loach not eating snails

[farmgirl]

Wow, I haven't posted in forever! Got a question about clown loaches and snails. My daughter threw a few mts from the 10g planted into my 90 loach tank for a snack, but they aren't eating them. The 5 loaches are about 4" now. Now there are a bunch of baby mts. I keep pulling them out as I see them. How come the loaches won't eat this type of snail? Also Will this type of snail eat cory eggs? My cory's laid eggs on the glass in the 10g planted and the little mts are around the eggs. TIA.

 

[theotheragentm]

Eating MTS is touch and go with any fish. Loaches such as Yoyo and Clown Loaches are supposed to be able to eat them, but other people have reported that their loaches won't touch the snails.

What kind of Cories do you have by chance? I'm curious as to which ones you got th spawn.

 

[Angel.Zero]

i have a clown loach in my 55 gallon with a ton of trumpets and he will not eat them thank god lol mts shells are too hard for them to eat and if they do eat one or 2 it would likely be due to lack of food in the tank.

 

[Zagz]

My clowns are large (5") and suck the snails out of the shell. My yoyo's also eat them. Most of my other botia will not touch them.

 

[7Enigma]

Check out the post I just made in the general forum. It would be worth a shot to crush one or two of them to see if the clown's get the idea that the MTS are in fact a food source. Hopefully they will then get the idea to suck them out of the shell as opposed to trying to crunch them.

 

[farmgirl]

Thanks, I'll try crushing a few and see if that lures them to eating them. I did notice their shells were awfully thick. What about snails eating eggs? As far as the corys go, the are albino and I have no idea why they are laying eggs. Haven't done a darn thing different!! Think maybe I'll set up a tank just for the eggs, if they lay again. who knows........

 

[7Enigma]

Without ever seeing it myself, snails will eat just about anything, I could see them chowing down on the high protein eggs.

 

[black hills tj]

Keep us updated on the Cory spawning

 

[tropicfishman]

if the baby snails are to big they won't even mess with them, you have to catch them and feed them right after they are born and you can barely see the colors of there shell. my clowns will eat just about any snail baby I throw in the tank. right now I'm raising a bunch in a 2.5 gallon as treats for my growing clown laoch's. I had a few fully grown ramshorns that were tortured by 2.5-3 inch clown laoch's and red tail shark a few months ago.

 

[farmgirl]

A little off the original thread track, but OMG I HAVE CORY KITTIES!!!! I found more eggs Christmas eve during my pwc, so I put them in a little 1/2 gallon unused old beta tank with a tiny 25w heater. It's maintaining a temp of exactly 78 deg. After 4 days I have several teeny weeny kitties. I'm going today to get fry food. Wish me luck!! And also my no3 issue has worked itself out, thank goodness. Happy holidays to all!!

 

[theotheragentm]

What kind of Cories?

 

[farmgirl]

Albinos

 

[7Enigma]

Did your loaches ever take to the MTS after you crushed a couple?

 

[farmgirl]

Yes, but they will only eat them that way, they still won't suck them out like they do the pond snails. Maybe when they get a little bigger.

 

[jibboo]

maybe your loaches are pretty happy with their current diet ... maybe don't feed them for a few days or something.

 

[farmgirl]

yeah like I could really do that, haha, that would be like not feeding my daughter! Maybe I'll try cutting back significantly and see what happens...Thanks.

 

[jibboo]

feeding your kid is a little different than feeding your fish. Fish can go a pretty good amount of time without eating. A week without food is not a difficult thing for most healthy fish. In the wild most fish don't get fed 3 times a day. When I'm away for the weekend or a few days, I just feed them when I leave and feed them when i get back and haven't had any trouble at all. Besides, there is always algae if they are desperate.