Best way to get rid of snails?

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KrystaK

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I have an abundance of Ramshorn snails in my 30 gallon community. I've tried a couple times to get rid of them i the past but it never quite worked out as well as I wanted - or my solutions caused their own problems.
So I was wondering what have other people done to get rid of their Ramshorn population and if there were any pro's/con's?
 
The small sized snails like Ramshorn, pond, bladder and Malaysian Livebearing are beneficial. They eat all organics, which is primarily fish excrement, thus breaking it down faster so the bacteria can get at it quicker. Snails get places the aquarist never could, so they are your helpmates. Now as for numbers.

These snails will reproduce according to their food supply. The more organics, the more snails. How much you feed the fish is obviously thee issue here, so the more you feed and/or the more fish you have being fed, the more organics. Don't overfeed, don't overstock, and be regular with maintenance especially partial water changes (50-60% once each week minimum) with a vacuum of the substrate in open areas, and keeping the filter media well rinsed will all contribute to reducing organics.

I have hundreds in my tanks (pond snails and MLB) and I know they are there because they have food and the faster they get rid of that the better the fish and biological system will function.

But if you really do want to reduce them, there are some do's and don't's. Never use chemicals, as these get inside the fish and are not beneficial at all. Never acquire specific fish that "may" eat snails unless you really want the fish and can provide what it needs (numbers for shoaling fish, tank size, etc.). Picking the snails out when you see them, or during the water change, is safest. Some use a lettuce leaf in the tank at night (snails will be out and about during total darkness) and in the very early morning the leaf can be taken out usually covered in many of the snails. The leaf should be lying on the substrate to collect the most snails.

Then comes the next problem, getting rid of the captured snails. You must kill them. Flushing them down the toilet, down a drain, or tossing them outside is not wise, as most of these can easily survive and if they get into the local ecosystem can decimate the natural snail species. This is a very serious issue; Assassin snails are discouraged if not illegal in some parts of the US because they can kill off the local snails rapidly.
 
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You can catch them and give them to a local pet store. See if that works. Why do you want to get rid of them? Do you mean wipe out the entire population?
 
Great post, Byron. Spot on! I have an abundance of Malaysian, rams horn, and pond snails. I started with 10 malaysian’s and it went from there. The pond and rams horns hitchhiked in on plants. I scoop mine with a net. Fortunately, I have an outdoor pond so I throw them in there. Does anyone know how much snail waste contributes to nitrates/ammonia. I don’t mind them being there but are we harming our fish by adding additional waste? I never know how many snails are too many.
 
Does anyone know how much snail waste contributes to nitrates/ammonia. I don’t mind them being there but are we harming our fish by adding additional waste? I never know how many snails are too many.

I have not come across actual statistics for the impact of snails on the system, but given that they are only going to exist at a level that has food to support them, the concern should be less about the snails and more about the organics feeding them. Eventually the bacteria break down the organics, and snails speed this process up so that is a benefit. But the initial organics is the real issue, not the snails. The fish excrete waste and the snails eat this, so it is the same initial waste being handled and that contributed by the snails themselves is likely minimal.
 
Does anyone know how much snail waste contributes to nitrates/ammonia. I don’t mind them being there but are we harming our fish by adding additional waste? I never know how many snails are too many.

ZERO. Since you are not feeding extra to feed the snails they exist on the waste of others so are just a step in the decomposition process.
If the snails were not there, you'd have the same nitrogenous waste that would eventually decompose.
 
ZERO. Since you are not feeding extra to feed the snails they exist on the waste of others so are just a step in the decomposition process.
If the snails were not there, you'd have the same nitrogenous waste that would eventually decompose.
Good to know! Then I’ll just leave them all in there. Thanks so much!
 
Oh wow, that's a perspective I never thought of Byron, thanks!
It's not the live snails I have an issue with - it's the shells of dead ones that seem to build up - I have a few assassin snails in the tank as well so they probably have something to do with that. The only ways I could figure out to keep the number of snails shells down (other than picking the m out which is very time consuming) was to keep the number of snails down itself. You managed to answer that question too - maybe I'll try a DIY lettuce trap.
 

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