# Cleaning with snails?



## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

So yeah, I badly need to siphon out poop and whatnot but I've got the snail babies and I don't know what's on the floor. I know I've got some up on the floating plant, but... the plant needs cleaning as well. How do I clean up without losing all the snails? I really want to see what they'll turn into and the ones on the plant are currently the safest since Honey nor the loaches can get to them. I know I lost some when I siphoned things up last time, prolly including the largest one out of all I'd seen.

I could do partial water changes for ammonia but... that's just gross, leaving excess poop and slime and food on the floor.

Also, what are baby snails called?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

No idea what baby snails are called other than baby snails lol but I've sucked up numerous snails and they usually sink to the bottom of the bucket so when I go to empty the water there's sometimes a snail on the bottom of the bucket. I usually just pick them up and put them back into the tank. I'm sure this doesn't really answer your question but that's my experience with them


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

if you're worried about sucking up babies, put a nylon over the end of your tube. poop and organics can break up and be sucked through the nylon fabric, babies shouldn't


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Ooh, okie. Thing with mine is that it's a sand bottom. Any babies picked up are covered and typically assumed to be murdered because of sand and it swirling 

I will try out this nylon thing though. Be a bit tricky since I'm not sure where the rubber bands went and it's straight tubing I'm using.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh okay, I was unaware you had sand! This is usually easier than gravel because you're not pushing the siphon into the substrate. Usually snails won't get sucked up if they are still alive when it comes to sand, it's really only gravel that is bad in this case because you suck up pretty much everything. With sand you should only be going about 2 cm over the surface and never touch the same.

But of course I guess this is a little more difficult with babies as they aren't as strong. Also the suction from the siphon should hold the nylon in place. If you can find a big enough piece you can just hold the siphon further down the tub so you can hold the ends of the nylon with your fingers. Does that make sense?


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

oh yeah, with sand, my snails fall out of the tube- USUALLY. if i see them, i try to shake them out. 3/4 of my tanks are sand. i prefer it a lot.


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