How can I get rid of aquarium snails?

I have some snails in my aquarium... to start off with it was fine because there were only a couple dozen of them, and I was happy to keep them there as they get rid of algae etc..





However, a few months later and they appear to have multiplied by the hundreds!! I now have way too many and it has got ridiculous.





My question is where can I get rid of some of them? I have tried placing an ad in the local paper, offering them for free but no-one wants them. And I'm told garden centres won't have them either.





Please don't give me some method of killing them because I don't want to do that. I think that would be cruel and I still believe they have a right to exist, I simply wanna 'off-load' a lot of them somewhere else.





Anyone have any ideas who would take them?

How can I get rid of aquarium snails?
take them down to tour local pond and set them free....


put them on eBay they will buy anything on there
Reply:If it was me I would put them in a plastic tank in the back garden and let the birds eat them.
Reply:The thing about snails is. They don't need more than one to propagate. They do it to themselves, and the more they breed themselves the more there will be. it's a neverending cycle. Right now, you want to put a band-aid on a long term problem. You can't just get rid of some and think it will be fixed. because they will keep breeding. Your best bet, would be to contact either an aquarium for advice, or a pet store.
Reply:Where do you live? I'd take them if you sent a package with some in a bag or something, if they are fresh water, they'd be fine in a lake! Well maybe not as good off, but still alive, just in face of predators.
Reply:Thats the thing about snails you bring a live plant home with one snail on it and before you know it there are thousands, No one will want them! You get a chemical at aquatic stores that eliminated the snails, But thats killing them and you dont want to kill them, So i dont have a clue
Reply:Wow, I would take some if you are in my area. I keep hoping mine would start having little ones to help the tank. When you say tropical you do mean salt water right. Or maybe you could give them to the local pet store to sell them and maybe you could get a credit for food or something in the store to buy. Good luck.
Reply:You dont say what type of snails they are, im guessing cone snails? Cone snails are regarded as pests thats why no-one wants them. They will breed extremely excessively about 1000 eggs will hatch very often! u could do it the natures way and invest in fish that will eat them to keep the numbers down, clown loaches are best for that. good luck
Reply:First of all are they the kind that u buy at the store or are they just little brown ones? If they are the kind that you buy (like the ones that eat algea) well try giving them away at a small pet store sometimes they take them. If they are the little brown snails that come with aquatic plants no one will want them. (they are consired pests )so if u dont wanna kill them take them out and put them out in a pond in the park.
Reply:well i highly recommend getting a separate aquarium and transferring the fish in to a newer one they need it to be clean as it is and snails eat the gross stuff???? or you could transfer them to a near by pond,lake,creek etc.
Reply:call pet stores and ask them if they want them. list them on http://www.kijiji.com
Reply:i had a similiar problem. do you have any kids - they could ask at school, or release them into a pond if water is compatible......free mr snaily....


alternatively there are fish out there that will enjoy a snail snack - so technically you won't be killing them per se but you will be feeding your pets who will be munching on them.....yes, i know....a clown loach eats snails....and you wouldn't be killing them, it would be a natural selection method in a way
Reply:It may come as a bit of a suprise, but Snails make a nice starter to a meal if cooked properly. My grandfather made quite a reputation for himself in the 1960's, and my publishing a version of his recipe for snails has attracted a fair bit of interest and correspondence.