Unwanted snails in a freshwater aquarium?

I want snails in my tank. >.>

I think it makes the tank more lively, as long as the conditions and populations are kept under control and they’re taken care of.

Here is a good article on snails in an aquarium.
Basically it says that most snails are not a problem, but unchecked reproduction can be. To reduce the snail population either:

Introduce predators to eat the snails… Clown Loach (Botia macracanthus) are excellent.

Run hot water over a lettuce leaf or leaves and place on the bottom of the aquarium just before you turn the lights out. You may have to tie something to prevent the leaves from floating, or jam it under a stone. Before you turn on the lights in the morning, pick up the lettuce and all the snails. Repeat as needed.

Chemicals are not recommended and should be used only as a last resort.

@Male years ago when I first had some snails, I thought they were interesting, etc too… until they were reproducing like mad and there were blobs of snail-containing jelly everywhere!! I ended up having to empty the tank and exhaustively clean everything- I don’t want to go through that again. @GladysMensch most sites recommend no fewer than six clown loaches, and those guys get big, over a foot long, which is too big for me, although I agree they are really cool fish. The lettuce leaf method, like removal or crushing, is really only a population control, and I would like to just get rid of the snails altogether. My understanding re: chemicals is that they can be harmful to other occupants of the tank; in this case there aren’t any to worry about.
I really have nothing against snails… these are just little pond snails but I wish they had stayed in a pond and out of my aquarium.

Hmmm… just looked at that article and they say “There is however exceptions to this rule, e.g. the Pond snail, which should never be introduced to the aquarium since they can rapidly devour even healthy plants.” Which they do seem to be attempting.

There are many species of tropical fish that will eat snails and get rid of them, like loaches, and blue gouramis. I had a blue gourami once, and it ate all the snails in the tank.

Yea I would get on this as quickly as possible cause their numbers do get out of control pretty damn fast. As far as how to take care of them, I’d certainly recommend the natural route if possible first. As mentioned above, clown loaches, gouramis, and even puffers (depending on your current stocking) are all great ways to get rid of snails.

If you dont want to go adding another fish to your tank though then I’d say copper is the way to go. I’ve had amazing success with it whenever I had snail problems in the tanks at work. I would not however do what your read on some sites and dose double or triple the dose. It will shock your fish and will kill some if not all. I would personally put a half dose in. Most snails are pretty intolerant to copper so that should be enough to kill them without stressing fish too much. It may take a little longer than if you put a normal dose, but I far prefer the extra time to extra stress on the fish.