How to Get Rid of Apple Snails

Freshwater aquarium snails, such as apple snails, can be a helpful addition to an aquarium as they will eat up algae and excess food the fish don't eat. However, they can become a nuisance and essentially take over the aquarium and eat all of your aquarium plants as they multiply. There are aquarium additives that are formulated to kill freshwater snails, but these will almost always have an adverse effect on fish. Fortunately, there are some safe, natural alternatives you can use to control and even eliminate the apple snail population in your aquarium.

Things You'll Need

  • Green vegetables
  • Cichlids
  • Loaches
  • Gouramis
  • Cherry barbs
  • Aquarium siphon
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Instructions

    • 1

      Remove aquarium plants and run them under cool water while gently rubbing the leaves to remove any snail eggs. You can also soak the plants in a solution of 10 mg of potassium permanganate per liter of water for 10 minutes to eliminate snails; you should also do this every time you buy new aquarium plants.

    • 2

      Fill the tank with snail-eating fish such as cichlids, loaches, gouramis and cherry barbs. Cherry barbs are particularly useful as they are one of the few fish species that will eat snail egg clusters. Apple snails can grow to be fairly large, so some may survive the fish attack.

    • 3

      Remove the snails' regular food source. If you have a tendency to overfeed your fish, the leftovers will crumble and get lost in the gravel to create a vast food source for apple snails. Use a siphon vacuum to clean the gravel and reduce the amount of food you sprinkle into the tank during feeding times.

    • 4

      Use green vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, cucumbers or zucchini to bait the snails. Place a leaf of lettuce or spinach, or a slice of cucumber or zucchini, at the bottom of the tank; you may need to weigh the vegetable down with some gravel or an aquarium decoration. Let the vegetable sit overnight. Check the vegetable in the morning and it should be covered in snails. Carefully remove and discard the vegetable and repeat the process until the snail population is under control.