Loaches for community tanks?

[joldfield]

Hi all, I have a vibrant community tank filled with tetras, guppies, Platys and some shrimp. I also have a serious snail problem
I bought several assassin snails, but they don't seem to be doing the trick. I know that loaches can be aggressive, but I can't think of any other solutions. Can anyone recommend a less aggressive loach or fix.

 

[Orlon11]

Kuhli loaches are the only one I can think of that won't harm your shrimp - but they won't touch the snails either

You might be getting too many snails because of too many nutrients - try feeding the fish a bit less. It won't eliminate the snails but should at least control their numbers.

 

[lordT]

Botia type loaches are the snail eaters you are looking for. I keep them with ghost shrimp and they don't seem to bother them.

 

[Khuligirl93]

Kuhli loaches will not eat snails, and yoyo/ zebra/ angelicus botia loaches get up to 6 inches and need to be in groups in a pretty large tank. Dwarf chain loaches however are peaceful and max out at 2 inches, and will eat snails. They are more expensive and harder to find, but they're the best option I can think of.
I'm not sure why your assassin snails aren't doing the trick. I got one for my 10g and he has done a great job. It's by no means an immediate decimation of the snail population though, you have to be patient.
Make sure you keep up on water changes and gravel vacuuming, and don't over feed. Remove as many as you can manually as well. These techniques have helped me rid my tanks of snails.

 

[joldfield]

Thanks for the advice! I am going to feed less and give the Assassins more time to work.