Safe Snail Eaters For A Discus Tank

[-=Joel=-]

As the title says really.

Are There Any Safe Snail Eaters For A Discus Tank ?

Dont mind if it is a single fish or a group but they will need to be able to handle heat, not too fussy if I needed to use meds, get NO bigger than 6inches, non agressive (wont eat my cardinals etc) & not suck / eat the slime off my Discus.

Joel

 

[Iron Man]

Clown loaches are great and even though they do get large they're very slow growers. I had a few smaller ones in my 55 gallon malawi setup for over a year and they barely grew at all.

There are other types of loaches that I can't think of the names right off of the top of my head, and they don't get near as large.

I'm sure you would know better anyway but just in case.....don't dare put a puffer in there.

 

[kev_kb]

I would not suggest clown loaches for a discus tank. They get too big, need to be in groups and can be very active.

I'd try to remove them myself without adding any fish.

 

[-=Joel=-]

Dont worry I dont want to add a clown loach lol ... Not only do they get big but also hard to treat due to them having no scales

 

[crazie.eddie]

Too bad. Clown loaches are a good mix with discus. They are also a common mix with discus. I have 5 clown loaches with 4 discus (soon to be 9 discus) in my 125 gallon tank. If you have sick fish, why treat the whole tank? You will stress out the healthy fish with meds and could cause them to be sick. This is why you should ALWAYS treat sick fish in a separate tank. This way, you medicate only for that size tank. For example, I would NEVER use medication for a 125 gallon tank, when I could just put the fish and put medication for 10 gallons.

I have heard yoyo loaches eat snails as well, but I also heard that some people who have them haven't noticed the yoyos eating the snails. Yoyo loaches get to about 4" max in size, but as with other loaches, should be kept in a small group.

How big is your tank?

FYI, don't use any snail killing meds. They do more harm to fish than the snails. I used to have problems with snails and use those snail killing meds. The meds never killed the snails. I even put a direct drop on the snails that would go above or close to the water line. It would only stunn the snail, but later would get back up.

 

[newfishaddict]

As the title says really.

Are There Any Safe Snail Eaters For A Discus Tank ?

Dont mind if it is a single fish or a group but they will need to be able to handle heat, not too fussy if I needed to use meds, get NO bigger than 6inches, non agressive (wont eat my cardinals etc) & not suck / eat the slime off my Discus.

Joel

I am wondering the same thing...If I put a clown loach in the tank for a few months, will it eat all the snails?, then I could take it back to the store?

 

[crazie.eddie]

As the title says really.

Are There Any Safe Snail Eaters For A Discus Tank ?

Dont mind if it is a single fish or a group but they will need to be able to handle heat, not too fussy if I needed to use meds, get NO bigger than 6inches, non agressive (wont eat my cardinals etc) & not suck / eat the slime off my Discus.

Joel

I am wondering the same thing...If I put a clown loach in the tank for a few months, will it eat all the snails?, then I could take it back to the store?

As I mentioned, lots of people keep clown loaches with discus, like myself. If you buy a loach from a store, the store will probably take it back, but for free. They usually do not buy fish back from people. Keep in mind that loaches will do well in groups. It maybe more shy being on only loach.

Also, the loaches will not eat ALL the snails, but it will keep it under control. Even though you see one or 2 snails, it will soon become a snack for the loaches.

 

[VampirePlec]

my yoyo loves the snails, my bf had a horible snail problem ( noe they only snail problem he has is 40 plus baby apple snails lol) and he borrowed the yoyo and the snail problem disapeared pretty quickley. the yoyo is now very fat n very happy.

 

[Iron Man]

Clown loaches have a real taste for snails and are specially adapted to eat them. Some even raise those pest snails in seperate tanks just to feed their loaches for snacks. They will even try to eat the larger snails such as mystery snails, turning them over and sucking/eating them out of their shells. So don't keep ANY snails with them you don't want dead.

 

[HelenUK]

We have clown loaches and polka dot loaches in with our discus and they are absolutely fine with them but loaches do like to be in groups of 6 or more so in your case i would most likely go for the smaller loaches the polka dots are nice and the yoyos and they do not get very big at all. As for treating your tank i am very surprised that anyone with discus would not have a UV fitted to their tank? We have UV's on both our tanks for the last 2 years and in that time have never had to treat our tanks for anything. We have on occasions picked up whitespot from a fish brought in an IFS but it drops of and that's the last we see of it. I would highly recommend anyone who has discus to invest in a UV it is a god sent and think of all the money saved on those Meds in the long run.