Narcicius

I hate to sound cruel but i need some population control. I seem to be overcrowded with two different types of snails. I need something that wont get very large (bioload restriction), and will eat those pesky snails. The thing is I have some shrimp that I really appreciate in the tank. So I need something that would leave them out of the genocide. Any recommendations?

Allie

Loaches eat snails.

Dino

Yoyo' loaches are decent snail eatters.
Or go for a clown loach and trade it in at Dinosfishhouse when it gets too big.

clinton1621

Loaches eat invertabrates... so they will probably eat both the snails and the shrimp

Butterfly

Yup Could never keep ghost shrimp with my loaches without them being called lunch.
Narcicis sounds like a bit of over feeding has been going It may take a bit but reducing how much food your feeding(a fishes stomach is the size of one eye), upping frequency of gravel vacuums and water changes along with baiting should see you relatively snail free.
Will your LFS take the snails for fish food? The Botia family of Loaches and Puffers will eat them so they might take them.
Just some thoughts.
Carol

au01st

Hmmm, my clown loach doesn't bother my ghost shrimps or my bamboo shrimp. Oh, and no snails either.

Chief_waterchanger

Lettuce leaf of decent size left in overnight and pulled early in the morning = good snail control.

Our clown loaches do not eat shrimp, so Narcicius, if you want to borrow one of ours for a while that'd be fine with us. (We hope you can make it to the cook out this october 18th, which would be a good time to pick one up! )

pepetj

That's your solution right there!

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Ram_Kelly

dwarf puffers like to eat snails and they stay around 1/2 inch but they can be very aggressive if you have anything with pretty long fins.

g-g

corydoras also eat snails
and there are many more varieties. also dont get as big as loach

and will not harm shrimp

sirdarksol

Not just long fins. Dwarf puffers will take a bite out of anything that doesn't have both the size and temperament to eat them first. I've heard of fish as big as oscars being bitten by dwarf puffers.

I've never heard of cories eating snails.

An overpopulation of snails often means the tank is being overfed. I have pond snails in all of my tanks (except for the temperate tank. He Who Eats Snails took care of them), but their population has never skyrocketed.
I actually use them as an indicator of something being wrong in my tanks. If a dead plant dumps a bunch of nitrogen and phosphorous into the system, I'll get an algae bloom which will feed a snail explosion, which tells me that I missed a plant dying somewhere and that I need to do extra water changes.

clinton1621

It can also be said that snails in the tank are an indicator that your tank is healthy, snails are very sensitive to poor water conditions and toxins in the water. So if you have a lot of snails then yes, you may be overfeeding, or you may have too much algae... but your tank overall must be pretty healthy for them to breed and stay alive =)

sirdarksol

Depends on the breed of snail (local MN pond snails are capable of adapting to nearly anything. They breed like crazy in the areas where frogs are being found poisoned by local industrial dump sites. But yes, most snails are sensitive to poor water quality (other than moderately high nitrates, which simply feed the algae that they thrive on), and won't do well in it.

Narcicius

I guess I'll look into some loaches, I know there are a few varieties in which to consider. But thanks for all teh suggestions.

Blub

There are acctualy snails called 'Assasain snails' that eat other snails species. Maybe you could get a few as long term anti snail?

welshalien

my yoyo loaches have never bothered with my ghost shrimp -- and no snails (at least not in their tank!!!).

Kelly

Allie

Holy MTS & I don't mean the addiction
We got mts snail issues in our 120g

Jess

I have yoyo and banded loaches, never a snail.