Snails in my aquarium, how do I get rid of them?

The provenance of snails that appear in an aquarium

Snails are generally insufferable inhabitants who are displeased by their presence in an aquarium. Upon seeing a colony of snails in their aquariums, many aquarists tend to wonder about their origins. Whether it is snails or their eggs, they integrate an aquarium through the introduction of new elements into an aquarium.

These new elements bring together living plants, decorative objects, gravel, nets used to transfer fish from one aquarium to another... Clearly, snail larvae cling to these elements and end up breed in an aquarium.

Apart from the fact of thoroughly treating all of these elements with an anti-snail product before their introduction, it is almost impossible to prevent the introduction of a few larvae which will multiply as adults. Snail invasions are therefore very common in the aquarium industry.

Indeed, snail larvae are almost undetectable and a single snail is more than enough to create several. Snails reproduce very quickly and are therefore able to invade an aquarium very quickly. You will then need time and effort to get rid of it.

Is the presence of snails in an aquarium good or bad?

It is legitimate for an aquarist to wonder if the appearance of snails will be dangerous or not for the balance of his aquarium. To a lesser extent, these molluscs can contribute to the proper functioning of an aquarium.

Snails have the reputation of being very effective against waste because they make their food from it. Within your aquarium, they will thus limit pollution by eating excess food, algae, waste, dead plants, dead fish... Also, the presence of snails is an excellent indicator of the state of a aquarium. Clearly, their rapid reproduction reflects the presence of a large quantity of organic waste which comes from the fact that the fish are overfed.

You must then act before this pollution impacts your fish. Similarly, snails may suddenly begin dying in large numbers or moving to the surface. In this case, you must understand that there is pollution, poor oxygenation, a great imbalance, unsuitable parameters... in your aquarium. You must then act quickly before your fish suffer from these same problems.

Top tips for ridding your aquarium of snails

Cohabiting a small number of snails with fish can be very useful. However, it is largely clear that it is preferable for an aquarist to have an aquarium without snails, because watch out for their invasion. Here are the solutions we offer to rid your aquarium of snails.

It is still recommended to test the water in your aquarium before trying to eradicate snails. For good reason, the presence of snails necessarily has an origin. This test will allow you to determine if the water has any problems.

Avoid overeating

Overfeeding fish can skyrocket the number of snails in your aquarium. You must then ensure that you feed your fish moderately.

In other words, just feed your fish the right amount of food every time. You will thus evaluate after a few days if this technique manages to solve the problem of overpopulation of snails within your aquarium.

Introducing snail-eating predators to your aquarium

This method is clearly the easiest if you want to rid your aquarium of snails. You can then simply introduce snail-eating fish into your aquarium.

These fish will notably aim to eat snails. The most recommended species of fish for this mission are: striata, lohachata, horae, botia clown... Also, to eliminate snails you can introduce a snail-eating snail such as the anentome helena into your aquarium. This snail-eating snail usually proves to be very useful.

However, you must be careful in selecting species of fish that are marketed as snail eaters. For good reason, snail-eating fish such as gouramis or puffer fish are aggressive and will therefore end up attacking the fauna of your aquarium.

Manually removing snails from your aquarium

You have the option of manually removing the snails from your aquarium or crushing them. The majority of fish in your aquarium will feed on the remains of these snails. However, this method takes time to be effective and it will be impossible for you to eliminate all the snails by applying it.

For good reason, if the snail invasion is large you will have a tedious job to do. Also, this method will not allow you to eliminate the larvae and the snails will continue to develop.

Use chemicals to kill snails

Copper sulfate remains the fish-safe chemical that is commonly used to exterminate snails. However, you should be aware that the use of chemicals to remove snails from an aquarium is strongly discouraged. You must therefore be sure that the chemicals will not be toxic to fish before using them.

In addition, the use of chemicals will cause sudden death of any snails that you will be forced to remove from your aquarium. The corpses of dead snails can thus pollute the water of your aquarium while raising the concentrations of nitrite in the water. On the other hand, chemicals can effectively kill the larvae.

Thoroughly clean your aquarium

In general, this method applies in very last position. Also, aquarists do not appreciate it too much. This method consists of storing the fish in another aquarium in order to completely clean the aquarium soiled by snails.

You must then clean without exception all the elements of the aquarium soiled by snails as well as the aquarium itself. For good reason, snail eggs can be found anywhere. You will then have to dry all the cleaned elements and carry out a rearrangement of your aquarium.

Place snail traps in your aquarium

Among all the methods intended to eradicate the presence of snails from an aquarium, this last one is the one that combines simplicity and efficiency. One such trick is to place lettuce leaves under an upturned plate when you go to turn off your aquarium light. The snails will migrate to the plate overnight.

The next morning, all you have to do is remove the plate with the clinging snails. By doing so for a few nights in a row, you are sure to rid your aquarium of a very large number of snails. However, you will find the best snail traps for aquariums on the internet or in pet stores. JBL LimCollect is one of those snail traps for aquariums that we recommend on foudebassin. JBL LimCollect is a trap with multiple assets that will allow you to capture unwanted invaders such as snails, shrimps and crustaceans that invite themselves into your aquarium.

The JBL LimCollect snail trap is chemical-free, harmless and easy to use. This trap is designed to maintain excellent water flow in all situations. You are therefore guaranteed that a fish caught accidentally will never lack oxygen. JBL LimCollect is simply the right tool for you if you want to safely and effectively remove snails from your aquarium.