If you want to eliminate the snails entirely without chemicals, the full “nuclear option,” one biological solution I haven’t seen mentioned yet is Carinotetraodon travancoricus.

Awwww it’s so wee and adorbs and clever and even recognizes me… AAAAAH WHY IS MY MYSTERY SNAIL DEAD WHERE DID THE AMANO SHRIMP GO WHY ARE MY GHOST SHRIMP LITERALLY GHOSTS AND MY SWORDTAIL HAS NO SWORD… OR TAIL…

I absolutely LOVE this fish. It’s one of the most fun animals I’ve ever kept, and this includes an array of reptiles. But it does have some pretty specific requirements, especially in terms of temperament and need for live food that includes snails. In short, even though it’s the angel of the puffer world, it’s a cunning and voracious little bastard.

How to keep Dwarf puffer fish

So, the de-snail process works like this:

1. Set up a puffer tank, make sure it’s stable. Keep puffers in it.
2. Take out all your fish currently living in your main tank (or at least any long-finned, slow species), and definitely any shrimp, bought snails, or other valued invertebrates.
3. Acclimate and introduce your dwarf puffer/s.
4. Watch as he goes HAM[1] on your snails. Seriously, watch, because it’s amazing: he’s a merciless and dedicated hunter, with an endless appetite for your mollusk nuisances. He’ll suck the small ones right out of their shells, even crunches the shells, and will take literal chunks out of larger ones until they’re also small enough to gulp.
5. A few days later, realize that your tank is entirely snail-free, your puffer will soon starve, and you’ll need to put him back into its own tank (you DO have one set up for it, right?) and feed him with some other kind of live food (California blackworms are easy and popular).

Do they actually eat snail eggs? I forget, honestly, been a while since I had one. Probably not. It doesn’t really matter. When the snails hatch and grow up, repeat this process to wipe out the new generation. Or just pluck them out by hand/tongs one by one and drop them in your puffer tank. Invite your friends, and take bets on if they survive to sink to the bottom (No. Once the puffers learn what’s being dropped into their tank, the answer is no: nothing will survive to touch the gravel). Most entertaining aquarium maintenance ever!

Obligatory disclaimer: If you aren’t prepared to keep a puffer, then this is not the snail solution for you. Having a heavy snail infestation is more of an excuse to start a puffer tank… but you don’t even need that excuse. ,) Just make sure you have a steady source of live food including snails, don’t house them with anything that you don’t want to be piecemeal minced, and watch your nitrates. Enjoy!

Footnotes

Alcuni lo sono e altri no. Ci sono circa 38.000 specie di lumache che rappresentano ogni stile di vita che si possa immaginare e probabilmente alcune che non si possono immaginare.

La domanda non specifica nemmeno se la vasca in questione è di acqua dolce o salata, per non parlare delle specifiche sulla temperatura dell'acqua, le dimensioni della vasca, il tipo di habitat, o quali altri organismi ci saranno nella vasca.

Come può l'interrogante aspettarsi una risposta convincente a una domanda così vaga?