Snail eating fish??

[meowey]

What kind of fish will eat small snails. I think I got them in my tanks from some plants. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Meowey

 

[Keeper]

Clown loaches work well. What size is the tank though because they can grow to 12"

 

[meowey]

One tank is a 20G High and the other is a 38G

Meowey

 

[Keeper]

The 20G would do okay for a while and the 38 would be able to house him full grown. Just watch the bioload. I have so far used my loach in my 5.5gal and my 10gal and he is just on his way into a 90gal.....as soon as I buy the tank He took care of the snails in a matter of days. HTH

 

[meowey]

Thanks, I wll consider it.

Meowey

 

[Fruitbat]

meowy...

Welcome to Aquarium Advice!! You might also consider the YoYo Loach (Botia almorhae) instead of the Clown Loach. The YoYo will also eat snails and won't present the problem of size in your aquariums. Check out my profile of the YoYo Loach here: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=19557

 

[revhtree]

Your Avatar Says it all! At least it speaks for me.

 

[Keeper]

The YoYo will also eat snails and won't present the problem of size in your aquariums.

I knew there was another loach that ate snails...just couldn't remember the name

 

[meowey]

Thanks to all.

Meowey

 

[patryuji]

I know the clown loach is always the popular one to offer up as the solution to snail problems and they do grow slowly after the first year but in the end you'd need a minimum of a 50gallon tank for those fish.

Nearly ALL botia based loaches eat snails. Skunk (botia morleti), Sun (botia eos), yo-yo (botia almorhae), Tiger (botia hymenophysa) will all eat snails. I would guess (from general construction of the mouth) that nearly all the botias eat snails (such as modesta, and whatever other dozens I missed). The ones I list in the second sentence I have personal experience with.

Aggressive tanks should use hymenophysa or modesta. Semi-aggressive tanks can use morleti, eos, almorhae, and clown loaches. Peaceful would probably be best with morleti, almorhae and clown loaches BUT you have to be wary of how you stock the loaches...if an "alpha" loach develops out of your group it will become aggressive towards other fish in the tank. If you have peaceful bottom dwellers (cories) I'd only recommend the almorhae (not sure on clown loaches and peaceful bottom dwellers cause my 29gallon can't support a clown loach so I don't even bother with them).

 

[meowey]

Thanks to all. I've decided to live with them for a while and wait to see if they become a problem.

Meowey

 

[Orca]

From my own personal experience, I'd recommend Zebra Loaches. They stay small, are a fun fish to watch, and they cured my snail infestation in a matter of days.

I haven't noticed any aggression towards other fish in the tank. They mostly just wrestle with each other, and sometimes hang out with the Corys.