# How to Get Rid Of Unwanted Snails?



## elliott03 (Jul 22, 2009)

I have totally cleaned out my fishtank and cleaned the rocks as well as I could but when I put water back in the tank... I started spotting snails again. I pick out any of them that I see but every day I see more. How else can I get rid of them? Currently I have no fish in the tank... Thanks


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## catfishtabbi (Nov 10, 2008)

I suggest that your first fish be a clown loach. One loach can rid your tank of all snails in a week or two.I had to add one to my tank as well and once his instincts kicked in he ate about a hundred or more snails, so many in fact that i had to riverwash my substrate to remove the unsightly shells.


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## elliott03 (Jul 22, 2009)

That would work but the problem is that a loach really would not work with the set up that I want... and I DEFINETELY don't want to just buy and loach then let it die once it's cleaned out the tank. Any other ideas?


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

You could always use a piece of lettuce in a seaweed clip or weight down the lettuce with a rock or something of that nature. Put it in at night and the next morning you should find a fair amount of snails on it, then just remove the lettuce leaf, snails & all. I agree that getting a loach for snail extermination is not the best reason to keep one. Loaches prefer to be in groups anyway.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

If I were you, let the snails breed. Squish them when you get your fish and feed them the crushed snails. Extra protein is always welcomed.


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## elliott03 (Jul 22, 2009)

Ooh and love both ideas! I'll use the lettuce idea for a week or so, keep the snails, then feed them to my fish when I get them =) Thanks for the help guys!


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## eileen (Feb 24, 2009)

My sister had a bad snail problem. She cleaned out the whole tank and boiled all the decorations and stuff including the filter box. You could save your water in a bucket if the water was already cycled to put back in the tank. I got hitch hiker snails on plants that I got at a fish auction. I pick them out when I see them. The egg sacks are on the glass or plants you need to remove them. The snail numbers stay small if you do not overfeed your fish. When you get fish feed once a day and skip a day. Over population of snails are always a overfeeding issue if you do not overfeed the numbers will stay at a managable number.


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## Vinswald (Aug 5, 2009)

I actually used to have that problem with a tank several years ago. I got a clown loach and he got rid of all the snails within a week. After that, I made sure he had algae wafers and he also ate the bloodworms that I fed the rest of the fish. He was fine as a loner and lived for many years. He was actually one of my favorite fish that I've ever had :-D


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## Herky (Apr 23, 2009)

My suggestion:

Escargot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and 

Easy Garlic Escargots - All Recipes


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

LOL at herky. Ive heard that apple snails actually can be served as escargot.. but for pond snails or any other pest snails u will need a super small fork to get them out. A drastic solution is to dose copper.. that will wipe em out. But the water change schedule for getting the copper back out will be a pain in the ....


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## MXS (Jul 13, 2009)

Get a freshwater puffer to eat them 

This is what I do; put a slice of cucumber in the tank, wait some time (overnight), the snails will be all over it, then throw it out.


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## Krinedawg (Aug 5, 2009)

Check out Assassin Snails. (Anentome helena)

They eat other snails, will not eat themselves, and reproduce very very slowly.


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## aquakid (Jun 22, 2008)

had a snail


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