using a previously inhabited tank for new animal. You should break it down and clean it. The point I believe you are missing is: if you do not break down and sanitize everything that is to be re-used, the snails may be all you have left.


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## Sherman (Oct 29, 2008)

I have a tank that has been established for a while now. After I added a new plant I began to notice snails.

How do I get rid of snails?


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## Bjcg (Jan 4, 2013)

> The cage came with a male orange lamasi (Which is currently in the cage, but I have no need for him).


Ill take him!!!!!!!!!!


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## ICS523 (Mar 10, 2012)

You can do what I do and deal with it!

Seriously, although lots of people freak out about snails they really don't do to much damage (Usually, I guess they like frog eggs). Honestly I would do the lettuce thing to keep their population under control, and provide the tank with tons of leaf litter to feed the micro-fauna.

I have had these guys for a few years and they usually seem to keep to themselves, just cull the herd every once and a while and you will be fine. 

Besides its slugs you gotta look out for.


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## Sea-Agg09 (Feb 2, 2013)

Could you CO2 the living hell out of the tank? I would take the frog out and use one of the numerous methods listed on this site to try and suffocate them with CO2. It can't hurt if you take the frog out, but could possibly do a big dent into the snails. Dry Ice, vinegar and baking soda are all pretty cheap, so it wouldn't be difficult to keep that treatment going.


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## a628627 (Jan 24, 2013)

I guess I will have to break down the tank in order to make sure the red eyed tree frogs I plan to put into the tank will be safe.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

a628627 said:


> I guess I will have to break down the tank in order to make sure the red eyed tree frogs I plan to put into the tank will be safe.


Yay! Now, you can re-use your plants. What I do is cut off the roots and soak them for a few minutes in 5-10% bleach/water. Then rinse well. I rinse a final time in water treated to remove chlorine and chloramine.


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## a628627 (Jan 24, 2013)

I don't think I will reuse the plants, all that was in there was pothos and a small unknown bromeliad.


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## Sea-Agg09 (Feb 2, 2013)

a628627 said:


> I don't think I will reuse the plants, all that was in there was pothos and a small unknown bromeliad.


Good call. If you are going to take it apart and reset the whole thing, then really reset it. Take everything out, spray bleach/water (like 25% or so), all over the tank, and let it sit for a day or so. After that you can rinse it out and make sure to wipe the corners well. You don't want 1 clutch of snail eggs stuck in a corner to start the whole problem back up again.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

I had snails in a Darklands viv years back, and mainly the problem was they seemed to be eating all the darkland's eggs. So I put small bottle caps of beer in there and over about a month pretty much wiped them out...at least enough the frogs eggs started surviving and I got froglets.

I don't know if non-alcoholic beer attracts snails but if so it is a safer option. I wasn't to worried about the frogs as they would have probably had to jump right in a tiny cap about their size and soak to really be affected...never had a problem. 

You could also use some kinda lid over your beer cup with holes small enough for the snails to get in, but not the frogs.

you could probably take the frogs out, remove/wash any plants you really wanna save, maybe grow them in a pot outside a viv till you are sure they are snail free, let the viv sit and completely dry out. That way you save your substrate/hardscape and once it is all dessicated so much the snail eggs and snails can't survive, water it again and replant. Perhaps just removing the plants and substrate would be enough, that way the background/hardscape would dry out much faster, and would be less likely to hold eggs probably, either way let it dry to the point eggs can't survive and then rebuild/water the viv


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## eaglerock (May 30, 2013)

Dendro Dave said:


> I don't know if non-alcoholic beer attracts snails but if so it is a safer option. I wasn't to worried about the frogs as they would have probably had to jump right in a tiny cap about their size and soak to really be affected...never had a problem.
> 
> You could also use some kinda lid over your beer cup with holes small enough for the snails to get in, but not the frogs.


Reviving an old thread here...but...

I used those little Solo condiment cups with holes in the lid to make miniature fruit fly cultures to pop in the tank while I was out of town for Xmas

1) They'd work perfectly as little beer cups
2) The cultures were super-effective snall bait; bulled out a dozen over the first few days I was home and haven't seen a snail since.


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