Loaches Online Forum

My coworker has a snail problem in her 29 gallon tank. She said it has platys and guppies in it. I've read that clowns are great for snail control, but would get too big for the tank. Skunks are supposed to be great too, but are a bit aggressive. Does anyone know of something that would be good for this?

does your friend do regular 50% water changes?
is the tank over filtered and understocked?
I think getting loaches for snail control is the wrong idea.

I have no knowledge of how well kept or stocked the tank is. It is filtered and cleaned from what she says. I've done some research and found that most snail control topics suggest snail eating fish as the ideal method of control. Of those fish, the clown and skunk get the most play, but as I said, will be incompatible with the tank or tankmates. I read one post that said many botias are snail eaters, but I don't know which ones.

Rather than putting a fish into the tank that will soon outgrow it, to control the snails, there are other methods.
A lettuce or spinach leaf or small piece of fish or shrimp can be anchored under a rock in the tank overnight. The snails can be picked off and the "bait" removed in the morning. Repeating this will reduce the snails substantially.
The filter and glass should be checked for eggs or young snails. These can be easily removed.

Reducing feeding, wiping the sides of the tank, and gravel vacuuming regularly also help.

I suggested the bait and remove method to her. She already cleans it out by hand weekly. Them boogers are hard to control sometimes. I'm trying to keep her from going the chemical route. I've read many times that certain fish love to eat snails, so i thought there might be a good compatible choice there for her.

loaches are a P.I.T.A.
needing great water conditions.

the problem is that a 29g really isn't a good long term tank for most loaches. Depending on the bioload in the tank already, do you think she has enough space etc, for more fish? If so, how many and what size?

I have Dwarf Puffers. I bought them because I like them; but as a bonus they love snails. They grow no larger than 1 inch. They are freshwater. They must eat "live" food. Mine eat snails and blood worms every day. They like plants to hide in. Mine are not aggressive, float in the plants and watch me. They live with guppies, tetras, hatchets and Skunks. The skunks and puffers compete for the snails. I have no problems with any of the fish. However, I caution against having dwarf puffers, because everyone says they are aggressive. My fish have been together about a year. Lots of bogwood, caves and plants.

I like snails, so I never quite understand the fuss of having them in a tank. To me they are natural and pretty.

Quit feeding the snails. They will quit breeding. Snails eat food that the fish do not catch on its way down through the water. If your friend cuts the food in half and skips a day once a week there will be a lot fewer snails.

Pop some snails and see if the fish want to eat them. Platies like them, many fish like escargots, they just need a little help opening the package.

I'm sure I read somewhere that cherry barbs eat snail's eggs?

some of the smaller L no's that are omnivorous can solve your friends problem with snails.
you'd have to check on planet catfish for the smaller species.

mick

Most smaller genera do not have the dentition for opening snails up. And larger species only feed on snails about the size of large spixes, if not larger.

To be honest, I'm not sure what her tank is like. I know she said that both the guppies and platys have been spawning, so it may be crowded already. The puffer wouldn't work. She only began keeping fish this year, and did so because she liked the five gallon I set up at work and decided to get into it. You know how untutored enthusiasm works, she got the five gallon and put two mollies, a puffer and two different types of cichlids in it. Disaster! She ended up flushing the cichlids and puffer because they killed the mollies and fought each other.

I've been tutoring her some and things have calmed a little...no more revenge flushing that I know of. However, she is very against dwarf puffers since that, and if the new puffer would happen to be aggressive, well, you know.

I'll just tell her to bait and scoop and then cut feedings down. I don't know how effective she'll be at that, but we can try it.

Thanks for the advice all!


P.S.
I like the snails too....

hi cup, ive had a full grown L72 for around 8 or 9 yrs now,
when i first got her the tank was infested with pond snails, you know the soft shelled type,
well over a period of a couple of mths, there wasn't a snail to be seen.
the only fish in that tank at the time was small tetras and corydoras,
as they couldn't eat the snails the only fish that could was the old girl.?
btw do you know a guy called brian walsh?, he's doing a talk on the dentition of L's as well as other cats at the catfish convention in manchester early next year.

mick