Aquarium question: Snail population explosion

Question
I have a 10 gallon tank I have had set up in my home for about three months. It contains one betta, two small chichlids, and a brownfish(?)(bottom feeder). Bought the setup and all but the betta from a friend who moved. It also contains a few varieties of aquatic plants which came with the setup, which may be the source of my problem.   As I set it up, I saw just a few snails, but the past two times I've cleaned it, the number of snails has skyrocketed. The pump and filter get covered with them, and I've removed what I can when I clean or change water, but they keep coming. is there any other way to rid the tank of these small snails? Then I'll get one of the larger types from the pet store that won't reproduce so quickly. Thanks for your time.
Mike

Answer
Hi Mike;

The best way to get rid of them is by getting fish that eat them. Clown Loaches are my personal choice. They actually crunch up the shells and eat the snail. Feed less food to the fish too. The fish you have should be eating the snails too. If fish are "generously fed" by their owners (that's you and me) they aren't motivated to find other sources of food. Searching and finding food is called "foraging" and is very healthy for fish to do.

Chemicals are a bad way to go in getting rid of snails. Not only can they stress the fish and remain in the water so you can't put other snails or invertabrates in there for months afterward, but killing the snails leaves all those dead bodies to pollute the tank. Yuck!

Followups welcome.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins