I have had much success in removing snails by the use of leaf lettuce. Yep, thats SALAD
put a leaf in the bottom of your tank at bed-time, use a small rock or some such to hold it down.
I have found the snails will converge on the leaf to feed, like junkies at a crack house. In the morning, simply remove the leaf, and discard, then squash any errant snails you see as you go by during the day. (repeat as long as necessary)
aside that, I dont really mind having snails in my tanks, loaches are an option, but as previously suggested please keep in mind the mature size of the species.
Be wary of copper sulfate based products (had a snail etc) they are *very* hard on your plants and fish and will kill any invertibrates in your tank that you *do* want to keep.
imho, if you dont want snails, prevention is the best cure.
Use common sense when buying plants from your LFS! Assume they have snails, check the plants thoroughly before purchasing them, look at the underside of leaves etc. Select a specimen that appears to be both healthy and snail free. Once you bring plants home, dont immediately put them into your tank, take each plant, trim any damaged or dead foliage, and check all of the leaves for snails or snail eggs (do a search to see what they look like). Physically remove any that you can see, then give your plants a thorough rinse with clean water(i just use tap water).
What I do next, is place the plants into a quarantine bucket for a day or two, give any snails that you missed a chance to get out of hiding and not into your tank. (yes this is hard on your plants but is worth not having snails.)
Then plant as you would normally.
I hope that helps, if anyone else has any other ideas, lets hear em, also is there a
FAQ we can check for things like this?[/b]
