Clown Loach

[darbyy7]

So I made the mistake of getting pond snails for my 10 gallon. I got about three and now I have hundreds! Its impossible to get rid of them all so I want to buy a clown loach. How long do they get? I am upgrading my tank to a 55 gallon very soon (I already have the tank but I wont put my fish in it until I get back from vacation in a couple of weeks). Is a 55 gallon big enough? Also do the loaches need to be in schools? I dont want to come back home after a couple weeks and find thousands of snails. Also do they eat the snails eggs and are they okay do be with fiddler crabs? Thanks a lot

 

[darbyy7]

The pet store by my house also has horse faced loaches. I just read that clown loaches get very big and should be kept in bigger than a 55 gallon. Do horse loaches need to be kept in schools? And I know they like to be kept in sand. My 10 gallon is gravel but the 55 is sand. Will they be okay in gravel for a few weeks?

 

[HUKIT]

There are plenty of DIY snail traps without buying a fish and possibly creating other problems.

 

[siva]

Any fish that eats snails isn't going to be safe with crabs. Fiddler crabs are brackish water crabs that need a land area, so no, they couldn't possibly be compatible with a freshwater fish anyway. A freshwater aquarium is not a suitable home for fiddler crabs. I recommend you turn that 10 gal into a proper brackish tank for your crabs.

You can easily trap the snails and get rid of them that way if you want to. Here's instructions:My DIY Pond Snail Trap. There's other ways to do it you can look up as well. Or if you really like a snail eating loach, that would fine but I think it would take quite some time to see a big impact on your snail population if it's really infested..especially with the rate each one is reproducing. Assasin snails would be another option..but again you may not see fast results.

 

[siva]

The pet store by my house also has horse faced loaches. I just read that clown loaches get very big and should be kept in bigger than a 55 gallon. Do horse loaches need to be kept in schools? And I know they like to be kept in sand. My 10 gallon is gravel but the 55 is sand. Will they be okay in gravel for a few weeks?

I'm not positive but I don't believe those are snail eaters.

 

[darbyy7]

Okay thanks. What do you use as bait?

 

[siva]

Okay thanks. What do you use as bait?

They love zuchinni and lettuce.

 

[darbyy7]

Great thanks a lot

 

[siva]

Happy to help! I think you will really like your results with this a lot better.

Also if I can ever help you with info on your fiddler crabs, I'd be happy to help with that as well. They are very misunderstood little crabs.

 

[darbyy7]

Now that you mention it, how hard is it to keep a brash water tank? I have a shelf for them and drift wood for them to get to it. I was hoping to keep the crabs in the 10 gallon by themselves where they can be kept in brakish water, but my mom says its a lot of work. I know they shouldn't be kept in freshwater so I need to convince her ill be able to take care of it all without help.

 

[siva]

Oh it's super simple..I promise. And worthwhile. These crabs are wild caught in brackish mongrove swamps in Florida and then they end up thrown in a freshwater tank..so sad for them really. Good thing you have been giving it access to air though! All you need in addition to a typical freshwater tank is marine salt (which is going to really last you a long time for this small amount of water) and a hydrometer. Because you're doing brackish and not saltwater, you need to make sure you get a hydrometer that will give a reading of as low as 1.004. I bought mine at Petco, it's this one: Amazon.com: Full Range Hydrometer For Aquariums: Kitchen & Dining. Also don't confused marine salt with aquarium salt..two different things you need marine or ocean salt and not aquarium salt. Those are really the only two special investments you'll need to make. You'd need to decide how you want to set up the tank. You could look online for pics of other people tanks and get inspiration. You can do the simplest and probably most popular set up which is just a sandy slope on one half the tank and water on the other. Add salt to the water and let it disolve completely and test with the hydrometer...you want to reach a salinity level of about 1.008. When doing water changes, add the salt to the bucket, then add water. This will help disolve it. Don't ever add water that still has salt granules in it. Also remember salt does not evaporate..so if you were topping off with water because some had evaporated (which really shouldn't happen if you're keeping up on your weekly water change) you would't add salt because salt did not evaporate with the water. Test with your hydrometer regularly to make sure you are keeping the salinity level where it needs to be.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Clown loaches are great snail eaters, but the can get up to 30cm long or 15", so around a 75 - 125gal tank would be good!

 

[darbyy7]

Okay Doesn't sound too hard. Thanks a lot!

 

[Sparky74]

Clown loaches also don't do well by themselves. I made the mistake a while back of only getting 1. He didn't eat/grow very much until I added 4 more.

The fish honestly seemed sad without company. Since I've added the 4, he has grown much faster, eats a lot more and just seems much happier

Unless you plan on getting a 75+gal eventually, I would steer clear of the clown loaches.