Assassin Snails are killer snails, they are cannibals and do specialize in eating other Snails and sometimes shrimps. They are often introduced to the aquarium as a Biological method of eradicating other snails in the tank, especially pest snails like the pond Snails, etc, But sometimes they could also become a problem after using them to eradicate other snails. Although they are not asexual and could not multiply very fast like pest snails when they eat a lot, they might multiply very fast and could become many in your aquarium, hence there is a need to eradicate them or at least control their population.
How do I get rid of Assassin Snails? Hence they breed and survive by eating, they will stop breeding and start reducing in population if they are not being fed anymore. Also, they could be taken out of the tank by picking them up with bare hands.
These are just a few methods of getting rid of these Snails. There are a lot more methods which we will look into in detail in this article.
These snails are very hardy, although they don’t multiply so quickly as other Snails, but sometimes there might be the need to get rid of them, especially once they are through with their work, which is, eating all troublesome snails in your aquarium.
Again, they are cannibals and don’t care about algae or rotten things in the tank, so they don’t keep tanks clean like other snails. Some hobbyists do like to get rid of them afterward, which is understandable.
How To Get Ride Of Assassin Snails
Talking about how to get rid of these Snails, there are many methods to do it, and they are as follows:
1. The Chemical method: This method involves the use of certain chemicals to kill them in your tank.
As you might have learned, some chemicals are very very deadly to Snails and could kill them in a matter of minutes when they get in contact with it.
Related: will Vinegar kill Aquarium Snails?
Such chemicals include copper sulfur, ammonia, etc. But among all the chemicals, copper sulfur is the most active and deadly, as it could kill them in a very short while.
From what I have learned, this chemical could even destroy their shells too.
Although I don’t think I would advise you to use this chemical to kill your Snails because it could have some bad effects on other animals in the tank. Although some specialists have okayed it, saying it doesn’t harm other animals apart from snails, I would be careful when doing this to avoid some stories, I mean sad stories.
Related: Can Snails tolerate Aquarium Salt?
So, If I were to advise you, I would say, you should relocate other animals in the tank before embarking on this journey, because, who knows what might happen next, to avoid some accidents and regrets.
Again, why kill them when you could easily sell them back to the shop where you got them? and make some money from them, or give them to friends and family, etc.
2. Biological method: Another great way to keep these snails in control and in check or eradicate them is through the use of the Biological method.
The Biological method simply has to do with dealing with a bigger problem with another thing that is a lesser problem.
Many times, the purpose of introducing Assassin Snails in the tank is for them to eradicate other snails in the tank, which is a Biological method, but when they finally do their job and you want to get rid of them too, then you could also use the same method to eradicate them too by introducing a predator in the tank.
Related: Do assassin Snails eat each other?
There are many fish and other animals that could prey on Assassin Snails, and when introduced into their tanks will reduce their population or eradicate them entirely.
Fish such as-larger cichlids, the green spotted puffer, clown loaches, paradise fish, gourami, etc could kill and eat any snail they will come across, including assassin snails.
There are other predators such as Crayfish, Crabs, Turtles, etc that would love to have them as snacks.
So, the idea is to introduce a predator to them and leave them to do their job by killing and eating as much as they could.
The only problem with this method is, that there is no guarantee that those predators might hurt only the snails they are intended to be used against, they might go for other valuable animals which could be sad.
So, if you would love to use this method, then make sure the predators can’t be able to hurt other animals in the tank, or you can relocate such animals and bring them back when the work is done.
This method is very effective and helpful too because it will do the work just fine and will still save you the cost of feeding the predators because they already have their snacks in the tank.
3. Manual Method: This method is the most ancient and the most common method of doing this.
It involves the use of hands to remove the Assassin Snails from the aquarium.
You can simply do this by grabbing them with your hands, and either relocating them, selling them, or even killing them.
Again, you could even trap them with a Snail trap which you could get in shops or online stores.
When they smell the bait in the tap and get into it, they can’t find a way to escape again, and you will only have to pick up the tap and do away with them in any way you want to.
I think this is a very effective and easiest method to use if you want to get them out manually.
Another form of manual Method you could use to get them out of your tank is to place a food tap for them.
This has to do with getting some foods they like in a small tray and placing them into the tank and leaving it there.
They will be smelling the food and will be crawling toward it in order to eat. Snails being very slow in eating will give you all the time you need to meet them while still eating, then take them out with the tray and do whatever you want to do with them.
Although this food method is effective, but it is not as effective as the trap method.
4. The Preventive method: The preventive method is simply a way of controlling the population of your Assassin Snails so that they don’t grow so much and turn to pests in your tank.
The Preventive method is a cool way to avoid getting your tank overcrowded with snails.
Since Assassin Snails are not asexual, you could be able to keep only one Of the genders, that’s only the male folks, or the females if only you can identify them.
Keep a minimum number of them in your tank and they will not be able to reproduce, and they will still do the job they are meant to do too.
This method is very effective and in fact the most effective because it will prevent the population growth of the snails, thereby making it very easy for you to take out the few in your tank whenever you want to.
So, if I were to suggest, I would tell you to go for the trap method or this method.
5. The feeding method: This method is all about controlling the population boom of your Snails by starving them.
We all know that aquarium Snails could only thrive and reproduce very fast when they are in a good environment where they are well fed.
What about if I tell you to stop feeding them and allow them to starve? well, this is what will happen, they will starve and will die, and at the same time will not be able to reproduce as they use to do before.
Although, this is a cruel method, but all the same, it is very effective if you want to get rid of them in totality.
To be honest, I don’t recommend this in any way, but just for educational purposes only.
What Will Eat Assassin Snails?
There are some aquarium animals that could snack on assassin snails such as some fish like larger cichlids, the green spotted puffer, clown loaches, paradise fish, gourami, Turtles, Crabs, and Crayfish.
As I mentioned above, the use of the Biological method to get rid of Assassin Snails is very effective, only if you want to kill them. Then introduce a predator and leave them to finish them off.
So, these animals do eat Assassin Snails and aquarium snails in general.
Will Assassin Snails Take Over My Tank?
Assassin Snails don’t breed so quickly because they are not asexual. They will not easily take over a tank unless they are left there for many years without any population control methods.
They are not among the pest snails, and won’t take over your tank unless you have many of them in a tank and allow their population to thrive by feeding them very well, which will enable a population boom in any aquarium snails.
So, they won’t take over your tank because they are not pests.
Conclusion
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