(1) First you could buy a harsh chemical. I think there is a product called Snail-Rid that contains Copper Sulfate, a chemical that is notorious for being risky to use around fish. Aquari-Sol is sold in many stores that sell pet fish. It will kill snails, but it is harsh, risky for other fish, and may contain copper sulfate. I can't quite remember. But I would not use it, and I would not recommend it, and it is not natural.

(2) Another idea might be to use Aquarium Salt, NaCl, because salt will kill garden snails, and Aquarium Salt is very useful in aquariums and ponds. Click here to read more about Aquarium Salt. But small snails that infest aquariums can tolerate a high concentration of Aquarium Salt. So Aquarium Salt is not going to help you get rid of your snails.

(3) The next idea is to get a Puffer Fish. Puffers are natural, and they will quickly eat and eliminate all the small snails from an aquarium. A Puffer fish has a powerful mouth with fused teeth that look like a beak, and a Puffer will use its mouth to crush snail shells and eat the snails.

But Puffers are rather exotic fish. They are wonderful and very interesting, but some Puffer species need brackish water that contains aquarium salt, and Puffers need to eat live food, like snails. Unless Puffers are very well fed, they tend to nip on other fish. So most people find that Puffers are not a convenient solution to a snail problem like yours. Click here to read about Puffers and see a couple of interesting pictures of Puffers.

(4) The best way to get rid of snails is to get some Loaches. I like Clown Loaches very much. They are one of my favorite fish. But they do better in a school with six or more Clown Loaches, and so they usually need a large aquarium with at least 40 or 50 gallons of water.

If you have a large aquarium, I think you'll love a school of six or more Clown Loaches, and a school of Clown Loaches will quickly find and eat all the small snails. Click here for more information about Clown Loaches.

A Yoyo Loach will also eat all the snails quickly. In fact I think a Yoyo Loach will probably eat all the snails more quickly than the Clown Loaches. But both types of Loaches will do a great job of eating all the snails right out of their shells. Then you'll need to net the shells and remove them from your aquarium.

A Yoyo Loach will not get as big as a Clown Loach, and Yoyo Loaches seem to be happy in a group with 3 or more Yoyo Loaches. A group of three will do fine in a smaller aquarium with only 20 to 30 gallons of water.

The only problem is that Yoyo Loaches are sometimes hard to find in local fish stores and pet stores. Their scientific name is Botia Lohachata, and you will sometimes see them sold as Lohachata Loaches. I hope this helps you get rid of your snail problem.

Incidentally it is usually the really small snails that become a problem, so we don't sell these small snails and we are very careful to be sure that our plants don't contain small snails or their eggs. Click here to see the list of Aquatic Plants that we sell.

Larger Aquatic Snails, like the ones we sell, never seem to be a problem in aquariums, fish bowls, and ponds. But many species are now illegal to ship across state borders in the U.S. Why are they illegal? Because some aquarists have released them in rivers, creaks and streams, where the snails have multiplied and perhaps caused environmental damage. Click here for more information about these larger Aquatic Snails.
 
(5) Finally we come to our favorite way of reducing the snail population. Get a small glass jar like a salt shaker. Remove the top. Be sure the jar is clean. Then put a small piece of lettuce or perhaps some fish food in the jar, and fill it with aquarium water. Carefully sink it on the bottom of the aquarium. The next day it will have lots of small snails inside! remove them and repeat the process.
 
After a couple of days you'll notice there are fewer snails, and in several days very few. So you trapped out most of them. You will probably never get all of them. So you'll have to keep trapping them and removing them from time to time.
 
This a good example of the idea of reducing an annoying problem to a tolerable situation.

Puffer fish and some other species of fish like to eat snails. Puffers also need to eat food containing something hard like a shell. People, who own Puffers, are often want to buy small snails to feed to their Puffers. So you may be able to sell the snails and start a snail farm.  ;>o
 
Thanks again for your email and your complimentary comments about AquariumFish.net.