From Shirlie Sharpe,
Your Guide to Freshwater Aquariums.
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Several readers wrote in to share their experiences and advice for Sheila's snail problem. Great ideas, Beth and Ayan. Thanks for sharing!

From Beth:
Regarding Sheila's new problem, I had the same trouble and have resolved it, for the most part. Here's how: I use a food to lure them into a trap.

The secret is to use a container that holds them in with the food. I use new, glass salt and pepper shakers, which I got at my local dollar store. They work well to keep the buggers in place so you can remove them.

The other secret to my success, I believe, is that I reduced the amount I was feeding my fish. I read somewhere that excess food encourages the snails to multiple and that seems to be quite true, in my experience. I hope this helps!

From Ayan:
I read about your snail problem and would like to add a fish to the list of "snail-busters": Skunk Botias!! They are relatively inexpensive, $0.99 to $1.99 depending on where you go and eat them like there is no tomorrow. They are also fun to watch minus the snails.

Also, since it will start to get cold soon in some ponds across the country, I thought it would be nice if you could add a reminder to your site to tell people to bring their pond plecostomus indoors! I have had so many heartbroken customers who thought they could tough it out only to find them gone in the spring.

Those who want year round algae eaters could get a new fish I found out about--an algae eater called "Garra pingi pingi". Unlike plecostomus which are doomed to die or become ill if their owners don't remove them before the cold comes, they can survive the winter and are active and fun to watch.

... stay tuned, our series continues when Sheila gets a clown loach.

My thanks to Sheila for sharing her journal and to for sending plants and providing Sheila with expert advice.