How do you get rid of snails in your fish tank/do they kill your fish?

Answer 1

No snails do not kill your fish... Snails in Moderation are actually good for a tank. I have never had snails over populate a tank. But if you wanna get rid of them here are some ways.

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

Snails won't kill your fish, but at really high numbers will put a significant strain on the bioload of the tank and that will stress the fish. A good way to thin them out is to place a peice of lettuce in a plastic container with a small handful of gravel from the tank. Poke holes in the container that are large enough for the snails to get in, but too small for the fish. Place this in the tank over night and remove it and a bunch of snails that crawled into it in the morning. Doing this several nights in a row will very much thin the snail population. A good fish to keep them under control is a clown loach, they love to eat snails.

MM

Answer 3

Magicman's right, just float a piece of lettuce in the tank. Snails love it, just repeat that till no more show up on the lettuce, can take awhile. Don't buy a clown loach unless you have a large enough tank, they eventually can grow to a foot long(they do grow slow), and prefer to be in groups of at least 3.

Answer 4

I found this out from a local vet---- get a fish called a loach. They eat the baby snails.

Answer 5

If they are the small conical shaped ones, you can get a clown loach... assuming it's compatible with your tank and fish.... it'll eat them.

Answer 6

I always thought it a plus to have them. They eat algae and keep the glass clean.

Answer 7

Clown loaches are great atit!!!!! theyll get rid of them fast or even kuli loaches