

You can give slow eaters, like Bettas, a little more time. Make sure that you give your fish portions that they can eat within 30-60 seconds. Uneaten food, or even just excessive wastes from overfeeding, provides the perfect food source for pest snails to devour. Overfeeding is one of the leading causes of aquarium problems, including pest snails. You may need to combine a few of these strategies to get rid of the snails you have and keep them from coming back. So, here are some methods to cut back their numbers. But, I can wholeheartedly understand why someone wouldn’t want an army of them. They’re another layer of cleanup crew and algae control. I’ve learned to embrace having at least some snails in most of my tanks. But, there are a lot of ways to cut the population back and keep it under control. It can be VERY difficult to get your tank back to 100% snail free. Chances are, if you have a build up of nutrients in your aquarium, some sort of organism will come along and take advantage of it. The two primary sources of food for pest snails are algae and uneaten fish food. In order for snails to breed so prolifically, they need a food source. When you get a sudden overpopulation of snails, it’s a sign that the aquarium is not in balance. Using only tissue culture plants will limit your choice of species, but it will help keep your tank from being invaded. Only tissue culture plants can be guaranteed to be snail, algae and insect free. Sometimes, snail eggs can ride in with fish from the pet store, especially if any little pieces of substrate or plant got scooped up as well. These pesky freeloaders get into the water at commercial aquaculture facilities and then ride along into individual aquariums when plants are brought home.

No matter how diligent a greenhouse is, the forces of Mother Nature will invade their tanks with lifeforms like algae, snails and damselfly larvae. Snails and snail eggs most commonly hitchhike into the aquarium on the stems and leaves of live plants.
ZEBRA LOACH AND SNAILS HOW TO
Have no fear, there are 5 proven methods on how to get rid of aquarium snails and control future outbreaks. Is that a snail? Where did that little guy come from?įast forward 3 months, and you’re overrun with a horde of snails that you could swear were sent to torment you for the sins of your past lives.ĭon’t feel bad, sooner or later, this happens to every aquarist in the hobby. So, you’re gazing adoringly at your beautiful fish tank one day, and then, you suddenly spot something.
