I have a snail problem in my aquarium.?

Question

I have a 60 gallon aquarium in California. Recent laws have changed making the purchase of aquarium snail-a-cide unlawful in my state.
I have two medium-sized fish a Severum and a Plecosthomus and a bunch of feeders that survived the feedings plus a lot of driftwood (one place the snails like to harbor).
I find the snails in the gravel at near dark and after dark they are everywhere.

I was told to bait them onto an area which I could easily maintain--this idea sounds great but will only work on a percentage of the snail population and is labor intensive.

Answer 1

Any member of the Loach family will do the job just right for you. In your size tank, I recommend a nice group of Clown Loaches-which are orange/black striped, about 5 or more. This is a schooling fish and will be unhappy in a group of 1-3 fish. If these are too expensive then try a Weather Loach. They get nice sized and will also get along with the Severum. Clown Loaches get along with a variety of fish also. There are several others like the Botia Lahachata and the Botia Striata which I would also recommend for the type of fish you have. Good Luck with your tank.

Answer 2

There are two easy ways to get rid of snails.

The easiest is to get some fish that eat them such as kuhli and clown loaches. They'll have a feast on the snails in your tank.

The second is to bait them onto a plate, or into a jar. A jar is probably best with the fish in your tank.

Take a small jar and place a small piece of ham inside the jar. Now submerge the jar into the tank and place the opening so that no fish can get inside, but snails could. This is easily done by placing the opening about 1/2 inch from the side of the tank.

Let this sit overnight and first thing in the morning check the tank. You should find a ton of snails in the jar. Simply remove the jar and the snails and dispose of them.

Answer 3

Years ago we would put pennies in the tank,then observe carefully until the snail population was sufficiently decreased,then quickly remove the pennies,and do a few partial water changes. The water changes were to avoid an ammonia spike caused by the dead snails decomposing,also to remove the copper that remained in the water,because the copper will also harm the nitrifying bacteria so important to the Nitrogen cycle. If the tank has so many snails that a massive die-off would pollute it badly,maybe the bait idea would be a good starting place followed by a couple of pennies as a control measure. Hope this helps. Good luck,PeeTee

Answer 4

Depending on what type of snails they are luring them into an area will not help because some snails lay eggs on plants which look like a clear jelly type substance and will not help what so ever. Most petstores carry a liquid solution you put in the tank water which kills off the snails and not the fish. I'm not sure of the name of this product but I know pet supplies plus and petsmart sells it, and its not too expensive and is effortless. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

I would say the easiest way is to lower the amount of food you feed the tank. Generally speaking snails only survive on the excess food from feedings. If there isn't excess food then they will naturally die off to a lower population. And as said above copper which is in several fish medications but may harm the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate balance.

Answer 6

You could use Clown Loaches...they love eating snails...but I don't know how they would fit into your tank..you can get larger ones..they grow to about 20 inches (I think) in the wild...they are great fish though..lots of personality. I have about 4 1" ones in my tank and they take care of the snails..but my tank is a little smaller than yours and has very nonaggresive fish.

Answer 7

I found that I actually liked them in my 55 gallon tank, the fish love to eat them when crushed, and there population has an obvious cycle, but never would cause a problem in the tank, people often thought i put them in on purpose, they make the tank look more natural

Answer 8

I have a 29 gal tank, and also became overrun with snails. I went to a pet store and asked them what they suggested & they told me to get two of these little ugly fish that eat snails. I can't remember what they're called, but it worked. They're about 1" long, almost look like little plecos, and always hide. Haven't had snails for almost a year. They'll eat flake fish food too. Try petsmart or petco, maybe they'll know the fish I'm refering to. Good luck.

Answer 9

Put a piece of blanched lettuce in your tank and let it sit overnight. By morning it will be covered in shrimp, so simply remove it and throw it away. Repeat until all snail are removed.

Snails killing chemicals are bad for fish anyway. I wish they would ban them here...

Answer 10

Is this an out door aquatic area or an enclosed "aquarium"?
To gather snails away from my garden areas I place beer in a shallow dish or Frisbee ... it attracts and drowns the snails.