What is the best way to get rid of all snails without hurting fishes and plants?

[professorjimjam]

I introduced a lot of pest snails Melanoides tuberculata into my tank as I had 5 puffers in the tank. I didn’t know their reproduction rate so they multiplied in hundreds where now there are more snails than gravel in my tank. Puffers cannot eat them because they hide under the gravel the whole day when light is on, and only they come out at night when light is off and my puffers cannot see them. One night I turn on the light and saw more than 400 of them all on surface of gravel and many of them small babies. I also introduced Helena snails but these Helena snails are stupid, they got caught by puffers , as they are not very good in hiding. So most of my Helena snails are gone and I am stuck with the hundreds of pest snails that I don’t need.
What do you recommend I should do to get rid of all of these snails? I tried handpicking them but it would take forever as I could catch large ones but the small ones cannot come to my hands as they are very small. I once removed a lot of big ones and the next month I was back on square one. I have copper but that will kill my other fishes and other small creatures in the tank.
Anyone has any idea how to get rid of these snails? If I count all of the new bred small ones it will be more than 500 of them. There are also empty shells of another 100 that were killed by Helena which are always in the surface of the gravel.
Any help is appreciated

 

[aussieman57]

Assassin snails would be payback & mildly entertaining.

 

[Hybridfish7]

Assassin snails would be payback & mildly entertaining.

I also introduced Helena snails but these Helena snails are stupid, they got caught by puffers , as they are not very good in hiding. So most of my Helena snails are gone and I am stuck with the hundreds of pest snails that I don’t need.

(Assassin snails are Helena snails)
Anyway to the OP, my suggestion is the good old cucumber trick, put a cucumber in the tank with something to weigh it down, the snails get all over it, then you pull the cucumber out whenever you feel like there's enough snails on it. I too have a problem with trumpet snails in the tanks that have them, though with most of my tanks having amatitlania or cryptoheros sp., they are usually kept in check. Few people are aware of the snail and cyanobacteria eating abilities of convicts and their relatives. Nanolutea is the biggest on snail consumption in my experience, in spite of them naturally having the most roughage oriented diets of the genus. Not saying get nanolutea for the sake of eating snails though, never good to get a fish for a specific job. I would stick with the cucumbers.
For future reference for food snails, try pond or bladder snails. I would suggest ramshorns but ime they grow too slow and mature too late. The former doesn't reproduce as fast as mts, but nearly there, and grows just as fast.

 

[celebrist]

My yoyo loaches keep the population in check. I introduced helena assassin snails into my sump as well.

 

[professorjimjam]

(Assassin snails are Helena snails)
Anyway to the OP, my suggestion is the good old cucumber trick, put a cucumber in the tank with something to weigh it down, the snails get all over it, then you pull the cucumber out whenever you feel like there's enough snails on it. I too have a problem with trumpet snails in the tanks that have them, though with most of my tanks having amatitlania or cryptoheros sp., they are usually kept in check. Few people are aware of the snail and cyanobacteria eating abilities of convicts and their relatives. Nanolutea is the biggest on snail consumption in my experience, in spite of them naturally having the most roughage oriented diets of the genus. Not saying get nanolutea for the sake of eating snails though, never good to get a fish for a specific job. I would stick with the cucumbers.
For future reference for food snails, try pond or bladder snails. I would suggest ramshorns but ime they grow too slow and mature too late. The former doesn't reproduce as fast as mts, but nearly there, and grows just as fast.

thanks.

 

[professorjimjam]

My yoyo loaches keep the population in check. I introduced helena assassin snails into my sump as well.

How many do I need to have to control the population?

 

[professorjimjam]

I have 4 grown kuhli loaches in the tank but I never fought them eating any snail.

 

[celebrist]

How many do I need to have to control the population?

I have 6

 

[professorjimjam]

Ok thanks

 

[Hybridfish7]

How big is your tank? Yoyo loaches get a decent size and the whole needing multiple bit might not help your situation