Loaches Online Forum

Hi all,

I'm after a shoal of small loaches for my latest 60 litre planted tank. Ideally they need to east pest snails too!

They will be the only fish in there.

I like Botia sidthimunki but they are very expensive, especially for a shoal. Botia striata are a little large. Any other options, please? The water is hard, pH 6.8, KH 7, GH 14, 25C

Here's the tank. There's a shoal on neon tetras in there at the moment but I'm re-homing them.



Cheers,
George

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL tank!

Unfortunately, I wouldn't put any loaches in your tank set-up. You have no cover-slides and loaches are notorious jumpers.

Perhaps some more Assassin snails would be the better option.

Hi George,

I also wouldn't advise on loaches for an open-topped set up with such a high water line. It's a beautiful tank, but a little on the small size for the majority of loaches. There are a few smaller species that you could consider if you were able to fit covers, but none of them would really go for the snails. Many also enjoy uprooting plants.

Best wishes,

Emma

Thanks, all.

I suspected the open-top may be an issue - hence the pic. I have kept shoals on Botia striata before in open-top but there was lots of plant cover.

I already have 7 Assassin snails in there. They've haven't touched the pest snails. I even saw one Assassin crawl right over a pest as if it wasn't there. A bit peeved to be honest at £3 a pop.

Can any of you recommend another fish, except dwarf puffers, that eat pest snails, please?

Cheers,
George

Give them time, Ive got 3 assasin snails in my 100l and it took a about a month for them to start getting hungry. Now I have a lot less pest snails!

Hokum wrote:Give them time, Ive got 3 assasin snails in my 100l and it took a about a month for them to start getting hungry. Now I have a lot less pest snails!

Thanks - that's reassuring to know.

I too have had great success with assassin snails. One thing they seem to do is go on hiatus. They hunt and kill pest snails and then "rest". Sometimes they aren't even evident in the tank. Then they reappear and go to work. You may one day notice several pest snail shells laying on the bottom of your tank. You'll know that the assassins have gone to work.

They bury themselves in in substrate when the lights are on. When the lights go on, they rapidly start cruising about.

I doubt that Yunnanilus sp. 'rosy' or Y. brevis would be a problem in that tank.

Yunnanilus spp. would not eat snails though, which is primarily what George was looking for. They may be suited to a smallish set up, but they are also capable of jumping from an open topped tank.

Emma

Good point about the snails, missed that first time round.