How to get rid of snails in an aquarium: effective ways

Any aquarist knows that with improper care for the fish in the aquarium, small snails begin to multiply rapidly. In general, they are not harmful, and even vice versa, perform many useful functions. But the number of snails is growing very quickly, so you have to get rid of them.

What you need to know about snails

Even the most attentive lover of aquarium fish has snails. Most often it is:

1. Ampularia. These snails are bred specifically. These mollusks were brought from South America. They are large enough, and can easily breathe atmospheric air. They lay their eggs on the walls of the aquarium. Almost omnivorous and can eat meat.
2. Melania. The homeland of this snail is Asia. Shellfish look quite attractive, especially with its gray-green shell. Most often, melania lives at the bottom of the aquarium, where it breaks the soil. If the snail rises closer to the surface, it means that the aquarium’s bio-balance is disturbed.
3. Coil. This is the most common type of snail that arbitrarily populates aquariums. They are found in all reservoirs, so they can get into the aquarium with algae. Coil snails can live in almost any environment, as they are not affected by water pollution. They breathe under water and air. They can also move on any surface.
4. Prudovik. An omnivorous snail, which with a shortage of food can easily eat plants. Can breathe and atmospheric air.

The benefits of snails are as follows - they destroy the remains of the feed and mix the soil, preventing it from rotting. Snails are also able to carry diseases by infecting fish, and this is important to consider when creating a normal balance in the aquarium. Some owners of aquariums have specially designed snails. But since most of these mollusks are hermaphrodites, it will not work for a long time to control their number.

In addition, if snails breed too fast, this often indicates contamination of the aquarium. Many people think that snails can easily kill a small fish. But it is not so. Rather, they are able to eat a fish, which as a result of the disease weakened and fell to the bottom of the aquarium. But not a single snail is capable of catching and killing it on its own.

The same myth holds that small snails can destroy plants in an aquarium. But the surface of the algae is too hard, so snails cannot damage them. Another thing is that snails feed on old leaves, cleaning the aquarium. And at first glance it seems that they are destroying them.

Where do they come from

Most often, snails accidentally enter the aquarium with various plants or during a fish transplant. Therefore, all new plants must be carefully checked for deferred eggs or already mature individuals. For prevention, you can rinse them with a special solution.

Snail control methods

Before you start the fight with snails, you need to clean the aquarium. First of all, sift and boil the soil to destroy the remains of the feed. It is also important to review the amount of food for the fish, perhaps they do not eat all the food. Fishes at this time, like plants, must be removed. In general, algae during radical cleaning will need to be destroyed. But you can disinfect, like the aquarium.

For disinfection of plants, folk remedies can be used, for example:

1. Make a solution of ordinary potassium permanganate. Per liter of water you will need 10 mg of powder. In this solution, the plants are soaked for 15-20 minutes, then washed well.
2. For the second solution you will need salt. It is made in the same way as the previous one. Plants must be left in it briefly.Soil should also be soaked in salt water for planting. Salt effectively destroys snails and other small pests. Before planting in the aquarium, algae and soil should be well washed under running water.

You can destroy snails in another way. The easiest way to kill mollusks is through chemical exposure. But this is not entirely safe for the microclimate of the aquarium. The preparations have a lot of shortcomings - they do not destroy the caviar of snails and are very toxic for many species of fish. Therefore, deciding to use them, the fish must be relocated. Such funds can be easily purchased at a specialized store. Most often used:

1. Sera Snailpur. This product must be added to water. After a few hours, approximately 30–40 percent of the fluid in the aquarium needs to be replaced. In the case when the fish begin to behave unusually, for example, swallow air, then you should urgently change all the water. The procedure can be repeated after a few weeks to destroy the young, as the drug does not act on caviar.
2. Limnacid. The drug destroys not only mollusks, but also other types of pests. It must also be added to the aquarium strictly according to the instructions. The fact is that the remedy is very strong and an overdose should not be allowed. To destroy the snails, it is enough to dilute the drug in the ratio of 1 drop per 1 liter of water.
3. Sera Snail-Ex. This drug also does not destroy caviar, so the procedure after the first use must be repeated. The break between the destruction of snails should not be less than a week. Using the tool, you must turn off the filters and not feed the fish. Sera Snail-Ex is toxic to certain fish species, such as catfish and barbs. It is better to remove them from the aquarium before the procedure.
4. Dajana Molucid. An excellent tool for the destruction of mollusks. When using, follow the instructions. If there are too many snails, it is better to remove the fish from the aquarium before the procedure. You can return them when the dead snails are removed, and all indicators of the aquarium are normal. The drug consumption is 5 ml per 50 liters of water.

A more humane and safer way to get rid of snails is through traps. Such a device can be bought, but you can do it yourself. To do this, scald the cabbage leaf with boiling water, put it on the bottom and cover with a small plate on top. The next day, the whole plate will be covered with clams. It remains only to pull it out and clean it of snails. The method can be used until the number of snails reaches the desired number.

You can do it in another way - take an ordinary plastic bottle and make holes in the bottom. The size of the holes should be such that the fish could not get inside. You can put vegetables scalded with boiling water in a bottle and leave them at the bottom of the aquarium. It is enough to leave the trap overnight so that in the morning the whole bottle is full of snails. If the aquarium is small and there are many snails, you can try to catch them manually. For example, melania often floats to the surface.

For those who prefer to deal with snails with special proven means, you need a Sera snail collect trap. It has the principle of an ordinary mousetrap and is absolutely safe for other aquarium inhabitants. Inside the trap is feed suspended on a metal axis.

The entrance is closed with a special barrier that opens only one way. When the snail, attracted by the smell of food, crawls into it, the barrier closes behind it. She will not be able to get back. In order to prevent fish from falling into the trap, a special net is placed at the entrance. Even if the fry swims inside, nothing threatens him.

You can use a regular battery to destroy snails. It should be 12 V. Also need 2 wires of copper. The wires on the one hand must be connected to the battery, and on the other hand, carefully peeled and lowered into the aquarium. Keep the device no more than 2-3 minutes.This method is imperfect, because some plants and fish die from the current. And dead mollusks will have to be caught on their own.

If there is no time to use traps, you should use another natural way to destroy snails. To do this, it is enough to breed one or more species of fish eating shellfish. But in this case, it will be necessary to reduce the amount of food so that the fish are a little hungry.

Tetradon handles snails best of all. But for an aquarium with a lot of fish, it is not suitable. Less aggressive are gourams and macropods. To destroy caviar, you can get a catfish. There are some species of shrimp that are also predators, for example, Macrobrachium. But these shrimp can attack weaker fish after they destroy the mollusks.

Excellent predators from snails are their predatory relatives. Experienced aquarists are advised to breed Helena. Their size rarely exceeds 2 cm. They can completely clean the aquarium of snails, after which they easily become herbivores. These mollusks do not breed as fast as other snails. And even if there will be offspring, this is not bad, since helens are not cheap.

Useful Tips

In order for a large number of snails not to become an unpleasant surprise, you must follow simple rules:

• to clean the soil;
• get predators in the aquarium;
• turn the whole decor and snags so that it is easier for predators to find caviar and snails;
• for prevention, sometimes set traps for mollusks;
• in no case use plants from ordinary ponds for your aquarium;
• try not to overfeed the fish.

In a properly maintained aquarium, a lot of pests rarely start. Snails are necessary for normal bio-balance, but only their minimum quantity. Therefore, it is important to ensure that there are no more mollusks than fish. If this happened, then you should get rid of the unwanted inhabitants of the aquarium as soon as possible.

Video: how to get rid of coils in an aquarium