Keeping the eggs and fry clean

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 8:04 pm

I was so worried about nr 14 in my batch. I had given him up, but left him in the fry trap as I didn't had a heart to get rid of him until there was absolutely no life left in him.

He was covered in empty egg shells that stuck to him, he had slimey bits stuck to his youlk sack, and he looked like he was about to get attacked by fungis. he was a mess

Then I noticed two snails in the fry trap. I decided to leave them there, as I know they *should* only eat dead stuff, so I thought "got nothing to loose anyways... *sob*" kind of thing you know

Now, after 6 hours, the fry trap is cleaned of any remainder of gunk and egg shells. And - the fry's youlk sack is clean, and there's life in the little sweetheart! I'm beginning to believe that he will indead pull through!

The snails are the small black ones that are considered a pest in most tanks. I keep them for harvesting as an extra delicious snack for my clown botia that lives in a different tank

(yes, I'm out catching flies for my African Butterfly fish as well

)

So this makes me wonder, is it possible that one might be able to trust these snails to clean the eggs and fry? Anybody got any experience with this?

I'm very well aware of what happened might be a fluke only, so I will in no way reccomend to allow the snails to be together with the eggs and fry, but can't help wonder....

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:21 am

HI McEve

it is true, I've used water louse in the past, which do the same as the snails. They only eat the dead matter, and keep the live things clean.

Aparently it is quite common to use them in corydoras breeding.

I used them in a batch in stead of Methylyne blue, and they worked wonders.

cool

rob

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:46 am

Useful little buggers in other words

Nr 14 did pull through, and have now joined the group in the other fry trap. It's really quite amazing, he was so covered in gunk that I didn't think he had a tail. I could see his head moving when trying to wriggle, which is why I left him, hoping against all reason that he might have a chanse.

I was amazed when he after only a few hours was all clean

Happy ending so far!

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:12 am

I heard about using snails for this purpose a while back but quickly dismissed it as a myth for fear of them eating the eggs. I have some corys in the hatching process at the moment and I may well give it a try. All I need now are some snails, I'm sure I spotted a few small ones in my Endlers tank.

I had a horrendous snail problem in two of my tanks about a year ago, I didn't fancy a chemical solution and opted to catch as many as I could on a daily basis but I couldn't keep up with the prolific little buggers. I introduced a couple of clown loach in each tank and they had the problem licked in under a week.

Tristan · Post by **Tristan** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:39 pm

Hopefully i will get to the stage where I am faced with the problem of mouldy eggs. At the moment any eggs will do !

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:58 am

You took the words right out of my mouth Tristan.

Matrix99 · Post by **Matrix99** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 9:11 pm

Remember to keep the ligth low where the eggs are.
That way You are reducing in big way the form of fungus.
No need to mention clean too.

sid · Post by **sid** » Sat Oct 23, 2004 10:33 am

Hi All
I use snails in my ram ,killi, and cory tanks....great for keeping the eggs clean if mum and dad have to be removed,and they are a good source of infusoria for small fry

DasArab · Post by **DasArab** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:20 pm

What kind of snails are we speaking abut? Just any that you normally get in a planted tank?

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:56 pm

The snails that cleaned up my fry is the normal black tiny pest snail.

When you get real close you can see they have spots on them, but normally they look black

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 9:46 pm

Those are the same little buggers that I have, it's good to have finally found a use for them. I have already used them on some C.Sterbai eggs and they did a great job. I'm now farming them in my Endlers tank, got quite a colony going. I have a clear out now and then, I throw a load in the community tank for the clown loaches.

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:28 pm

Adam wrote: I have a clear out now and then, I throw a load in the community tank for the clown loaches.

That's excactly my strategi as well! The clown loaches loves it when it's cleaning out time

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 3:56 am

The only problem with this is the clean up operation afterwards, all the empty snail shells can make quite a mess. I tend to feed the day before a water change so that both water and shells can be siphoned out the following day.

Des · Post by **Des** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 10:25 pm

Hi ,
I currently use a dwarf puffer to clean up any snails moving him from tank to tank.I tried Clown Loaches but they always turned belly up, with the introduction of any medication containing copper. He (or She) is in the Shrimp tank at the moment and hasnt harmed any shrimp.
Regards,
Des.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Thu Nov 04, 2004 8:02 pm

Des the dwarf puffer you mentioned, is (s)he also known as a figure of eight puffer? I had one of these years ago and it was a terrible fin nipper.