How to Rid Your Freshwater Tank of Snails

Snails in an aquarium can help keep it clean. They will eat small bits of living and decaying organic matter. While a small population of snails is helpful in a freshwater tank, when the population gets out of control it is necessary to remove some of the snails. Large snails are easy; you can remove them by hand. Smaller snails can be more difficult to remove by hand because of both their size and their number. Using a simple trap, you can reduce the population of snails in your aquarium in only a few days and with little work.

Things You'll Need

  • Small jar
  • Lettuce
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Instructions

    • 1

      Remove the lid of the small jar.

    • 2

      Put a piece of lettuce in the jar.

    • 3

      Carefully put the jar upright at the bottom of the aquarium, making sure the lettuce does not float free.

    • 4

      Wait a day. After about a day, the jar will have a number of small snails in it eating the lettuce.

    • 5

      Remove the jar with the snails in it from the aquarium.

    • 6

      Dispose of the snails. Since these are aquatic snails, you cannot put them in dry land. Put them into a nearby stream or pond.

    • 7

      Repeat until there are only a few snails left in the tank.

    • 8

      Repeat whenever the population of snails is out of control.