Although aquarium snail infestations are not one of the most serious fish problems you will face along your journey, they can become quite a headache if you don’t know how to keep their numbers as low as possible. Fortunately, there is a very easy way to get rid of snails in your fish tank setup – all you need is a piece of lettuce or zucchini!
After choosing what kind of vegetable you want to use to get rid of the snails, you will need to blanch it. By doing this, you will be accomplishing one of two things: 1) the piece of vegetables will be soft enough for your fish to eat, and 2) it will sink to the bottom of your tank with very little effort. The easiest way to blanch a piece of lettuce or zucchini is to microwave it for several seconds. Just be sure to use a microwave safe container!
After the veggie chunk is ready to eat and sink in, then you’re ready to start getting rid of those snails! In fact, the entire process is essentially done once you’ve thrown the lettuce or zucchini into the tank. You will need to let it sit in your tank long enough for the snails to be attracted to it; this usually takes no more than a few hours.
Once you see a sufficient number of snails on the piece of vegetable you threw in, you can take it out and throw it away. Just remember not to get too excited when you go to get them out of the tank – quick movements will only jar them back into the gravel.
While this won’t completely eliminate snails in your tank setup, it will make you barely even notice they’re there. In fact, you may find that instead of seeing them as one of those dreaded fish problems, you actually enjoy having some of the pest snails around to act as an extra cleaning crew for your aquarium. Just remember to use this method at least once or twice a week; less than that and you won’t be able to stay ahead of your growing snail population!