Fish Snails Rapidly Multiplying

Question
Chris,  I saw your response in 2004 re: snail problem.  I have a 100G tank with Oscars.  Had an over-feeding problem; didn't take proper care of the water and suddenly found 100's of little tiny snails (no idea where they came from because nothing but water and dried Krill & food pellets have been added to tank (no plants or stuff from pet store).   

QUESTION:  Now that I have all these snail; I've changed water, cleaned gravel and am going light on food...  How can I get rid of them.  Will they die out?  

Answer
Hi Michael;

They should slowly die out and the oscars will feed on them if they are hungry. That's the trouble with overfeeding. It creates excess waste and keeps the fish from doing what comes natural....hunting for food already in their environment. Oscars will sort through the gravel as they move it around and will eat many of them once they realize they are good eatin'!

You can try hanging a lettuce leaf in the tank at night while the oscars are sleeping. Remove it before the lights come on and shake the snails off into the trash. They can't move outside the water. They will just dry up and die. Do that every day for a few days and the population will decrease.

There are products on the market you can use to kill them, but they can be very dangerous in a serious snail infestation like yours. What's worse than a tankful of snails? A tankful of DEAD snails! Those things will rot once they are killed and pollute the tank something awful. You are better off just letting them die off from starvation or be eaten.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins