Quick & Easy Tips to Remove Aquarium Snails 🐌

If you’ve ever struggled with a ramshorn snail outbreak in your aquarium, this simple method might save you hours of frustration. In this video, I show how I removed over 300 ramshorn snails from one of my planted tanks in less than a week—without chemicals, traps, or stressing my fish and shrimp.

Ramshorn snails often appear in aquariums after hitchhiking on live plants or decorations, and while they can be helpful as part of a cleanup crew, their population can quickly explode if food is abundant. Too many snails can put extra strain on your tank’s balance, compete with shrimp or fish for food, and leave you dealing with more algae and waste than you’d like.

I tested the popular “lettuce trick,” where you float a leaf of lettuce on the water’s surface to lure snails overnight. Each day I placed either a whole leaf or a smaller torn piece in the tank, usually after lights out when snails are most active. After just an hour, I noticed snails and shrimp grazing. Within two hours, even more had gathered, and by the six-hour mark I could lift the leaf out with dozens of snails attached.

The results surprised me: one night I pulled out 27 snails, the next morning 34 more, and by repeating the process for six days straight, I removed well over 300 snails. Instead of tossing them, I gave them to a friend who breeds ramshorns as food for his puffer fish. If you don’t have a use for them, many local fish stores will accept extra snails, or you can share them with other hobbyists.

This method works because snails are naturally drawn to soft vegetables like lettuce, cucumber, or zucchini. It’s cheap, safe, and doesn’t require harsh treatments that could harm your tank’s ecosystem. If you’re dealing with a snail overpopulation problem, give this a try—it’s low-effort and highly effective.

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping