Snail eaters

[bertie 83]

So after loosing a pair of dps suddenly converted their 20 gal into a small community tank, the snails have all come out of hiding, does anyone know of a small community snail eating fish, would be sharing with a pair of rams 2 amano shrimp and a betta thought about a couple of badis badis but they only eat tiny snails. Any suggestions? Cheers guys

[Pufferpunk]

Skunk botias will eat them but can be a lil aggressive.

[bertie 83]

May be an issue with the betta plus need to be in groups just want to add 1 smallish friend. Thanks for the fast reply tho any other ideas?

[hadla]

can you get a few yoyo loaches then trade them back once the snails are all gone? they took care of the snails in my fiances aquarium a few years ago.

[CyberBob]

can you get a few yoyo loaches then trade them back once the snails are all gone? they took care of the snails in my fiances aquarium a few years ago.

I decided to rid my betta tank of snails this weekend actually. I bought a clown loach and used the cucumber harvesting method. last night I had about 1200 snails in the 10g betta tank. tonight I only have about 30. I must have caught close to 1000 myself, but the clown loach cleaned house fast. He got along fine with my betta also. I took him back tonight though because I simply can't take care of a fish that gets to be up to 16". The salesman said he would be fine in my 40g tank, but I highly doubt it. Plus, they like groups. I did however pick up a couple golden dojo loaches tonight. they usually only get about 8" and only need 30g +. I can keep a pair in my 40g once they have cleaned my betta tank completely. I lost my shark, so these guys will take his place. I also plan to get rid of the mollies. they are just mean fish. always picking on each other and anything smaller then them. dojo loaches look kinda like an eel. they still get fairly big, but they are slender. clown loaches get thick. the dojo also doesn't need a big group. they are fine as a pair, even alone.

but, if you are looking for a small snail eater to grow up in the 20g, my vote would be for dwarf chain loaches. they usually cost about $3 each. a group of 3 would be fine for the 20g. but, the more the merrier.

sorry to hear about your DPs Any idea what got em? prolly ich?

here's a link for dojo loaches (aka weather loach)if you wanna read up a bit:
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/we ... licaudatus

and here is the dwarf loach (about 2" normally):
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ya ... idthimunki

[bertie 83]

I was unaware yoyos ate snails and love clowns they just get big I agree. Would like something to keep numbers down, the big ones get tossed in the fahaka tank, it's not out of control but I wanna keep it that way lol

[bertie 83]

The stores here dont trade back which is an issue. Would rather buy something to keep longterm as for the dps, they were my oldest pair and were slowing down a lot so they got their own tank, been in there for about 2 years on their own but think it was just their time, they are very old ( full grown when I purchased them years back) the first died then the second just swam around looking for his buddy was really sad died 2 days later water was fine

[bertie 83]

Kept weather loaches before, they are mean mine now lives in the inlaws pond was too big for my community tanks kept escaping and would attack my hand everytime I put it inthe tank

[CyberBob]

Kept weather loaches before, they are mean mine now lives in the inlaws pond was too big for my community tanks kept escaping and would attack my hand everytime I put it inthe tank

I'm glad the DPs had a long happy life then How old would you guess they were? I have read they can live up to 8 yrs or so.
I just some DPs myself and am curious what kind of lifespane yours had.

mean? they are usually very peaceful. was it a lone weather loach or did it at least have a buddy? I've read they do better in pairs or more. but yeah, they will escape hehe. But, i read that someone found their weather loach 3 days after it had jumped out of the tank and it was fine and is still alive to this day.

they would be too big for a 20g though. have you looked into the dwarf loach?

[bertie 83]

I had 3 weather loaches 1 was old and mean the other 2 were not as bad. The mean one was serious, i would not put my hand near, my fahaka I will put my hand next to and not bat an eyelid. Will look into dwarves do khuli loaches eat snails?

[hadla]

i love kuhli loaches! they are so cute!! i dont know if they eat snails though, maybe the very tiny baby ones since they are so small themselves. i have 3 pangio anguillaris (eel loaches) which seem to be very closely related to the kuhli loaches, but ive never tried to feed them snails since they eat whatever worms i put in. the loaches have noticeable grown a bit since i got them... they were like the size of yarn before and theyve maybe doubled that. they are my longest living fish surprisingly! at least 3 years with me now.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pangio-anguillaris

so i saw some kuhli loaches at aqualife and wondered if they would get along with my eel loaches because ive wanted kuhli loaches ever since i first looked them up on google. i have 3 eel loaches so i thought id get 3 kuhlis to make it an even 6. this is only because i cant find eel loaches anywhere to get 3 more.

[CyberBob]

I had 3 weather loaches 1 was old and mean the other 2 were not as bad. The mean one was serious, i would not put my hand near, my fahaka I will put my hand next to and not bat an eyelid. Will look into dwarves do khuli loaches eat snails?

most loaches have been known to eat snails. some eat snails more then others though.
basically, you want to look for a botia loach. I think the khuli would prolly eat small snails or at least eggs, but I have no evidence.
I would suggest fishbase.org as a good research source on which loach you might want.

this link will take you to a list of loach species. look for botia and they will probably eat snails:
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/species-index

here is a list i put together after a couple searches. this should have most botia loaches:
Botia almorhae (Yo-Yo Loach)
Botia beauforti (Beaufort's Loach)
Botia berdmorei
Botia caudipunctata (Speckletail loach)
Botia dario (Queen Loach)
Botia rostrata
Botia eos (Sun Loach)
Botia helodes
Botia histrionica (Gold Zebra Loach)
Botia Morleti
Botia hymenophysa (Banded Loach)
Botia kubotai (Botia Angelicus)
Botia lecontei
Botia almorhae
Botia longidorsalis
Botia (Sinibotia) longiventralis
Botia Lucas bahi
Botia macracanthus (Clown Loach)
Botia modesta (Orange-Finned Loach)
Botia morleti (Skunk Botia)
Botia nigrolineata
Botia pulchiprinnis
Botia pulchra
Botia reversa
Botia robusta
Botia rostrata
Botia Modesta
Botia sidthimunki (Dwarf Loach)
Botia sp. (Emperor Botia)
Botia sp. aff rostrata
Botia splendida
Botia striata (Zebra Loach)
Botia superciliaris (Golden Zebra Loach)

[bertie 83]

i got a pakistani loach today, out the bag straight after snails. boy they can eat, no bloodworms i want snails been watching since 5pm england time so 5 and a half hours its just turning snails over munch lol these boys are serious. he has another tank to eat snails in after..... cheers guys hes mental lol

[CyberBob]

i got a pakistani loach today, out the bag straight after snails. boy they can eat, no bloodworms i want snails been watching since 5pm england time so 5 and a half hours its just turning snails over munch lol these boys are serious. he has another tank to eat snails in after..... cheers guys hes mental lol

LOL sounds fun to watch
how big do those lil buggers get?

FYI, I'll be picking up either a 30g complete set for $20 or a 50g tank & stand only for $25 tonight (craigslist)
It's really a tough call.
50g would let my lil ones stretch out more, but I would have to get a hood, light, gravel, decor & filter. I won't need a heater until january.
But, the 30g is a complete setup. I would just need decor. But, they painted the whole set pink :-\ Black spraypaint would fix that though.

I'll be bringing home my assassin snails tonight also. They came in about 2 hours ago.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

Since you already got something to eat them I'm sure this is out of the question but if your snail population grows too much you could always sell them.