Little Guys Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Hello All, I have a 7 gal, planted tank with Tetras, pygmy Corys, Cherry Shrimp and what used to be 1 Ramshorn snail. All of a sudden I have a bunch of baby snails and I just saw that one of my shrimp is carrying eggs, A LOT of eggs. What do you do with the population explosion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 (edited) On 3/15/2024 at 10:01 AM, Little Guys said: What do you do with the population explosion? Very likely scenario to happen; majority of the baby shrimplets will end up as a fish food mainly to tetras. If not, everyone loves shrimp anyway; you can rehome or sell them My single ramshorn hitchiked never breeds. It has been around 8 months or so🤷🏻♂️ but there are many “ramshorns” and we generalise them all as one, and I have seen articles mentioning they can breed alone. Or, maybe yours already mated at where it came from Controlling snail population is all about controlling food source. Food source being decayjng leaves, extra fish food, algae, any dead critters or fish or inverts, biofilm, dying plant leaf parts, etc. I have them in all my tanks and only 4 tanks have a big population and I can barely see any in any other tanks. And those tanks get the least competition for food and food is easily available. the only exception that never works is for Malaysian trumpet snails IMO. I find them impossible to control if you target feed your shrimp and pygmy cories, snails will get their share easily so it is hard to control sadly. Probably a few assasins is what you want there and if they breed you may rehome or sell Edited March 15 by Lennie 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 For shrimp population explosion it’s not a big concern. They produce very little bioload (waste). Many babies will get eaten as @Lennie said. Ramshorns are a different matter. They produce a lot of waste and will degrade your water quality. I’m a snail lover and find them beneficial to planted tank but I speak from experience on that. I recommend removing some of them as you see them in an easy spot on the front glass to help keep the numbers in check. it won’t seem like they are a problem until they are. They multiply exponentially. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Guys Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 Thank you for your thoughts. Several folks have mentioned rehoming or selling the extra population. How would one go about rehoming or selling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 On 3/15/2024 at 2:27 AM, Lennie said: My single ramshorn hitchiked never breeds. It has been around 8 months or so🤷🏻♂️ but there are many “ramshorns” and we generalise them all as one, and I have seen articles mentioning they can breed alone. Or, maybe yours already mated at where it came from They definitely can breed on their own. When I used to selective breed them I would often use this if I found a particularly interesting one. I would isolate it to make some clones. Now, that said, they don't prefer this method of reproduction and they are pretty bad at it compared to other species so they do prefer sexual reproduction. I have a friend who had a single ramshorn snail for many months and it suddenly decided to have babies one day. It's entirely possible yours may never reproduce but it is capable of it. They have a mind if their own sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Guys Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 Well CB, it is reproducing, that is what promped my post. I had a brown snail that never reproduced and it died recently. My sister has snails and she gave me a beautiful gray blue one. They are reproducing. 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dacotua Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 If you want the snails to stop breeding as much, stop feeding your tank as much. Odds are you are over feeding your tank, hence the snail explosion. I like having Ramhorn snails in my tank, but I rarely get a population explosion as I watch the amount I feed my tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Guys Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 And the fish are fine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyxxl Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 On 3/15/2024 at 11:49 AM, Little Guys said: Thank you for your thoughts. Several folks have mentioned rehoming or selling the extra population. How would one go about rehoming or selling? Rehoming is easy find either people that want them and give them. Or you can try to sell them to the fish store that you deal with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I have no idea if anyone really knows how much food any one fish requires. You can feed them less daily or you can even skip a day occasionally. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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