Crowd thread digest
What the crowd said: getting rid of pest snails
Hi all im in desperate need of idea’s to get rid of snails im so over run with them
Thread quality (estimated)
0 to 100. Qualitative, not a verdict on who was “right.”
Very high reply volume, duplicate suggestions, long tangents, and side debates about ethics and law.
Arguments over clown loaches and pea puffers as “tools,” copper and dewormers vs shrimp, and whether assassins stay manageable.
Strong repeat: boomers usually mean excess food; pick predators or baits that match the rest of the stock.
How we scored it: Qualitative estimates (engagement, disagreement, overlap), not a formula on raw reply counts.
Answers rolled into four bands
Overfeeding named as why numbers explode; starve the surplus 30%
Lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, bottles, commercial traps, crush and feed to fish 27%
Often paired with traps; debate on breeding and legality in some regions 20%
Yo-yo and clown loaches, pea puffers, kuhlis, often with warnings about tank size and tankmates 23%
Where people diverged
- “Just add a clown / pea puffer / yo-yo” vs warnings about adult size, group size, species-only needs, and shrimp safety.
- Chemical routes (copper, dewormers, snail-killing products): fast for some, unsafe or permanent for invertebrates in the same tank.
- Assassin snails: praised as cleanup; others reported them spreading or replacing one problem with another.
- Tone: straight advice next to jokes (feed to chickens, hedgehogs, BB guns). Easy to mix up with serious steps.
- Start with our mystery snails context (pest vs pets) and assassin snails if you’re considering predators.
- Check quarantine and plants so you don’t reintroduce eggs.
- Use App-aquatic to track feeding and maintenance while you knock numbers down.
Note: Copper, fenbendazole, and similar approaches can kill shrimp and other invertebrates. Verify every label against your stock. This page is a conversation map, not treatment instructions.
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