How to get rid of snails in an aquarium?

Snails are rightfully considered as aquarium orderlies. After all, they eat almost all the remains of food, clearing the space. But at the same time, they can completely destroy the algae and do many more irreparable things. It is because of this that many want to get rid of these mollusks, but to do this is not so easy as it seems at first glance. In some cases, an integrated approach will be required, which includes, among other things, mechanical cleaning.

The most common mollusks among snails are melania. It is impossible to give a definite answer to the question of whether they are useful or harmful. If we talk about the merits, then such snails are considered excellent cleaners of the bottom of the remnants of food, fish that decomposes, as well as dead eggs. Some experts even call them aquarium orderlies. But this is only when their number is not too large.

However, their population is almost impossible to control. These mollusks breed rapidly, especially in a substrate in which sand predominates. When there are too many of them, the newly made snail colony quickly deals with plants in the aquarium.

There are several ways that help get rid of these “harmful-harmful” mollusks. And to do this is quite real without harm to the fish. There are many gentle ways to fight with them, which are always aimed at a natural reduction in their population. However, if they do not help, then you can apply more radical and laborious methods to destroy snails.

If there are very few small mollusks in the aquarium, then simply remove them with your hands. But to catch them is completely impossible: after all, they are very small, at least a few pieces will still remain. Moreover, such a collection takes too much time. However, with a little patience, you can still significantly reduce their number.

In some cases, use bait. You can make them with your own hands using completely unnecessary things in the household. For example, almost every house has an ordinary plastic bottle. To make a trap out of it, you need to put food on its bottom that can very quickly attract these mollusks.

Products such as cucumbers, apples or lettuce, or any other products used to feed the aquarium inhabitants are great. After this, the bottle must be placed in water and wait for the snails to completely fill it. If the mollusks still remain in the aquarium, then you will need to put another bottle. This tool is not used too often, since the collection takes too much time. However, after this, the number of snails is significantly reduced.

Besides, to collect snails, you can use ordinary cabbage leaf scalded with boiling water. It must be put at the bottom of the aquarium at night, by the morning a large number of shellfish should be collected on it. It will be enough to pull it out.

To date In stores, a large number of traps are sold, which can be either placed on a substrate or attached to the walls of an aquarium. To some extent, they are considered much more effective than homemade baits, because snails will not be able to get out of them on their own.

There are other ways to deal with snails, for example, electrolysis can be used against them. For this you need only copper wire and battery. It is enough to connect them together, and just clean the other ends. After this, the battery must be immersed in water and put in current. During this procedure, not only snails, but also fish or plants can die. Therefore, during this procedure it is best to relocate other inhabitants to a separate container. After that, current can be applied. Then necessary collect all the remains so that they do not decompose after this procedure.

You can also remove mollusks with special preparations. But at the same time, it is imperative to take those that do not harm the fish living with them under the “same roof”. Basically, all such preparations contain copper, and it is very harmful to aquarium inhabitants.

At the time of such harmful procedures, it is best put the fish in a separate container. And after all the snails are destroyed, the aquarium must be doused with boiled water to remove all residues of chemical exposure. You can also use saline, which the mollusks simply do not digest. But at the same time, other plants that are in the aquarium can also die with mollusks.

The most humane and harmless way is considered the option using other marine inhabitants, only predatory. You can use some types of fish, for example, tetradons, gourami with a red rim on the tail, macropodes or bots will do just fine with this task. It is best that such fish be hungry, otherwise they simply will not be interested in snails. However, you still need to look at eating snails. After all, if the snails are not enough to eat, then it can reach the point that the fish will eat around the fins of those relatives who are smaller in size.

You can also use other predatory snails, such mollusks as helens are suitable. They are able to eat other types of mollusks. You can buy them at any specialized store. They look very beautiful in appearance and immediately attract the eye. Their body has a gray color, and the shell is amber-yellow with black and brown stripes. With their help, you can significantly reduce the number of snails or even completely exterminate them.

If there is a lot of food in the aquarium, then the snails will start to breed too quickly. After all, they do not need to completely care about finding food. Therefore, care must be taken that the feed does not remain in the aquarium. Reducing food will immediately stop the population, as well as the activity of snails. Of course, it will be difficult to completely remove them from the aquarium, but the number of individuals can still be controlled.

This option is a radical measure. For its implementation, it is required to resettle all the fish that live in the aquarium into another container. The entire substrate in the aquarium must be sieved and boiled carefully. This is necessary so that no food remains are left in it. After that, the bottom and walls in the aquarium must be cleaned of dirt and disinfected well. Next, completely replace all plants and algae. If there are intact, then they must be washed and treated with special preparations.

You can use the following solution: for one liter of water you will need 15 milligrams of manganese powder. First you need to mix it well, and then place the damaged plants in it for 10-15 minutes. After that, they should be washed well under clean running water. In addition, you can use another, no less useful option. In one liter of water you need to fill in 50 grams of salt and do the same manipulations with the plants.

However, it is not necessary to deal with aquarium snails, their numbers must simply be controlled. After all, it is much easier to prevent the appearance of mollusks than subsequently to wage a difficult fight with them. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures with both the substrate and only with purchased plants or algae. Here are some of them.

• Many people buy aquariums in which there are already fish and marine plants. On some of them, snails can lay eggs, and there may be too many of them. If the owner does not notice at least a small laying with eggs, then after 60-70 days a large number of small mollusks will appear in the aquarium. From the very first days, they will begin to eat around the leaves of plants. Therefore, you need to carefully examine them.
• All plants that are bought in stores must be treated with a solution of manganese, and inspected for eggs. If they are, then they must be destroyed and done manually.
• It is necessary to take care that the fish are fed correctly, that is, they should never be overfed.
• Every day it is necessary to monitor the state of water, especially you need to pay attention to its temperature. This is very important if chemicals were used.
• You can buy or make your own bait or trap for harmful mollusks.
• It is also important that there are always fish in the aquarium, which, in the case of a huge offspring of snails, could easily deal with them.
• Cleanliness in the aquarium is very important. It is necessary to monitor not only the soil, but also the decor that is in it.

To summarize, we can say that a small number of small mollusks such as aquarium snails is not at all harmful, but to some extent useful. But in the case when their number exceeds all permissible norms, they just need to fight.

See how to get rid of snails in an aquarium in the next video.