Snail Problem?

Question

My grandparents have a fish tank and it is packed with snails. They make the tank dirty and they're creepy. How can we get rid of them?

Answer 1

1) First you could buy a harsh chemical. I think there is a product called Snail-Rid that contains Copper Sulfate, a chemical that is notorious for being risky to use around fish. Aquari-Sol is sold in many stores that sell pet fish. It will kill snails, but it is harsh, risky for other fish, and may contain copper sulfate. I can't quite remember. But I would not use it, and I would not recommend it, and it is not natural.

(2) Another idea might be to use Aquarium Salt, NaCl, because salt will kill garden snails, and Aquarium Salt is very useful in aquariums and ponds. Click here to read more about Aquarium Salt. But small snails that infest aquariums can tolerate a high concentration of Aquarium Salt. So Aquarium Salt is not going to help you get rid of your snails.

(3) The next idea is to get a Puffer Fish. Puffers are natural, and they will quickly eat and eliminate all the small snails from an aquarium. A Puffer fish has a powerful mouth that looks like a beak, and a Puffer will use its mouth to crush snail shells and eat the snails.

But Puffers are rather exotic fish. They are wonderful and very interesting, but they need brackish water that contains aquarium salt, and Puffers need to eat live food, like snails. Unless Puffers are very well fed, they tend to nip on other fish. So most people find that Puffers are not a convenient solution to a snail problem like yours.

(4) The best way to get rid of snails is to get some Loaches. I like Clown Loaches very much. They are one of my favorite fish. But they do better in a school with six or more Clown Loaches, and so they usually need a large aquarium with at least 40 or 50 gallons of water.

If you have a large aquarium, I think you'll love a school of six or more Clown Loaches, and a school of Clown Loaches will quickly find and eat all the small snails.
Yoyo loach will also eat all the snails quickly. In fact I think a Yoyo Loach will probably eat all the snails more quickly than the Clown Loaches. But both types of Loaches will do a great job of eating all the snails right out of their shells. Then you'll need to net the shells and remove them from your aquarium.

A Yoyo Loach will not get as big as a Clown Loach, and Yoyo Loaches seem to be happy in a group with 3 or more Yoyo Loaches. A group of three will do fine in a smaller aquarium with only 20 to 30 gallons of water.

The only problem is that Yoyo Loaches are sometimes hard to find in local fish stores and pet stores. Their scientific name, as listed above on this page, is Botia lohachata, and you often see them sold as Lohachata Loaches. I hope this helps you get rid of your snail problem.

Answer 2

you need to remove the ones you can see. Go to the pet store and get some rid a snail, or if that's not available get some ick medicin this will also kill off snales.

Just remember to clean the tank thoroughly a few days after you have treated it to get rid of any dead or dying snails.

To prevent this in the future, avoid buying live plants, and in some cases fish that come out of tanks that have obvious snales. Because in the larval stage you will not be able to see the snails and you get stuck with them all over again.

Answer 3

Buy Dwarf Puffers. These puffer fish are easy to take care of and are freshwater specific. They don't get very big and all puffers LOVE to eat snails. Drop a couple of those in there and the snails will be gone in no time. They're also very, very intelligent fish and you could fall in love with them. I've seen them readily available at PetSmart.

Answer 4

Put an empty pop bottle inside the tank, with a piece of lettuce in the bottle. the snails will go in after the lettuce. just take out every morning and dump snails out of the bottle . keep doing this until they are gone

Answer 5

Put a slice of carrot or some other vegtable in the water. By the next day it should be filled with snails and just throw out the slice.

Answer 6

the snails are actually supposed to keep the tank clean i guess. if not, buy a janitor fish(?) or a fish that cleans the dirt up..... it is yes kind of creepy but don't let that stop you from being scared ok? :D

Answer 7

Bay a new won