How to get rid of snails in an aquarium: all working methods

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Any experienced aquarist eventually acquires an ambivalent attitude towards the snails that live in his glass houses. On the one hand, they seem to be useful - they eat up the remnants of food that attacked the bottom, and (some) clean the glass of aquariums from overgrowth. On the other hand, most species stain these very glasses, and sometimes mollusks multiply so “overkill” that they destroy green spaces, turning a cozy oasis into some kind of water desert. The melania snail enjoys a special dislike of the "fish owners". How to get rid of a creature that reproduces at cosmic speed? Moreover, she is also viviparous, so her cubs immediately fill up the enemy ranks. Other species do not differ in such fertility and give time to find a way to get rid of snails in an aquarium. But, probably, all owners have to deal with this problem.pools.

Causes of the "snail" problem

In many cases, aquarists first put these animals in aquariums themselves. But sometimes they are brought in in the form of caviar, with plants bought at a pet store. However, no matter how the mollusks start, they multiply excessively due to the conditions that you provide them. In particular, due to irregular or careless cleaning of the bottom space. The food settling in abundance provokes the rapid reproduction of unwanted inhabitants. So before choosing how to get rid of snails in an aquarium, you should first be puzzled by the prevention of their appearance and reproduction. It will consist not only in "vacuuming" the bottom; the aquarium should be washed regularly, and the water should be changed in due time. It is better to remove food that has not been eaten within 20-30 minutes directly from the surface, without waiting for it to settle. New plants should be rinsed in weak potassium permanganate for ten minutes before replanting in the aquarium - this will kill a possible clutch.

DIY

Since getting rid of snails in an aquarium is very difficult and can endanger 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 “burst” small ones against glass (they will be eaten by fish), then the problem of snail overpopulation simply will not arise. The difficulty lies in the fact that hiding in the vegetationit is extremely difficult to get shellfish, and you can’t get rid of caviar by this method at all.

Snail Lures

This is a less labor intensive, more guaranteed, completely ecological and completely free way to get rid of snails in an aquarium. Something attractive for these creatures is placed at the bottom of the container: a lettuce leaf, a piece of cucumber or a banana skin. When a sufficient number of individuals crawl onto the bait, it is removed and thrown away. For convenience, the bait is placed on a net sunk to the bottom to make it easier to pull it out. By repeating the procedure several times, with breaks of 2-3 days, the population will decrease to a non-threatening amount.

Snail Traps

Since some individuals, having eaten, slide off the bait and avoid the sad fate of their fellows, a tricky way seems to be more effective, how to get rid of extra snails in the aquarium. Some companies offer ready-made traps based on the fact that their doors open only inward: the mollusk crawled into the smell of the bait, but cannot leave the “house”. Advertising assures that the devices are absolutely safe for the "cultural" inhabitants of the aquariums, but their owners have repeatedly made sure that, for example, catfish manage to penetrate into them before slow parasites. Therefore, they prefer to use homemade products. A bowl five centimeters deep is made from the bottom of a plastic bottle; its edges are bent inward in order to prevent the captives from crawling out. So that the structure does not pop up, they are made in the bottomholes, and for easy pulling out, threads tied to the cork are attached to the sides. The bait is placed inside; the fish, of course, will swim into the trap, but when pulled out, they will quickly run away from it.

Electric method

If the reservoir is too “clogged”, you will have to look for cardinal methods on 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 deposited in another temporary dwelling. 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 are lowered for three minutes from different sides, each of which is connected at the other end to batteries (even 9-volt ones are enough). The parasites die, and all you have to do is clean the aquarium and return its inhabitants to it.

Chemistry to help

It is used in many areas of human life - in crop production, and in cattle breeding, and in everyday life. But we must always remember that the fruits of this science can be dangerous. No objections: chemical methods to get rid of snails in an aquarium are quick and effective, but they can harm other living organisms that live in it. In particular, most snail killers contain copper. The labels state that it is harmless to all other "neighbors". However, the same shrimp aremeans kill no worse than snails. Yes, and they are not useful for fish, so all living creatures will have to be removed, and the aquarium after treatment should be boiled.

Many fish keepers advise using saline solutions. They are really intolerable to snails. But many plants and fish also react badly to s alt - you will again have to deal with restarting the aquarium.

Biological method: fish against snails

Of all the existing methods, the most effective, humane and safe is the launch of parasites of their natural enemies into the habitat. It may take a little longer, but you won’t have to restart the aquarium or risk the he alth of your pets. If the snails in the aquarium bother you too much, the fight against snails should be entrusted to those for whom they are prey. Among fish, the most famous winners of this scourge are macropods - cleaning a hundred-liter aquarium from the dominance of snails will take less than a week. Tetradonts will be strong competitors for macropods; however, according to their variety, it is better to run dwarf ones, since the breed is characterized by increased aggressiveness. Many gourami, cichlids and bots are also suitable for fighting snails. In order to prevent the restoration of an excessive population of mollusks, ancitrus catfish are launched into the glass house: along with algae growing on the glass, they eat up snail caviar.

Biological method: shellfish vs snails

Certain problems arise if you have small and peaceful animals in your aquariumpets. Fish that destroy mollusks, of course, are predators. It often becomes impossible to use them, since getting rid of aquarium snails with the help of natural killers means risking the life (at least he alth) of the precious fish stock. The same tetradons are aggressive even within their species. Yes, and cichlids may well feast on small neighbors. In this case, snails with the gentle name of Helena will be very helpful. Their main diet is precisely the counterparts of other species. Given that they move much faster than usual - after all, they are hunters - they do not experience problems with overtaking prey. Yes, and lie in wait "in ambush" they also know how. And having caught the victim, Helena puts her proboscis with a “mouth” into the soft part, under the shell, and sucks it out like a cocktail through a straw - only an empty shell remains.

There are also 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 snails will remain intact). Every little thing is too tough for them - the Helens simply cannot stick their mouthparts into them. And most importantly, Helena snails are a little expensive. Will have to tighten up the budget to buy myself a couple.

So, we have told how to get rid of snails in an aquarium, all working methods have been listed and indicated their advantages and disadvantages. Which one to choose is up to you!