fishyuser63

My girlfriend has a snail problem in her 29 gallon tank. I know that overfeeding contributes to this but that's beside the point (she doesn't listen to me...lol). I would like to get a loach or two to help eradicate them. Her tank is currently stocked so the addition will be temporary. Once the snail population is taken care of I would move the loach(es) to my 55 gallon. My question is, what would be the most effective loach (or other fish) for this? I would like something that does well on it's own so I wouldn't have to get a group of them. I have kuhli loaches in my 55 so something that will get along with them would be great. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

helen38

i was told clown loaches will eat snails, i only found out after i bought them the trumpet snail is one they wont eat, and thats the ones i had unfortunately

hkirchen

Well, I have a yo yo loach which I got for the same purpose. He does not seem to be eating any of the snails. I think they prefer to be in groups, and this way they will more likely act in their natural way. I would like to get more, but I do not have room in my tank for more than one though.

I am not sure how they would do with kuhlis though.

fishyuser63

Thought about clown loaches, but they like to be in groups and they get big. I guess it would help if I knew what kind of snails they were. I'll try to get a picture.

MaddieLynn

Puffers love snails, and in fact puffers NEED snails to keep their teeth from growing too long.

fishyuser63

I wish I could add a puffer or two. Unfortunetly, they wouldn't be compatable with the current inhabitants, and wouldn't have a home after they fattened themselves up with all the snails...lol. Actually, when I upgrade to a bigger tank, I am going to give my girlfriend my 55 and she's going to turn it into a "puffer paradise". I can't wait for that. I do have two dwarf puffers that I feed snails but I don't really want to stress them by moving them to the "snail tank". Also they're so small that one of the larger swordtails or mollies could eat them and that wouldn't be good...

Butterfly

Loaches need to be in groups so if a group is not an option then maybe another solution is in order. If she is over feeding, the snails will continue to multiply so the loaches wouldn't solve the problem and be done. Has she tried to bait them? lettuce and zuchinni work well for this.
carol

fishyuser63

Everynight, we drop an empty salt shaker with lettuce inside into the tank, and every morning we remove alot of snails. We've been doing this for awhile now and it's brought the number down quite a bit but they keep coming back. I've gotten her to stop overfeeding but that hasn't really helped that much. A small group of loaches wouldn't really be a problem, as we could accommodate them. I know that loaches won't solve the problem completely but I was hoping they would at least help. It's been an ongoing battle for awhile now, I just wanted to try some "snail assassins" lol. Thanks for the advice

pinkfloydpuffer

You could just ship the snails off to CHoffman and myself. We'd love to have your snails

Butterfly

If you would like and can acomodate a group of loaches then by all means please do so. they are great fishes. Yoyos, dwarf chain loaches and any of the loaches with the sharp nosed face will eradicate those snails post haste I just like to discourage buying a fish to solve a problem and then have to figure out what to do with it Here are some suggestions http://www.loaches.com/
Carol

MeGustaUnaPez926

I would just keep baiting them. I don't think it's fair to any fish to put them through all that stress. Also, do some extra gravel vacuums, I am always amazed at how many baby snails end up in the bottom of the bucket when I do that.

Fishies-for-me

I had dojo loaches before and the only snails they seemed to eat ( I didn't know when I got them ) was my briggs...lol They all got eaten while the pond snails reproduced. They would eat the ponds if I squished them.