I actually like my pest snails

Question
Hello,

I've recently inherited a five gallon aquarium with several small "pest" snails. I'm keeping the aquarium solely for them, so no fish need be taken into account. I need to know if their population will balance out. I know they are prolific breeders, but will the poplulation stabalize once its at the food capacity, or will the biological load overwhelm my aquarium and require daily cleaning, or the disposal of some of them (something I really hope to avoid)?

I also need to know how I can clean their tank. It has come to me really filthy (algae an inch thick in the bottom rocks, the decorations look furry)I think I need to take them out to scrub it properly but finding them and dislodging them is proving difficult. They are the size of an eraser and very delicate. Also, if you know any sites dedicated to tank setup or pest snail care I would greatly appreciate it.  Everything I've found so far is about eradication and removal, very unhelpful. Any assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Answer
Hi Brittany:  I have a snail tank too... which I enjoy.  Snails will self-regulate their populations based on food supply.  Clean the tank with a gravel vacuum... most snails will float around the chamber but will most likely not get sucked up the tube.  In case they should... siphon into a bucket and let it sit before you empty it... they will sink to the bottom and you can gather them up and put them back in... or you can use a piece of an old pair of nylons and a rubber band  and make a cover for the gravel vacuum chamber...

you can leave the algae alone too.. and just change water about 20% weekly.  The snails will clean up a lot of the waste so as long as the chemical values of the tank stay somewhat normally you are ok and so are the snails.  hope this helps... dave