SNAILS are multiplying! HELP!

Question
I have a 10 gal. & got a few live plants. I noticed 1 or 2 snails, about a month ago. Now there are hundreds, laying eggs everywhere. (I can barely see the gravel,there is a "bed" of baby snails covering it). I got "Had-A-Snail" drops, followed directions (1 drop/gal for 2 days) & even repeted it again. It is not killing them. Is there a better way to get rid of ALL snails. I will NEVER get live plants again!
Thank you

Answer
Hi Anjilene;

I have snails in my tanks too, but they don't overmultiply unless I am overfeeding. I let the fish be hungry for a few days if the snails seem to be thriving a bit too well and the fish begin to eat them. Your snails are basically doing what comes naturally.....scavenging on the generous leftovers! It doesn't have to be uneaten food laying around either. If the fish overeat, the snails feed on their excess waste because they can't fully digest all of it.

Another option is to keep fish that like to eat snails as part of their regular diet. Many types of loaches will do this. Clown loaches seem to be the best at it, but they need a tank of 55 gallons or so. They get pretty large. Be careful with other loaches too. They can be aggressive. It really depends on what kind of fish you have and the size tank.

Using chemicals is not a good idea for several reasons. Even though the product label says it is safe for the fish, it is still a controlled amount of poison added to your tank. What could it be doing to the fish? Also, if the chemical does kill the fish, you have dozens of little dead bodies in there polluting the tank. This could also harm your fish and could cause death. Most of the chemicals don't work anyway, as you have discovered.

Let me know what kind of fish you have and the size tank. Maybe there is a fish you could put in there that would help eat them more readily.

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!