Snail Problem!

Question
QUESTION: Hi Nathan,

I have a problem with snails in my 5 gallon tank. Currently, there are 3 fish in the tank, and all three are very healthy Zebra Danios that I have had in this tank for over 4 months now. The tank's water is fine (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 15 nitrate), but two months ago, I purchased a small Java Fern. It's doing great, but it came with some snails. The snails don't bother the plants or fish, but they've multiplied into the hundreds... in a 5 gallon tank! It's getting ridiculous, and becoming an eyesore. What can I do to get rid of them?

Thanks, Jane

ANSWER: Hi Jane,

You're absolutely right - snails, especially those little pond snails and trumpet snails - will reproduce like crazy! An abundance of snails can be caused by overfeeding. Snails will eat fish food, and an abundance of food means... more snails!

Here's some tips on how to control them.

-Feed fish only once per day, in the morning.
-Perform regular weekly water changes.

Get a small piece of lettuce, and just before you turn off the aquarium light at nighttime, drop in the lettuce. You can weigh it down with a rock. The next morning, you'll find that it's covered in snails! Simply remove and discard of the lettuce. Multiple pieces of lettuce can be used for larger snail infestations.

You can also net them out, one by one... but the lettuce is much easier.

Good Luck, and Happy Fishkeeping!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your response, but I was wondering about a product I found at my local fish store. It was called 'Had-a-Snail' or some other sort of name. Are these products effective? (Of course, I'll try the lettuce first - I already dropped a piece in after I turned off the light. Already there's one snail!)

Answer
Hi Jane,

It's nice to see that your lettuce is working!

Anyways, I NEVER use nor recommend chemicals, such as 'Had-A-Snail' to kill snails. These chemicals are based on copper, which is a snail killer. The downside of these chemicals are:

A) You'll have lots of dead snail bodies which you'll need to pick up.
B) Copper can damage live plants.
C) Copper can harm some species of fish.
D) It can harm desirable snails, like Apple Snails.
E) It can harm the beneficial bacteria in the filter!
(Which is the worst thing that could possibly happen!)

Well, the short answer to the question, "Are they effective?" is YES, they are, but NO, they are not good.

Good Luck, and Happy Fishkeeping!