a question about loaches

[cornbread_5]

i know must loaches eat snails but my question is what loaches are the best snail eaters

[Gary Stanton]

Clown loaches.

[Botia Robert]

Any specis from the Botia genus will eat snails.

What are you keeping? Make sure the loaches are compatible.

[Diana]

I have few or no snails in any tank with Loaches. There may be some species of Loach that go to work faster than others, but in the long run most of the Loaches that have a large enough mouth to handle snails can keep the population down in their tank.

If you are looking for a method of snail control then do something that is compatible with your tank.

Feed less. Excess food feeds snails. If you cut down on the food and skip a day each week there will be significantly less leftovers to feed the snails.

Hand pick the snails, pop the shell and drop it back in. Other fish besides Loaches will eat snails, they just need help opening the packages.

If you like Loaches for the charactors they are, then Loaches can provide the side benefit of snail control. If you are thinking about a loach just because they may control snails, it would be better not to get a Loach.

[Emma Turner]

All of the botiid species will eat snails with enthusiasm, but they do have special requirements, meaning that the tank needs to be set up around them, rather than adding them to an existing tank for snail control. Assassin snails are a good alternative to help rid the tank of pest snails: http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=12094.

Emma

[cornbread_5]

i do not want loaches because of just snail control , i have loaches before and i enjoy them alot i am jus trying to kill two birds with one stone, as far as setup i have a 40 gal breeder with 3 small ebjds grow outs , filament barbs, laser green cories , purple spotted grudgen, and a blue phatnom pleco and black sand as substrate

[Glostik]

if you have a snail problem and dont have "loach friendly" tank conditions, I suggest investing in assassin snails.