How to Kill Snails in an Aquarium

Unwanted snails in your aquarium can take over a tank within just a few weeks. While a few large snails of specific breeds can be beneficial in cleaning up waste and oxygenating your aquarium's gravel, an overpopulation of unwanted small snails is not acceptable. There are a number of options for trying to kill snails in an aquarium, but always take precautions to protect your fish in your attempts to kill off the snails.

Things You'll Need

  • Snail eating fish, if desired
  • Snail killing chemicals
  • Ammonia test kit
  • pH test kit
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cut back the quantity of food you are feeding your fish so there is only enough to last a few minutes before it has all been eaten. This will decrease the quantity of snails by making breeding conditions less than ideal.

    • 2

      Remove the snails manually by pulling them from the glass, rocks or plants of the aquarium. Discard the removed snails into your garbage and never into local lakes or streams.

    • 3

      Purchase snail eating fish if you have room for them in your tank such as clown loaches, cichlids, bettas or gourami. Consult your local aquatic center beforehand, however, since some of the snail eating fish may act aggressively to your existing fish, depending on species.

    • 4

      Apply a snail killing chemical to your tank following the manufacturer's instructions as a last resort and only if the types of fish you own will not be adversely affected by it. If necessary, remove your fish from the tank temporarily for a day to treat the snails.

    • 5

      Change 10 percent of the tank water every other day for the first week after treating with snail killing chemicals to keep ammonia levels down from all of the dead snail bodies in the tank.

    • 6

      Check your ammonia and pH levels and change your filter after a week of water changes is over, and treat the tank accordingly to get the levels to normal for your breed of fish.