Aquatic snails can be a charming and interesting addition to any home aquarium. However, they do have a tendency to multiply at incredible rates. Left untreated, snails can cause a severe problem. They will damage plants, eat food destined for your fish, and become an all too visible intrusion to the beauty of your tank抯 more expensive inhabitants.
Snails are available to purchase from most pet shops, and there are a few common varieties. However, you may not have to buy one to end up with them in your tank. Live aquarium plants may be infested with either live snails or eggs, and they will hitchhike right into your tank. The eggs are especially difficult to spot, and so any new addition to your tank needs thorough cleansing. To avoid possible infestation, always completely wash plants you buy for the aquarium. Running water alone will not dislodge the eggs laid on a plant, so run a finger gently along each leaf and stem.
Our own tank ended up heavily occupied by snails when we added unwashed plants to our tank. At first only a few snails appeared, and we rather enjoyed the cute little invertebrates roaming at will. Within just a month the population exploded and we faced a major nuisance.
One of the biggest causes of an invertebrate population explosion is left-over food in the tank. Overfeeding your fish and not removing uneaten particles results in a smorgasbord for the smaller creatures. The first step is to reduce the amount of food the fish are being fed.
Obtaining a snail-eating fish is a common method of eradicating snails; however this is not always possible. The tank might already contain the maximum fish population, making this option unworkable. The breeds available may grow too big for your tank, or have aggressive personalities unsuitable to match with your passive breeds.
Another method to remove snails comes in the form of chemical products. Introducing any chemical into your tank requires caution. The product may be harmful to some types of fish, or decaying snails left in the tank can cause water quality problems. Always read labels carefully before applying any chemical to your tank. Consulting your fish salesperson is advisable.
There are other, less risky methods to manage an invertebrate population. They are time-consuming and fiddly, but they are also safe.
One treatment is to place a lettuce leaf, slice of cucumber or piece of fish food ?such as a spirulina tablet ?on the bottom of the tank overnight. The snails congregate on the food during the dark hours, and in the morning the cluster of feasting snails is removed along with the bait. A lettuce leaf needs weight on top to keep it down, and fish food placed where the fish can not eat it. My own trials with this produced the removal of some snails, but not enough to warrant the exercise of getting the food to stay on the pebble floor.
I found the easiest and most successful method for removal of the pests was to use a pair of aquarium tweezers to pick up snails from plants and scrape them from the glass. This is not quite as painstaking as it sounds. Placing the long flat edge of the tweezers against the glass and raising it carefully will remove dozens of snails in one go. Simply have a paper towel or newspaper available to flick the snails onto before dipping again. The long handles mean the intrusion upon the fish is minimal.
Along with this, removing all live plant material eliminates multitudes of snails. This also helps reduce their food source and areas where they can lay eggs undisturbed. Periodically removing and washing tank ornaments also helps to control the population.
Using natural methods of snail removal drastically reduces the size of the problem. The need for intensive removal with tweezers becomes unnecessary, and cleaning of the ornaments is all that is required for maintenance. For complete snail eradication, the entire tank would need cleaning and new pebbles provided.
