How do i eliminate snails from my tropical fish tank?

Question

i have had the tank for six months and have three angel fish, six tetra's and an algae eater. i used to have live plants but got rid of them a few months ago. i have tried a complete washout of the tank but the snails keep coming back and seem to muliply overnight! can anyone help me with my epidemic

Answer 1

Snails are a pain in the *ss! My solution is to place a saucer upside down in the gravel and put two or three food pellets on the bottom when you turn out the lights. In the morning, you can lift out the saucer with a bunch of snails on it. Repeat every night until you get them down to a manageable level.

Snails breed to take advantage of the food supply that is available. You may be feeding too much. Cut down on your feeding and that will help too. Only feed once a day and skip one day a week. That is what I do and my fish are healthy and happy. They all come to greet me when I feed them. A hungry fish is a happy fish. I have fish that have been with me for at least 5 years with no ill effects using this feeding schedule.

Answer 2

I get this probelm too, I have four Clown Loaches to help abate the problem, however they aren't interested, I tried Snail Away treatment once but it killed several of my fish even though it shouldn't really, so be careful. The best thing is to try and clean the tank out by hand, but this may be a losing battle if the snails are reproducing by the minute. The larve is usually transported on new plants or new fish, so make sure all new plants are washed throughly before you put them in your tank. They shouldn't harm your fish, mine spit them out in disgust but I agree that they do look rather unsightly.

Answer 3

I used to have this problem too. The best way that I found to get rid of them was to float a piece of lettuce (make sure that its washed really well before putting it into your tank) in the tank, overnight.
The snails will love it! In the morning, it should be covered with the little buggers. Take it out and dispose of it however you see fit. This may take a couple of attempts, but once the snails begin to be removed, they aren't reproducing in the tank.

You fish will enjoy the lettuce too.

Answer 4

You can buy some fish that eat snails like a Loach. Just pop along to your fish shop and ask what is the best snail eater. I had a clown loach it done a good job. They cost around £5.

Answer 5

snails are not harmful but if your over run it gets unsightly. several good answers already. clown loaches, cleaning by hand, and copper can all be effective. also a crayfish or fiddler crab will continually pick through your rocks and weed some out. actually fiddler crabs might not be the best solution as they arent really fitted to freshwater and will eventually die. another possible solution (i have heard of) smash one against the glass and see if your current fish will eat it. once they learn snails can be a meal they may start eating them also. hope some of this helps. oh p.s. live plants is where you got your snails. : )

Answer 6

If you want to get rid of snails in your fish tank go to your local fish store, ask for a bottle of copper. a small one shouldn't be more then 6 dollars. follow the directions and it will kill then snails in the tank.( As well as parasites or any other invetabrates that happen to be in the tank). i have done this a few times on my tanks and it works great. also it will not harm fish as long as you follow the instutions on the bottle.

Answer 7

Unfortunatly, once they are in, its hard to get rid of them..

Do what i do, everytime i see one i fish it out and squash it.

Snail away does work, but if you have eggs aswell you have to keep dosing untill all the snails are gone, this could take weeks..
I dont like putting anything in my tank like that if i can help it.
I got some loach, which seem to be helping at the mo.

Good Luck!

Answer 8

We had the same problem ,emptied the tank completely ,washed everything got rid of the plants and started again ,the one thing we didn`t do was buy new sponge filters ,and that is where they were,
If you can`t get rid of them you can buy a snail repellent from your aquarium dealer ,good luck ,they drive you crazy don`t they ?

Answer 9

Buy a clown loach (or two), they will happily dine on any that they can find, eat fish food when they can't and can be returned to the pet store when they get too large (which takes forever in a small tank.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=873
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Answer 10

snails are supposed to be good for your tank but i suppose if you have to many you can donate to someone else or to a local pet shop , you may have washed the tank but they can breed in the smallest of parts , i would seek help from local pet shops or tropical fish shops