The Snail Epidemic in Aquariums Snails are undoubtedly one of the most useful organisms in home tanks, as they serve as part of the cleaning crew. They play a very beneficial role in aquariums by consuming dead plant debris and leftover food. However, their epidemic can be a potential nut to crack, as like all organisms, they produce waste, which affects maintaining the cleanliness of the aquarium and thus the water quality parameters. Moreover, having so many snails makes the aquarium look unsightly, and snails often venture out. It's a genuine snail problem.

The most common pest snails encountered in home aquariums are primarily bladder snails, Malaysian trumpet snails, and ramshorn snails. Their overpopulation is usually caused by overfeeding ornamental fish.

The Snail Epidemic in Aquariums - How to Combat It? In the fishkeeping hobby, there are several methods to combat aquarium snails. Below, we'll discuss some of the most popular among aquarists.

1. Chemical Treatments The method is straightforward: pour an appropriate amount of the preparation into the aquarium according to the manufacturer's recommendations. However, this method has many drawbacks. The copper sulfate typically contained in the preparations is lethal to snails. However, when our unwelcome visitors start to die, their bodies decompose, polluting our tank. When using this method, ensure that the preparation does not contain substances harmful to other fish or plants.

2. Vegetable Party This is a popular method. All you have to do is place carrots, lettuce, or other vegetables in the aquarium overnight. Snails should settle on the vegetables, and in the morning, you can remove many snails clinging to the tasty treats. The downside of this method is its low efficiency. Think about it...how many snails can a small vegetable accommodate? How many of them are clever enough to solve this problem entirely? To effectively get rid of them, the activity must be repeated multiple times, with no guarantee of success.

3. Snail Traps Traps are simply dishes where we place bait (such as vegetables). Snail traps come in various shapes and sizes to choose from. Snails go in, but they can't come out. However, the problem arises again: how many snails will be smart enough to enter the trap?

4. Snail-Eating Fish When searching forums for answers on what fish are snail-eaters, you'll come across one answer: the green spotted puffer. Indeed, it is undoubtedly a snail hunter. However, when introducing it to your aquarium, consider that it will eventually eat up the snail population, and then what? Remember, it's an aggressive fish that prefers brackish water. So, it shouldn't be placed in a "regular" tank.

But there's another fish that's almost a perfect choice. We're talking about the clown loach (Chromobotia macracanthus). It usually feeds on various fish foods, but snails are a real delicacy for it. It sucks snails out of their shells. Loaches are shoaling fish, so it's recommended to introduce several individuals, or else they may exhibit aggression. Due to their size, clown loaches should be kept in tanks with a minimum length of 100 cm. Besides dinner, loaches shouldn't be kept with shrimp.

5. Snails Eating Snails Fight fire with fire - have you heard that saying? Well, a real snail population massacre is definitely Clea Helena (assassin snails). Even a few assassin snails released into the aquarium can counter the entire epidemic. When we consider what they will eat after the epidemic disappears, the problem arises. That's why it's recommended to put 50-100 assassin snails in 2-3 liters of water. A few snails won't eat up the entire snail population in the aquarium but will slowly reduce their numbers. Remember, if you have other ornamental snails, such as snails from the Neritidae family, you shouldn't use assassin snails, as they will slowly suck out the other snails. This carnivorous snail should also not be used in the presence of shrimp.

6. Manual Capture This method has the least invasive approach, but it requires considerable patience if the snail epidemic in the aquarium is significant. Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that for manual picking, it's best to use tweezers sized to match the size of the aquarium snails to facilitate the process. Hand-picking snails is not recommended.

7. Lowering Tank Temperature Lowering the tank temperature is a controversial method. It involves lowering the water temperature to 12-13 degrees Celsius. At such low temperatures, tropical snails will not be able to withstand, leading to partial or complete death. Remember, not only snails but all organisms requiring warm water will be exposed. Therefore, this method is usually used for large and restarted tanks where you don't want to change the substrate.

Conclusion In conclusion, snails in aquariums are not evil. They show us the general maintenance of our aquariums, and their numbers usually indicate overfeeding of ornamental fish. This means that the water lacks the correct parameters, and there are more dead aquatic plants, suddenly: congratulations, you've just created perfect conditions for snail breeding. If we reduce the amount of fish food, it means that snails will have worse breeding conditions due to a lack of food sources. Therefore, consider whether it's worth removing all snails