I have a snail infestation in my 10 gallon. Loaches eat snails. I have a few clown loaches and a weather loach, would it be alright to put a clown loach in my 10 gallon (for a day or two) in order to deal with my problem? Would it be safe for the fish? Should I put both in there? They'd only be in there for a few days, then they'd be taken out. They are pretty young, like a year and a half maybe, 2.5 inches or so.
Clown Loaches
- Thread starter sic0198
- Start date
Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
I've never found clown loaches to be particularly avid snail eaters, not just that but all loaches need clean substrates preferably of smooth rounded gravel or soft sand, and most tanks with bad snail infestation problems don't tend to have very clean substrates because of all the snails pooping on them 24/7.
IMHO The best way to deal with really bad snail population problems is to firstly remove as many snails as you can from the tank and remove any snail eggs you can find by washing the substrate and decor in hot water and wiping the insides of the tank clean. Then when you have done that you need to help prevent the snails from getting any food, so make sure you are not over-feeding the fish and that the substrate is kept as clean as posible and that you don't have any plants in the tank with dying leaves and you don't have any algae in the tank etc- if you manage to remove the snails sources of food, then this will help a great deal in preventing them from breeding out of control.
If you still have some snails left after this, you can use some anti-snail meds, however do not use these if you have a lot of snails because if you kill all the snails off at once then you will have bad water quality problems on your hands from all the quickly decaying snails, some people have also reported anti-snail meds making their fish ill as well.
IMHO The best way to deal with really bad snail population problems is to firstly remove as many snails as you can from the tank and remove any snail eggs you can find by washing the substrate and decor in hot water and wiping the insides of the tank clean. Then when you have done that you need to help prevent the snails from getting any food, so make sure you are not over-feeding the fish and that the substrate is kept as clean as posible and that you don't have any plants in the tank with dying leaves and you don't have any algae in the tank etc- if you manage to remove the snails sources of food, then this will help a great deal in preventing them from breeding out of control.
If you still have some snails left after this, you can use some anti-snail meds, however do not use these if you have a lot of snails because if you kill all the snails off at once then you will have bad water quality problems on your hands from all the quickly decaying snails, some people have also reported anti-snail meds making their fish ill as well.
So probably my best move is to tear it all down-get rid of all my plants, substrate, water and decor. And rebuy everything, plants, substrate, decor and water-everything new?
Would it be safe just to try clown loaches?
Would a kuhlie loach eat them, or any other loaches?
Would it be safe just to try clown loaches?
Would a kuhlie loach eat them, or any other loaches?
CrashingWaves
Fish Crazy
Going off what Tokis-Phoenix said. I have found clown loaches to be very avid snail eaters. They are the best loach I've found for taking care of snails, so I don't really know what he's talking about with that.
You could probably do it safely, though it may be a little stressful. In which case I'd take action to make it as least stressful as possible. Do a water change and remove as much of the poop in the tank as possible, then wait a day or so for things to settle. Then you could try the clown loaches in there for a day or two. Yes it's a risk, but I'm betting they'd be fine.
God Bless,
Joshua
You could probably do it safely, though it may be a little stressful. In which case I'd take action to make it as least stressful as possible. Do a water change and remove as much of the poop in the tank as possible, then wait a day or so for things to settle. Then you could try the clown loaches in there for a day or two. Yes it's a risk, but I'm betting they'd be fine.
God Bless,
Joshua
hyak2
New Member
I have actually done this before - it will be fine. Clown Loach will eat snails when they are hungry, if they are getting regular fish food as well they will be less inclined to eat snails if they are already full. Just transfer them over for a couple of weeks as long as the water quality is fine they will be ok. The only thing I would say is that snails are often found in abundance where there is also a high level of decaying organic matter so it may be a good idea to do a large water change and gravel clean in the 10gallon a few days before the loach move in. I probably wouldn't feed the loach at all while they are in the 10 gal as they would be less likely to eat the snails. You can always move them straight back if they clear up the snails quicker than expected.
kamber
Fish Fanatic
If you want rid of snails get a couple of zebra loaches (Botia striata) in there! These little guys will wipe out any snail population in a matter of days (providing the snails arn't huge of course)
Reed / rope fish are also avid snail eaters. I had some pest snails off a plant i got from a lfs in one of my smaller tanks, i put 2 zebra loaches in and they sorted it no problems.
Reed / rope fish are also avid snail eaters. I had some pest snails off a plant i got from a lfs in one of my smaller tanks, i put 2 zebra loaches in and they sorted it no problems.
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