# Diary of a snail hater (venturing into sluggo)



## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

So after much research I have decided to use Sluggo in my vivs.


I have 3 total vivs and 2 of them have snails. One 20 high and one roughly 100 gal. The 100 gal also had a slug problem but I havent seen one in quite a while. My hand picking seemed to work on them but snails are still a huge problem.

I originally thought about the CO2 method but this would be near impossible on my 100 gal. It houses a group of Orange Lamasi and I would have to basically tear apart the entire tank in order to get them all out.

Today I applied my first dosage of Sluggo to both the infested vivs and will be documenting my results in this thread. I hope to see the snail population gone and not sacrifice my springtail population along with it.


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## Wallace Grover (Dec 6, 2009)

Would the beer method not work if you did it in a container with a lid so the frogs couldn't get in, but small holes big enough so the snails could?


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

There are many methods that people use. The beer may work very well and who knows I may try that if sluggo doesnt get rid of them.

One problem may be FFs getting drinking the beer and then being eaten but I would have to assume that the amount the frogs would get this way would be extremely minimal.


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## Wallace Grover (Dec 6, 2009)

Hmmm, actually that's a good point. I guess you could temporarily take it out during feeding times...


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

Wallace Grover said:


> Hmmm, actually that's a good point. I guess you could temporarily take it out during feeding times...



You could but in my lamasi tank there is no true feeding time. Unlike my azureus they dont sit there waiting for the food. They slowly eat the food throughout the course of a day or 2.


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## HunterB (Apr 28, 2009)

I'll be following along, interested to see how it goes, good luck


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

BOOSHIFIED said:


> So after much research I have decided to use Sluggo in my vivs.
> 
> 
> I have 3 total vivs and 2 of them have snails. One 20 high and one roughly 100 gal. The 100 gal also had a slug problem but I havent seen one in quite a while. My hand picking seemed to work on them but snails are still a huge problem.
> ...


There are issues with products like sluggo. They contain iron phosphate and EDTA.

Here's an article which discusses some of the toxicity issues. The relative toxicity of metaldehyde and iron phosphate-based molluscicides to earthworms.

The iron may also likely kill your moss. Iron is one of the main ingredients in products that are designed to kill moss in your lawn. I don't know if it can be flushed out of the tank. So you may not be able to grow moss in the tanks after treatment.

I guess I don't really understand why using CO2 would be a problem. I have documented how CO2 can easily be used to kill pests in an article here on DB. 

CO2 Generator


A 100 gallons of CO2 for your tank would take a little more than 5 gallons of vinegar and 6 cups of baking soda which would cost maybe $12 - $13 about the same cost as the sluggo. 

Good luck on the experiment. Please us know how it comes out. I would be curious if it does kill off the moss in the tank.


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

Good luck with the treatment. Sounds incredibly risky to me but then again I'm sure you have done your research. Make sure to document and share the results whether they are successful or not. Sorry you are having problems with snails\slugs.


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## bristles (Jan 19, 2011)

do snails pose a risk to frogs ?


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## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

I have snails in one of my tanks, and I have never seen them harming any plants. I always see them on the leaf litter or driftwood. I don't think the frogs eat them, to my knowledge only the french do.


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## Woodsman (Jan 3, 2008)

Snails are notorious egg-eaters. If I am late checking on the breeding progress in a couple of my tanks, the next day there is a swarm of snails on the petri dish and not a single egg left. This would be the primary reason to try to limit them in a viv.

Richard.


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

davecalk said:


> CO2 Generator
> 
> 
> A 100 gallons of CO2 for your tank would take a little more than 5 gallons of vinegar and 6 cups of baking soda which would cost maybe $12 - $13 about the same cost as the sluggo.
> ...


I realized that the cost I quoted above is on the high side. Using the cheapest vinegar and baking soda you can make a hundred gallons of CO2 for $8 - $10. 

Please let us know how the sluggo experiment comes out.


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

tim13 said:


> I have snails in one of my tanks, and I have never seen them harming any plants. I always see them on the leaf litter or driftwood. I don't think the frogs eat them, to my knowledge only the french do.


It depends on the type of plants that you have. They don't tend to bother bromeliads, but I have had them eat a number of my tropical broad leafs and orchids. 

Mainly slugs like to eat frog eggs.


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## raelaf (Jan 10, 2011)

They sound like an annoying problem.. how do the snails get into the tank in the first place? Do they hitch hike with plants? I am just wondering how I can avoid ever having snails in my tanks.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

There was a good discussion on sluggo here http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/general-discussion/54030-sluggo-safe.html

Ed


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

raelaf said:


> They sound like an annoying problem.. how do the snails get into the tank in the first place? Do they hitch hike with plants? I am just wondering how I can avoid ever having snails in my tanks.


I had snails come in on some plants that I had purchased and installed. I had eliminated most of the soil from the plant and still got an infestation. 

Since then I bomb my plants a few times with CO2 to help eliminate the potential problem.


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

davecalk said:


> I guess I don't really understand why using CO2 would be a problem. I have documented how CO2 can easily be used to kill pests in an article here on DB.


As I stated in the OP. My 100 gal contains 7 (I hope but I dont see them all the time) Orange Lamasi with about 10 broms and a bunch of other plants and features. I would need to pretty much tear the entire tank apart in order to do the CO2 method.

If I had a larger species then I prob would have went that direction.

With all that being said if this doesnt work I may end up setting up another tank for my lamasi and catching them one by one and transferring them over. Due to their elusiveness this may tank weeks or even months.


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

For those wondering if Sluggo is toxic to frogs I suggest you search "sluggo" on this site and read every single thread. Threads such as the one that Ed posted will pop up and you can make your own decision from there.


Basically through my research I found that there are quite a few people using Sluggo already and have noticed no ill effects. There are a few others that have seen no effects at all on the snail population but others that swear by it.


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## bristles (Jan 19, 2011)

I was just wondering, as I have snails in one of my vivs & find them very cool. They look like tiny little Cinnamon rolls and I feel that their presence makes the viv more like a complete eco system. They don't seem to be damaging the plants & if they are eating some, the plants are prolific enough so that you are not able to tell. I am actually trying to introduce them into my other vivs. I have kept planted aquaria for years and the snails are just part of the system if they get to numerous its a sign of over feeding. It's easy to reduce their numbers by baiting with lettuce or zucchini and then removing it when its covered (I know other folks have already mentioned this method) but as for the land snails in the viv their numbers are not overwhelming as can happen in an aquarium. But I know that some folks in our aquarium club (especially folks new to the hobby) seem to distracted by them. Unless someone can point out a great threat they pose I would urge people to view them as part of a part of nature and a complementary accent to there natural rain forest settings we all work so hard to provide for our frogs. I apologize if i offend anyone that hates snails  but thats my view point on them


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## bristles (Jan 19, 2011)

Sorry I missed woodsman's entry on them eating eggs that would pose a problem but I have not found them so prolific as to swarm my eggs. That said I've not had tons of clutches but the ones I've had so far have not been swarmed. I will definitely take the egg predation into consideration before I spend any more effort on introducing them to my other vivs Thanks for the insight.


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

bristles said:


> Sorry I missed woodsman's entry on them eating eggs that would pose a problem but I have not found them so prolific as to swarm my eggs. That said I've not had tons of clutches but the ones I've had so far have not been swarmed. I will definitely take the egg predation into consideration before I spend any more effort on introducing them to my other vivs Thanks for the insight.


With my lamasi tank I am going for a more natural approach to reproduction. This means that I wont be pulling many(if any) eggs. The longer they are in there the more apt there are to be found by snails.


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## DougP (Feb 9, 2010)

If you want to use the beer method go for it. Just buy Non-Alcoholic beer. To the best of my knowledge it's not the alcohol that attracts the slugs and snails so it should still work. The Alcohol content of NA beer is less than .5%. Just a thought.
Doug


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## bristles (Jan 19, 2011)

Just curious as to how many types of snails are out there that live in vivs ? the ones I have, have a shell that are horizontal to the ground and a spiral shape (quite small) & long head & antenna. Could there be a difference in behaver between the types ? Just wondering


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## Bob S (Mar 5, 2008)

Im with you Booshified. Terminate them all!!! IMO nothing but a pest on eggs and plants. Keep us fellow snail haters posted. Good luck!!!!!!!!


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## RMB (Nov 26, 2009)

If you do end up bombing it, I would suggest dry ice. I just used it to kill an ant colony that had taken over my 55gal plant grow out tank, haven't seen one since. I used 2 lbs, which cost me about 3$. The most annoying part is explaining exactly what you're doing to the other people in line at the grocery store... It was super cool to watch it working though, I dropped the chunks in some FF cups with hot water and watched the whole tank fill with vapor.

I also moved 6 lamasi recently from a well planted 29gal, it did take a couple days, but not that bad. I just checked the tank a couple times a day and grabbed whoever I could see.


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## JL-Exotics (Nov 10, 2005)

BOOSHIFIED said:


> As I stated in the OP. My 100 gal contains 7 (I hope but I dont see them all the time) Orange Lamasi with about 10 broms and a bunch of other plants and features. I would need to pretty much tear the entire tank apart in order to do the CO2 method.
> 
> If I had a larger species then I prob would have went that direction.
> 
> With all that being said if this doesnt work I may end up setting up another tank for my lamasi and catching them one by one and transferring them over. Due to their elusiveness this may tank weeks or even months.


In my experience, the anticipation of wrangling a herd of small fleet footed frogs is usually a lot worse then the actual wrangling. Once in a while you'll get one that lives up to the challenge, but more often then not I end up saying to myself it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be!

Regardless, good luck with your snail eviction!


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

Less then a week after applying the Sluggo I have seen very good results. 

I am used to killing a 2-5 snails (or so) on the front glass every day. I havent seen any on the glass in a few days. I did see a live snail yesterday but this is a huge improvement. 

I am going to monitor how fast the pellets degrade and maybe add some more in a week or so. I am curious to see if it will fully eliminate them over time or if this is just a stop gap.


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## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

This is a bit off topic, but I found out something interesting people can do in a qt tank for plants. Apparently, according to a local petshop, there is a snail called an assassin snail. This particular snail only eats other snails. The petshop I spoke to uses them to get rid of aquatic snails in their tanks. They sell these nifty buggers for 2 bucks apiece. They are neat looking to.


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

I had previously started a thread about snails that eat other snails. The general consensus was that they may turn to frog eggs if there weren't enough snails to eat. I also wonder if they would be able to eat them all or just control them. 

Anyone want to experiment with them?


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## Gumby (May 27, 2010)

I for one wouldn't want to add any assassins to any of my viv's. That would pose a huge risk for egg eating too like stated before if they ran out of snails to eat.


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## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

I meant using them in a quarantine tank to "clean" new plants of snails. They are aquatic, so may dont do well in a standard viv.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

There is a product called Nemaslug: Buy Nemaslug, Nemasys, nematode pest control - nemasysinfo.com
it is nemotodes that feed on slugs. Not sure if they would erradicate the microfauna or not.
Unfortunately, it looks like it is unavailable in the us.
Curious if anyone has used it in their Viv's.


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## markbudde (Jan 4, 2008)

Bcs TX said:


> There is a product called Nemaslug: Buy Nemaslug, Nemasys, nematode pest control - nemasysinfo.com
> it is nemotodes that feed on slugs. Not sure if they would erradicate the microfauna or not.
> Unfortunately, it looks like it is unavailable in the us.
> Curious if anyone has used it in their Viv's.


Nemaslug is not available in North America. 

In my experience with Sluggo, it mostly made the snails and slugs hide out down in the substrate, after which point they came back to life.

I am currently performing a trial to see if sluggo kills springtails, I will update when I get an answer.
-Mark


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

tim13 said:


> I meant using them in a quarantine tank to "clean" new plants of snails. They are aquatic, so may dont do well in a standard viv.


There are non aquatic snails that eat other snails as well.


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

markbudde said:


> Nemaslug is not available in North America.
> 
> In my experience with Sluggo, it mostly made the snails and slugs hide out down in the substrate, after which point they came back to life.
> 
> ...


I'm going put in some bait for the snails (mushrooms usually work well) in a couple of weeks to see my results. Probably about a month after my first Sluggo dose.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

I'll be eagerly awaiting your results. I have a few vivariums that have some pretty heavy slug infestations.


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

Hello all,

Ive been neglecting this thread but I do feel I have some useful info to share. I used Sluggo on 3 vivs. 1 100ish gal and 2 20 gals. Here are some of my thoughts about Sluggo:

-Sluggo is pretty good at controlling snail populations. I was used to having snails on the front glass of my 100 gal every morning. With Sluggo this did not happen with the exception of 2 or 3 days.

-If you plan on using Sluggo make sure you spread more around every week and spread it all over the viv. It seem this stuff breaks down pretty quickly and if you dont keep up the dosing the snails will come back.

-Sluggo may not get rid of your snail problems ESPECIALLY in big vivs. It seems that It took care of the snails in my 2 20 gals but couldnt quite eliminate them in my 100 gal. This may not be true for all big vivs but it just seems that they have a lot more places to hide in the bigger vivs and it is hard to make sure the Sluggo gets to all areas.

-If you use Sluggo you may want to experiment with using fruit as bait stations. I would put the cut off strawberry tops in the viv and then sluggo all around those in the hopes that they would draw them into where the sluggo was. It seemed to draw them in but I cant for sure if it helped at all.


My overall personal experience with Sluggo was good. It seems to have completely eliminated the snails in my 2 20 gals but wasnt enough for my 100 gal. The 100 gal in now being semi-redone to house some Phelsuma Grandis and it will be CO2 bombed 2-3 times before the inhabitants are put in. 

I really think that I will be CO2 bombing any new vivs I setup just to avoid the trouble before it starts.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

bristles said:


> I was just wondering, as I have snails in one of my vivs & find them very cool. They look like tiny little Cinnamon rolls and I feel that their presence makes the viv more like a complete eco system. They don't seem to be damaging the plants & if they are eating some, the plants are prolific enough so that you are not able to tell. I am actually trying to introduce them into my other vivs. I have kept planted aquaria for years and the snails are just part of the system if they get to numerous its a sign of over feeding. It's easy to reduce their numbers by baiting with lettuce or zucchini and then removing it when its covered (I know other folks have already mentioned this method) but as for the land snails in the viv their numbers are not overwhelming as can happen in an aquarium. But I know that some folks in our aquarium club (especially folks new to the hobby) seem to distracted by them. Unless someone can point out a great threat they pose I would urge people to view them as part of a part of nature and a complementary accent to there natural rain forest settings we all work so hard to provide for our frogs. I apologize if i offend anyone that hates snails  but thats my view point on them





bristles said:


> Sorry I missed woodsman's entry on them eating eggs that would pose a problem but I have not found them so prolific as to swarm my eggs. That said I've not had tons of clutches but the ones I've had so far have not been swarmed. I will definitely take the egg predation into consideration before I spend any more effort on introducing them to my other vivs Thanks for the insight.


Ouch! You are going to wish you had researched that before purposely spreading them to all your other tanks. A few snails may not hurt too many eggs. But they never remain just a few snails. The day will come that you realize they are wiping out every egg produced in each of your vivs. Then you are going to realize how difficult they are to eradicate. Again I say, Ouch!


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