Freshwater ramshorn snails (planorbidae) are common aquarium pest species that usually attack planted tanks. They are dangerous pests due to their rapid population growth, making it challenging to control them.
These aquarium pests have round spiral shells that resemble a ram’s horns. Generally, they come in various colors, including pink, orange, blue, etc. However, the majority of specimens that frequently inhabit the aquarium are the orange types.
Planorbidae can grow up to 1 inch, and the harder water (calcium) can increase their shells’ strength.
Ramshorn snails are omnivorous. They feed on live aquatic plants and foods that are specifically for other invertebrates. The excess food also becomes their favorite snacks, which will help push their population outbreak.
These aquarium snails will compete with shrimps and other helpful tropical snails to get food. It may also boost their populations to an unsustainable level and starve them.
You can quickly identify them by classifying them into three main size categories. White Ramshorn Snails “Gyraulus albus” is the smallest species that only grows up to 1/3 inch. Common Ramhorn Snails typically reach up to 1 inch in size. The last, Great Ramshorn Snails, “Planorbarius corneus,” can grow around 1.5 inches in diameter.
Generally, these aquatic snails can live about 1-3 years. However, most of these species only reach a lifespan of up to 1 year. In smaller populations, they help to decrease nitrates in the aquarium. Unfortunately, they receive a terrible reputation when kept in large numbers in the aquarium.
Where do ramshorn snails come from? Mostly, snails or their eggs are transported on live aquatic plants to be introduced into your aquariums. However, they can come in on any equipment or decorations, such as gravel, ornaments, and filters that have been used in other tanks.
If you are really unlucky, these pests can be scooped up together with your fish, which you purchase at an aquarium store, and brought into your tank in the fish bag filled with water.
The reproduction process of Ramshorn snails is similar to that of pond snails. They are hermaphroditic, which means a single snail can rapidly produce many snails. These aquarium snails typically lay their eggs on hard surfaces, such as driftwood, stones, plants, and the walls of tanks.
Their eggs are easily visible to the naked eye. These aquarium mollusks usually lay their eggs in numerous small clusters with a brownish tint. Each cluster generally has about 12 eggs.
These snails act as biological load enhancers on your aquarium filter by consuming a fine-leaf aquatic plant like Cabomba to produce feces. They tend to die in small tanks and pollute the water quickly. After that your tank will dirty and stimulate other problem like green hair or staghorn algae to grow.
The ramshorn snail will grow well under the conditions below:
- Water Temperature: 75° F / 24° C
- Water pH: 7,5
- Nitrite: 0 ppm
- Ammonia: 0 ppm
- Nitrates: > 40 ppm
- Minimum Tank Size: 5-gallons
How to get rid of ramshorn snails effectively? There are 5 ways to remove these harmful snails in your aquarium:
Remove The Food Sources
Reducing the portion of fish and shrimp/snail pellets can lower the population of ramshorn snails. Clean the decaying leaves of aquarium plants as soon as possible; it may become food for the snails.
Although they can spawn quickly, these snails can also generate babies by controlling their consumption habits. Ramshorn snails also accept algae and organic debris as their food.
Manual Removal
There are three methods for manually removing these aquatic mollusks from the tank. First, you can get rid ramshorn snails directly by hand when you see these snails. Second, you can try creating a snail trap using vegetables (such as leaf lettuce, cabbage, zucchini, cucumber, and carrots) or large pellets clipped to the aquarium wall at night. In the early morning, you can easily harvest the pest snails and dispose of them.
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The third is using a snail catcher. This tool is handy for picking up snails from the aquarium without getting your hands wet. It can scrape them off the aquarium bottom and walls. Are you want to trying this tool?
Unfortunately, the manual removal method won’t erase every ramshorn snail, but you can control the number of them.
Snail-eaters Snail (Assassin Snails)
Keeping a snail predator, a.k.a. Assassin snail (Clea Helena), can decrease the growth level of these aquatic pest mollusks. They are a good solution for almost every aquarium that is infected with ramshorn snails.
Assassin snails’ appearance is not too bad. They are actually small, with adults reaching up to 1 inch in size. Their shells are cone-shaped, with dark brown and yellow bands encircling it.
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Sometimes, they are completely brown-tinted without yellow stripes through the shells, but this is quite rare. They are also known as bumblebee snails.
The number of Clea Helena depends on the number of pest snails and the size of your aquarium. Typically, 2-4 snails per 10 gallons is sufficient. But, if the growth of pest snails is dropping significantly, just leave one assassin snail to guard the tank. In my experience, they also predate the beneficial snails when the primary food is over. Almost all of my young and mature nerite snails are killed by them.
Another interesting fact is that these pest snail predators are slow to reproduce and require both a male and a female to breed. It means you can maintain their numbers simply.
Fish Predators For Pest Snails
An aquatic mollusk becomes a tasty morsel for many freshwater fish species, so adding fish that naturally predate pest snails is another good option, even though some aquarists breed the pest snails to feed their pufferfish. Snails are their favorite foods.
If your tanks are small, you can keep the dwarf pea pufferfish. They are suitable for many nano aquariums. There is another freshwater fish that enormously helps you to get rid of the pest snails in your tank:
- Betta Fish
- Paradise Gourami
- Clown Loach
- Yo-Yo Loach
- Convict cichlids
- Zebra loaches
- Dwarf chain loaches
Chemical Removal
The fastest and simplest method to get rid of the pests from your tank is using an anti-pest snail medicine, which is available in almost all local and online fish stores.
Add the chemicals into your tank and let it sit for the duration specified on the product’s label. After that, get rid all dead ramshorn snails to prevent them from polluting your water quality.
This simple and easy process tends to be preferred by beginners, but it has adverse effects and may cause some collateral damage. This is because the dissolved copper substances in these medicines are poisonous to any snails and shrimp species that you keep.
An expert aquarist says, “You should not use a chemical treatment unless you do not care about the survival of other species in the aquarium.”
Prevention
The best method to avoid ramshorn snails is never to let them come into the aquarium in the first place. When you buy a new fish, ensure that nothing in the fish bag, including the water, drops into the tank.
If you buy new live aquatic plants, quarantine them with some medication before adding them to the aquarium. Plant soaking options include:
- Alum: Soak the new plants in a solution of 2 tablespoons of alum and 1 gallon of water. Let them in for 2-3 days, then clean them by washing them with water before adding them to the aquarium.
- Potassium Permanganate: Prepare a half tablespoon of potassium permanganate and mix it with 1 gallon of water. Soak the plants in this solution for 15 minutes and then wash them thoroughly before adding them to the tanks.
- Bleach: Make a solution from 1.5 cups of bleach and 1 gallon of water. Soak the aquarium plants in plain water with a dechlorinating agent for 5 minutes, then rinse them thoroughly. Be careful, the fine-leaved plants are harmed by this mixture. However, bleach is a very powerful way to get rid of ramshorn snails and their eggs. This mixture is also helpful to eliminate GDA or GSA when they appear inside your tank.
How about this article? Is it beneficial for you? We hope our knowledge can help you get rid of the harmful ramshorn snails in your tank. Don’t forget to share this guide with your friends who may need it.
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