October 13: Snails, part II

Sounds like a bad B Horror movie. It's not though...just our horror. See, It has been about 4.5 months since we spotted a snail in our fish tank. Last May, I wrote a blog entry about how snails had infested our tank and the planned actions we had for removing them. Well, we went through with the plan, however, over the past few weeks, we've seen the snails gradually return. With chemicals still not an option, I learned a few tips from our local PetSmart gurus that I think will at least make this turn with the snails a bit more tolerable. First, I was told that I could minimize the number of snails by putting lettuce or spinach leaves in the bottom of the tank each day; as the snails feed on it and I can simply remove the infested veggie from the tank with snails in tow. We didn't have any leafy vegetables, so I went with a cucumber slice. For the record, it does, in fact, work! Secondly, I was told to use only a pinch of food for the fish, as overfeeding will just provide more food for the snails, which, in turn, will increase their population. I'll have to see if that one holds true....get back to me in a couple of weeks for an update.