Ramshorn(?) Snail Infestation with my Cherries

[psitta]

26gal bow-front tank, 75F, water changes every other week, and the occasional weekly smaller changes to control algae and debris in the gravel, no feeding or fertilizing, ~35 shrimp mostly shrimplets, and two sulawesi giant golden rabbit snails.

 

I got a single snail hitchhiker when I got my first batch of plants and didn't clean them properly. I've grown attached to the little dude and his name is Fresh. Now, two months later, my glass is crawling with snails and other pests (copepods). Some of the tiny snails have spiral shells like Fresh, and others are conical. Is Fresh producing these babies in its own? If I get rid of him, will the babies stop appearing?

 

I have about 5 adult cherries at the moment, and 30+ babies all grazing like mad. I never feed or supplement the tank, I clean the glass every few days, vacuum the gravel during water changes, and only have the light on long enough for my plants to thrive. The water temp is 75F and the shrimp are spawning like mad. I thought by now they'd out-eat the snails.

 

My goal is to have fewer baby snails on my glass. Controlling copepods is a bonus, but I'm not really concerned with them.

 

The solutions that have been suggested to me thus far:

Get rid of Fresh, the adult snail.

Just keep squishing the babies I see on the glass.

Make a snail trap and clear out as many as possible that way.

Turn the lights on for fewer hours during the day.

Get assassin snails for a while.

Hope that eventually the shrimps will be numerous enough to out-munch the snails.

Turn on my UV Sterilizer to discourage more growth of munching material.

 

Please let me know what information to add here, and what your thoughts are. If it's futile-- so be it. :/

 

Thanks, y'all.

I'll probably look like an idiot within two replies.

[chappy6107]

Get rid of Fresh, the adult snail.

Make a snail trap and clear out as many as possible that way

Turn on my UV Sterilizer to discourage more growth of munching material.  the snails will only produce to #'s equivalent to the food available.