Any aquarist with experience over time acquires a double attitude towards snails that live in his glass houses. On the one hand, they seem to be useful - they eat up the remnants of food that attack the bottom, and (some) clean the glass of aquariums from the overgrowth. On the other hand, most of these species stain these glasses, and sometimes mollusks breed so "overkill" that they destroy green spaces, turning a cozy oasis into some kind of water desert. A special dislike of "fish owners" is the snail melania. How to get rid of a creature that multiplies at cosmic speed? Moreover, she is also viviparous, so that her cubs immediately replenish the enemy ranks. Other species do not differ in such fertility and give time to find a way to get rid of snails in the aquarium. But, probably, all owners of “pools” have to deal with this problem.
Causes of the “snail” problem
In many cases, aquarists first plant these animals themselves in aquariums. But sometimes they are introduced in the form of caviar, with plants bought at the pet store. However, no matter how the mollusks start, they breed excessively due to the conditions that you provided them. In particular, due to irregular or careless cleaning of the bottom space. The food settles in abundance and provokes the rapid reproduction of unwanted inhabitants. So before you choose how you can get rid of snails in the aquarium, you should first be puzzled by the prevention of their appearance and reproduction. It will consist not only in the “vacuuming” of the bottom; the aquarium should be washed regularly, and the water should be changed in due time. It is better to remove food not eaten for 20-30 minutes directly from the surface, without waiting for it to settle. New plants before replanting in the aquarium should be rinsed in weak potassium permanganate for ten minutes - this will kill the possible clutch.
Do it yourself
Since getting rid of snails in an aquarium is very difficult and can be dangerous for the rest of its inhabitants, the easiest way to prevent them from breeding is to control the population. If you take out large individuals once a week, and small ones “burst” on glass (fish will eat them up), then the problems of snail overpopulation simply will not arise. The difficulty lies in the fact that it is extremely difficult to get the mollusks hiding in the vegetation, and it is completely impossible to get rid of caviar by this method.
Snail Bait
This is a less time-consuming, more guaranteed, completely environmental and absolutely free way to get rid of snails in an aquarium. At the bottom of the container is placed something attractive for these creatures: a salad leaf, a piece of cucumber or a banana skin. When a sufficient number of individuals crawl onto the bait, it is removed and discarded. For convenience, the bait is placed on a net submerged at the bottom, so that it is easier to pull it out. When repeating the procedure several times, with interruptions of 2-3 days, the population will decrease to a non-threatening amount.
Snail traps
Since some individuals, having eaten, crawl from the bait and avoid the sad fate of their brethren, a more effective way seems to be a more efficient way to get rid of excess snails in the aquarium. Some companies offer ready-made traps based on the fact that their doors only open inward: the mollusk crawled into the smell of bait, and it couldn’t leave the house. The advertisement assures that the devices are absolutely safe for the "cultured" inhabitants of the aquariums, but their owners have repeatedly seen that catfish, for example, have time to penetrate them before slow parasites. Therefore, they prefer to use homemade products. From the bottom of the plastic bottle is a bowl five centimeters deep; its edges are bent inward in order to prevent the captives from creeping out. To prevent the structure from floating up, holes are made in the bottom, and for easy pulling, the threads attached to the cork are attached to the sides. The bait is put inside; the fish, of course, will swim into the trap, but when pulled out they will quickly escape from it.
Electric way
If the reservoir is too “clogged”, you will have to look for cardinal methods of how to get rid of snails in the aquarium. All of them are associated with the risk of losing all living creatures in the "pool", so that when they are used, both fish and animals will have to be sent to other temporary housing. The fastest and without further consequences seems to be the use of electricity. In a settled aquarium, where only snails and water remained, two stranded copper wires descend for three minutes from different sides, each of which is connected to the batteries with the other end (even 9-volt ones are enough). The parasites die, and you just have to plan to wash the aquarium and return its inhabitants to it.
Chemistry to the rescue
They resort to it in many areas of human life - in crop production, and in cattle breeding, and in everyday life. But you must always remember that the fruits of this science can be dangerous. There is no objection: chemical methods of how to get rid of snails in an aquarium are quick and effective, but they can also harm other living organisms that live in it. In particular, most snail kills contain copper. The labels claim that it is harmless to all other "neighbors". However, the same shrimp such funds kill no worse than snails. Yes, and for fish they are not useful, so all living creatures will have to be planted, and the aquarium after processing - boil.
Many fish holders are advised to use saline solutions. They are really intolerant to snails. But many plants and fish also react poorly to salt - again you will have to face a restart of the aquarium.
Biological method: fish vs snails
Of all the existing methods, the most effective, humane and safe is the launch into the habitat of parasites of their natural enemies. It may take a little longer, but you will not have to restart the aquarium or risk the health of your pets. If you are too worried about snails in the aquarium, the fight against snails should be entrusted to those for whom they are prey. Among the fish, the most famous winners of this scourge are macropods - it takes less than a week to clear the aquarium of one hundred liters from the dominance of snails. Tetradonts will be strong competitors to macropods; however, according to their variety, it is better to run dwarf ones, since the breed is characterized by increased aggressiveness. Many gourams, cichlids and bots are also suitable for fighting snails. In order to prevent the recovery of an excessive population of mollusks, catfish-antitruses are launched into the glass house: together with algae growing on the glass, they eat up snail caviar.
Biological method: mollusks against snails
Certain problems arise if you have small and peaceful pets in your tank. Fish that destroy mollusks, of course, are predators. Often it becomes impossible to use them, since getting rid of aquarium snails with the help of natural killers means risking the life (at least health) of a precious fish stock. The same tetradons are aggressive even inside their species. And cichlids may well enjoy small neighbors. In this case, snails with the gentle name of Helena will greatly help. Their main diet is precisely composed of other species. Given that they move much faster than usual - after all, hunters - they do not experience problems with catching prey. And they also know how to lie in wait "in ambush". And catching the victim, helena pokes her proboscis with a “mouth” into the soft part, under the carapace, and sucks it out like a cocktail through a tube - only an empty sink remains.
There are restrictions on the activities of these predatory snails. First of all, they do not touch too large individuals (which, on the other hand, is great - the ampullarium will remain intact). Any trifle is also too tough for them - helens simply cannot stick their mouthparts in them. And most importantly - there are a lot of Helena snails a little expensive. You’ll have to work hard in the budget to buy yourself a couple.
So, we talked about how to get rid of snails in an aquarium, all working methods were listed and indicated their advantages and disadvantages. Which one to choose - you decide!