Hello!!! well, in the past i have had horrible luck with apple snails... within days two of my snails became victim to my aquamaster 600's intake tube... but that was months ago... so my tank has been snail-less ever since. well today at the pet store i was telling the clerk about my poor little snails... (may they rest in peace) well... he came up with what i think is a great idea...

he said to take some filter media... the padded kind and wrap that around the intake hose. that way, a snail can't get stuck in the tube AND it actually increases surface area for filtration as well... so, tonight i am trying this... and i have a huge apple snail on order from the pet store... hope this works!

anyway, i was curious to see what some of you think about this idea! please let me know your thoughts!

thanks!

I've tried that before,but because I have alot of snails,that media tends to start blocking the intake pretty quickly. I've had better luck using media bags that they sell,or even tying pantyhose on my intake tube.

I havn't had a problem with snails getting caught, but I definitely have to keep something over the intake tube for my Bubbleye. At first I used pantyhose, then switched to the netting from the fabric store. You can get the netting for $1.00 per yard. I got the black, and you can hardly tell it is on there---except for the rubber band.

When I was even more inexperienced than I am now, my Bubbleye got the bubble caught in the intake. I quickly unplugged and got her out. Hope that will be the last time that happens.

I think either panty hose, or net fabric will work fine for you.

I've used both cheesecloth and pantyhose to keep snails and fry out of trouble, pantyhose seems to work the best and since I'm the sort that can only wear them once before they get runs there's a good supply of it ; as a precaution it's a good idea to make sure any used hose has never been washed with detergent, just rinse it with plain water

I've got filter sponges over mine. I asked at the LFS and he grabbed a sponge meant for a filter out of the box, took a tube and somehow poked a hole in it, and now they fit over my intake tubes. This was after I had problems with babies getting stuck as well.

Other people I know have used heater guards that are sold for protecting things from the heater. I've never seen these for sale, but the other ideas are excellent. Pantyhose!

thanks everyone! yeah, the filter media is all ready pretty brown and dirty and i only put it on there last night after a very thorough water change. it almost looks like it is actually blocking everything from getting into the filter. so i think i will definitly change this to the nylons idea... thanks so much! hopefully my new snail (when i get him) won't get caught up in it like my last ones... the other ones were fairly small, about the size of a quarter... the new one i ordered should be about the size of an apple. i wonder if the bigger they are the more they can resist the suction from the filter? hmmm... interesting!

thanks again for all your help!!!

I've used that sponge theory.Thing is,that if you have a normal amount of snails it may work well.I have a ton of snails in multiple tanks,and that sponge filter seems like it clogged the intake tube almost immediately. I also have to clean out my filter's quite often for the same reason(and because it looks as if someone blew their nose in the filter box) We're talking greenish/thickish slime!!! And lots of it!

oh wow!!!!! that does sound kinda gross... i am planning on adding him to my goldfish tank... he will be my only snail (intentional atleast!)... and i am parting ways with my recently vicious pleco... thanks for all your help!!!