as much as i dont like chemical solutions to tank issues, I think with snails there is call for it. adding snails to kill snails...seems a bit odd to me.

What would you suggest though Doug???
I cant get that no plan.... thing over here and everything else I can find has got copper in it

I haven't kept any assassins (have no probs YET with my golden apple snails, trumpet snails, spiky/red onion/zebra nerites, and random-incomers-from-the-pet-shop) so can't comment on how many you'd need.

But I have looked into them a little bit in the event that I get overrun one day.

Since you need males and females for them to breed, it should be slower than the hermaphroditic varieties of snail, and I have read that they do reproduce at quite a slow rate. Also not sure what your tank set up is, but could you introduce a fish that likes to eat young snails? There seem to be a few varieties around that might help keep all your snail numbers down.

From what I have read, your eggs could be at risk of being eaten though, unless parent fish can protect them. My male used to knock my apple snails right through the water if they got to close to his cave - it was like snail tennis if he accidentally knocked them too close to one of my other bristles and they batted it back again!

oh, re numbers, I just found this ....

In the author’s experience, controlling a runaway Malayan Livebearing Snail (or Malayan Trumpet Snail, Melanoides tuberculata) is to use 4-6 Clea helena per 60 litres (about 15 US gallons) of water. While they won’t exterminate every last one of the Malayan Livebearing Snails, the Clea helena will keep the population of them small enough that they’re no longer troublesome.

I have recently added some assassin snails to 2 of my tanks to kill mts snails. I was sifting out the excess mts, but that only worked in the tanks with sand substrate, couldn't do it really with the gravel. The assassins are making a dent in the mts populations as I am seeing empty snail shells on the substrate. Yeah!!!! One of our LFS breeds assassins to take care of any accidental snail introductions to his tanks and says it works well for him. I have not noticed any reduction in BN fry from any assassin snail predation of the eggs. If I do start to have any problems later on I will note it on this forum so you can be forewarned and take steps to remedy it.

Was funny, wish I had filmed it, they got quite a few rounds in before the snail finally got away!

If you decide to us chemicals, I would use Aquarisol. I made the mistake of adding new fish to a populated tank that had snails, which I was trying to get rid of too. My fish developed ich, so I treated them with aquarisol. After several days of treatment the ich was gone and then I noticed later that the snails were gone too! If you do decide to use aquarisol or some other similar chemical, make sure that your tank has extra oxygen during treatment time. Add a large air-stone or two.

Hi, I know this post is pretty old now and it's a long time since I posted anything, but just updating on my snail issue incase it's of any help to anyone/any interest.

By this summer I had HUGE numbers of malaysian trumpet snails in my tank, breeding seemingly exponentially. Also fast behind them were red ramshorns and tadpole snails.

In August I put 4 assassin snails in the tank (100 litre), and though I rarely see them - maybe one once a week, if not less, the first thing to diasppear were all the ramshorns. I was a little miffed as it was the MTSs that were my real problem.

3 months later and my MTS levels are low enough not to be a problem (far far better than the "argh, the whole floor of the tank is made up of snails!" scenario!), I saw one tadpole snail today, and that is a rarity, I find the odd ramshorn living in the bottom of the filter, but that's about it.

So assassins have done an amazing job so far, and no chemicals used. To date they haven't touched my apple or nerite snails, and hopefully they'll continue to ignore them. The bloke I bought them from says he keeps them in his breeding tanks of apple and nerites as clean ups and they never touch them.

Congratulations on solving your snail problems.

I have a few Assassins and they do go quitely about their business and all you notice is the empty trumpet shells. Also started to notice a second generation, only two upto now but it's a start.

Latest member of the Assassin crew (front left)

only thing i can say is would a snail trap work no chemicals

snap jim.and, I just found my first 2 assassin babies!

sorry, mnicholls, can't answer your question, just celebrating my new arrivals.

Can you not get assassins, or do you not want them? (sorry, I should have scrolled back in the thread before replying to get up to date.)

BTW, not sure if anyone noted this before, but clown loaches also work as well - they're excellent snail killers. Just... they *might* argue with Bristlenose catfish. Might. But usually they do well enough in a community tank.

Congratulations for the small Anentome helenas!
I love them to bits! As soon as I drop a few snails for them, they speed-up and often 5-6 clings on one poor Aplexa hypnorum.