Fish for snail control in community tank

[MMac]

Hello Everyone.

I hope this is the forum for this question. I have a peaceful community tank. Corys (20), Oto Cats (7), shrimp (amano (3) & cherry (?)), ember tetras (12) and one assassin snail.

Tank is 50 gal (48x18x14)

I have an explosion of bladder and mini ramshorn snails. I thought I took care of the issue by bleach dipping all my plants when I set up this tank, but...here I am.

Is there a peaceful fish I could add to this tank that would eat these snails? I don't want to add more assassins because I had an explosion of those in my last tank and I had to find another place for them. If that is my only option, I could think about selling babies if it came to that I guess. I would rather add an other fish if their is one. From what I researched most seem to be aggressive and would upset the peaceful conditions in my tank.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[PlantedCommunityTank132]

Pea puffers came to my mind. They are very aggressive, but if you would remove your fish snd put them in a different tank for some days, the puffers would probably kill them all. IF you don't have a other tank, that could keep the puffers after they killed the snails, You could ask your LFS if you could borrow some of their puffers for a view days. Hope this helps

 

[carsonsgjs]

I would just say that before resorting to snail-eating fish, it might be worth to see if you can take steps to reduce and control the population first, if you haven’t already. Things like avoiding overfeeding and manual removal are things to try out.

 

[WRWAquarium]

Loaches like eating snails. Not sure on best species for your community though.

 

[ProudPapa]

Pea puffers came to my mind. They are very aggressive, but if you would remove your fish snd put them in a different tank for some days, the puffers would probably kill them all. IF you don't have a other tank, that could keep the puffers after they killed the snails, You could ask your LFS if you could borrow some of their puffers for a view days. Hope this helps

I was thinking pea puffers also, and the other fish might not necessarily need to be moved out. I have two of them in my 40 gallon community tank with pearl gouramis, serpae tetras, pristella tetras, and Corydoras trillineatus, and the peas ignore the other fish. While they haven't completely eliminated the snails they definitely keep the population under control (and they probably pick off a shrimp occasionally also).

 

[MMac]

Pea puffers came to my mind. They are very aggressive, but if you would remove your fish snd put them in a different tank for some days, the puffers would probably kill them all. IF you don't have a other tank, that could keep the puffers after they killed the snails, You could ask your LFS if you could borrow some of their puffers for a view days. Hope this helps

Thank you. I do have another tank, but removing all my fish and inverts would not be possible. My tank is heavily planted and has lots of nooks and crannies for things to hide. I have lots of babies too (both shrimp and corys). I know I would not get everything. Although I do LOVE the idea of a pea puffer or two - they are so darn cute!

I was thinking pea puffers also, and the other fish might not necessarily need to be moved out. I have two of them in my 40 gallon community tank with pearl gouramis, serpae tetras, pristella tetras, and Corydoras trillineatus, and the peas ignore the other fish. While they haven't completely eliminated the snails they definitely keep the population under control (and they probably pick off a shrimp occasionally also).

My baby panda corys hang around the spot where most of the snails congregate. I would be terrified that the pea puffers would pick them off too. I know they would move to avoid the pea puffers, but not sure if they would be fast enough.

I would just say that before resorting to snail-eating fish, it might be worth to see if you can take steps to reduce and control the population first, if you haven’t already. Things like avoiding overfeeding and manual removal are things to try out.

Yes. Thank you. I have been pulling many out per day. Although I just got really aggressive with it in the last few days. I am pulling about 50 out a day now for the last three days. I have also cut down on the food availability. I think my corys think they are starving!

Loaches like eating snails. Not sure on best species for your community though.

Thank you. I will look at that. My only concern is if they will upset the corys who occupy the same level in the tank. I LOVE my corys and don't want anything that interferes with them.