How can I remove snails?

[mack606]

Hi,
I bought a plant from a store and it must of had some snail eggs or something on it because my tank has tons of snails now. I tried putting in a piece of lettuce but they didnt seem to care for it. I even dropped a snail on it and it just crawled off. I was wondering if there is another vegtable that they might like more that is safe to put in a tank. Oh ya, I think they are some kind of apple snail.

[OrionGirl]

How long did you leave the lettuce in there? It usually is more attractive to snails if you blanche the lettuce first to soften it, and leave it in overnight, removing it before the lights come on the next morning.

If the snails are reproducing rapidly, you might want to review your feeding and cleaning routine. Snails will only get out of control when there is a lot of food available for them to eat, so a booming population indicates a surplus of food. IME, uneaten food is more useful to snails than is lots of algae.

Depending on what is in your tank, there are some fish that wil lconsume snails--but they might not be desirable or compatible with your current stock. I'd work on removing the extra food first.

[tomm10]

The best method I've heard of was to put an algae wafer in a small container with a lid. Cut a small hole in the lid, fill it with water and sink to the bottom before lights out. The snails will crawl inside for the wafer and in the morning you can remove the container, pitch the snails, reload and do it all over again.

Haven't tried that myself but I have tried cucumbers. Its a bit awkward to collect the critters but they definitely go for it.

Whatever you do, reduce your feedings to the rest of the tank now, while you can. The snails will breed like mad as long as there is food. I swear I really don't feed my fish a ton but the snails prove otherwise. Nip the problem in the bud because they can BREED.

Are they little roundish, brown snails? If so probably pond snails. There the most common and the most prolific breeders.

Tom

[koobz]

Guys I know stick a piece of zucchini in a hard piece of tubing and that worked well for them.

THe answer to my past snail problems? 1 yo-yo loach.

[somefinnfishy]

population will grow to the supply of the food avaliable.
I just place a wafer in the tank and scoop them and a litle surounding gravel rite out of the tank getting them dosens at a time.
My favorite is catch the fish get them out of the tank.
Go buy any puffer better than quarter sized and watch the carnage begin 24-48 hrs to clear out even the nasyest infestations.With MTS out breaks it will take stiring the gravel daily so it can make them all SUFFER AND DIE
next step donate fattened puffer back to the LFS

[daveedka]

What type of fish do you have, I have been working on getting snails to breed during my fishless cycle (yes I really did set things up to create a population explosion), and thought Things were going well I would have guessed about 1000 small snails in a 115g. I got my baby firemouth and Jack Dempsey on Saturday, and by sunday it took me 35 minutes to find 6 snails to give to my brother for his tank, snails are really scarce in my tank after only 2 days. The firemouth got so fat I was starting to think I would need to remove him. there are still snails in the tank, but nothing small enough to fit into the mouth of a 3/4" firemouth, or Jack Dempsey In the old days I used algea wafers in a shot glass and it worked well for me. just bag them freeze them and plant them in the garden.

[DHR]

Clown loaches and bettas are also fond of snails.

[RioXingu]

Float a small piece of cardboard in your tank overnight. The snails are mysteriously attracted to it. In the morning remove the cardboard and the attached snails.
It's easy and it works!

Bill in WI

[Anne L.]

I've been having this problem and this is what has worked best for me.

Get an empty film container (I used a whitish/clear one) and cut some holes in the lid and bottom of it. Put an algae wafer and a rock or aquarium gravel in it and sink it to the bottom on its side. The next day you will have lots of snails inside it.

Make sure you take it out and replace the algae wafer every day though, or the snails can find their way out eventually. Idump the snails out, rinse with water, put the rock and a new algae wafer back in, and into the tank with it.

The one I took out yesterday probably had about 40 tiny snails in it. I only see 1 or 2 more in my tank now.

If you have a bigger tank, put a couple of the containers in.

I tried the lettuce and shotglass trick, but they didn't work all that well for me. This has been the better solution.

[Ken]

When I get an occasional outbreak, I just pick them out by hand as soon as I turn on the lights in the morning.

It can take a few days, but eventually I get the tank snail-free.

[stunt 101]

squish them against the glass for extra fish food.

just my 2 cents