The Puffer Forum

Okay, so I have this 15 litre tank (no substrate, but some stones and plants + small internal filter) with pest snails, and I want them to multiply so my puffers can eat them. But there is a problem: I can't siphon out all the waste (snail poop and uneaten, rotting food) without siphoning out the tiny baby snails! I'm not able to pick them out of the bucket either, for one because I can't distinguish between waste and baby snails (they are so smaaaaall!), or I will crush them when trying to pick them up.

The population is not really increasing. To breed snails, overfeeding is recommended, but this means a lot of waste. Leaving the debris will pollute the water of course, so that is not an option either. I feed algae wafers and fish food flakes. The former "dissolves" a bit and spreads out, but heaps up and after a while overgrows with fungus or something, the latter just spreads everywhere. Are there better options that make less waste at the bottom of the tank, or waste that is easier to clean out without removing invisible snails hiding in and gorging on it?

HOW to do this???

Well the fungus would need to be removed manually. For mine i do large frequent waterchanges. The key here would be to keep the siphon away from the sides, or what i do for mine is place a micron filter sock over my siphon. With this method you just need to be quick to refill so the eggs do not dry out on the glass.

Weigh down a lettuce leaf the evening before you plan to syphon and don't feed for a day or so before, tonnes of snails will move on to it, you can then lift the leaf before syphoning.

Thanks, mates, I will try this!