Small Snail Eating Loach?

[merry78]

hi all, i have a problem with pest snails in two of my tanks, the 15 gall and the 35 gall.
i have tried all the usual methods (strip down, romaine lettuce etc) and have not had success, so am now looking at predators.
I know clown loaches will get much too big for these tanks, can anyone tell me of other snail eating loaches?

they're going into peaceful community tanks, so no jaws impersonators please!

do kuhli loaches eat snails? botias? and does any one have any heads up/warning info on these?

TIA, merry.

ps, i am completely new to the world of loaches, so please feel free to speak down to me!!!

 

[Lupin]

hi all, i have a problem with pest snails in two of my tanks, the 15 gall and the 35 gall.
i have tried all the usual methods (strip down, romaine lettuce etc) and have not had success, so am now looking at predators.
I know clown loaches will get much too big for these tanks, can anyone tell me of other snail eating loaches?

they're going into peaceful community tanks, so no jaws impersonators please!

do kuhli loaches eat snails? botias? and does any one have any heads up/warning info on these?

TIA, merry.

ps, i am completely new to the world of loaches, so please feel free to speak down to me!!!

Kuhli loaches do not consume snails however it is possible they eat snail eggs. My question would be: are you going to keep them long-term? A 15 gallons will not accommodate any loaches more than the kuhlis I am afraid.

 

[merry78]

thanks for your reply lupin.

i had envisaged starting off with young-uns in the 15, then transfering to the 35 after about two months. I am aiming to get a 50 in december, but this would be the biggest tank available for some time after that.

edited to add: after a bit of research, yoyo loaches seem like they might be manageable (grow to 6 inches, peaceful, snail eaters etc). Anyone think this is a bad idea, or is there anything i should know?

 

[Lupin]

thanks for your reply lupin.

i had envisaged starting off with young-uns in the 15, then transfering to the 35 after about two months. I am aiming to get a 50 in december, but this would be the biggest tank available for some time after that.

edited to add: after a bit of research, yoyo loaches seem like they might be manageable (grow to 6 inches, peaceful, snail eaters etc). Anyone think this is a bad idea, or is there anything i should know?

Merry, I would suggest you start 3-4 Botia almorhae in a 35, not 15. Leave the 15 for a small group of Pangios. My yoyos grew from an inch and a half to 3-4 inches in barely two months. In my discussion with other loach enthusiasts, so far, yoyos have the fastest growth rate among several loach species.

These are quite boisterous so select their tankmates carefully. You should not, of course, keep long-finned specimens with them. They will consume snails, no problem. All botiine loaches relish invertebrates and it is part of their diet even in the wild.

 

[merry78]

ok lupin, thanks for your reply.

in that case, i will plan to pop them straight into the 35, and just chuck every pest snail i can find in the 15 into their tank (the 35) for them to munch on. they will then upgrade to the 50 when it is mature. do you think zebra loaches would be an ok substitute if i can't track down yoyos?

I am also considering/researching angels for the 35 (it is currently a growout tank for guppy fry, but i am getting out of guppy breeding soon). from what you say about fin nipping, should i rule out angels and check out something with shorter fins?

thanks again for your help, merry.

edited to add: my pH is about 7.5/7.6, so i wont be able to go with the pangio in the 15, i'll just leave the loaches out of that tank.

 

[Lupin]

I am also considering/researching angels for the 35 (it is currently a growout tank for guppy fry, but i am getting out of guppy breeding soon). from what you say about fin nipping, should i rule out angels and check out something with shorter fins?

Danios, barbs and rasboras are the best tankmates you can find for them.

 

[merry78]

Danios, barbs and rasboras are the best tankmates you can find for them.

thaks lupin, i was looking for a few (probably 2 or 3 ) larger, slower moving fish to be dither fish for my eeltailed catty, am currently considering purple spotted gudgeons, which may not be the slowest travellers out there, but are a bit bigger than danios, barbs or rasboras, and not quite as 'darty' from what i can tell from the early research i have done on them.

are zebra loaches nippy as well?

cheers, merry.

 

[loachman]

The smallest of the snail eating loaches is the Y.sidthimunki. They're about 2-3 inches max but are rather hard to find in some areas and a bit more pricy.

Next is the b. striata (zebra loach). They max out around 4-5 inches and are one of the more peaceful.

B. almorhae and b. kubotai are about the same size in the 5+ range. B. almorhae is probablly the most aggressive of the ones I've listed, but not what I would consider an "aggressive" species overall.

None of them will do well in a 15 gal for long. They all do much better in groups.

 

[merry78]

thanks loachman!
zebras it is then.
don't worry, i have given up on the idea of putting them in the 15, they'll just go in the 35, and then the 50 once it matures.

oh, ps, a group of 4 enough? or is 6+ better? there won't be much else in the tank, so i am happy to have a group.

 

[mikev]

Zebra's (Botia Striata) are probably the best overall choice, they are the smallest species in the Botia genus). The usual recommendation is to keep 5+ of any "peaceful community" loach; so 6 is indeed better than 4.

Note that while in most cases B.Striata's are peaceful, there were cases when they attacked slower moving dither fish; I had a school of small Zebra's take an eye from a Rasbora that was quarantined with them.

hth

 

[fishstick]

Zebra's (Botia Striata) are probably the best overall choice, they are the smallest species in the Botia genus). The usual recommendation is to keep 5+ of any "peaceful community" loach; so 6 is indeed better than 4.

Note that while in most cases B.Striata's are peaceful, there were cases when they attacked slower moving dither fish; I had a school of small Zebra's take an eye from a Rasbora that was quarantined with them.

hth

I agree that Zebra loaches are excellent at munching up snails. They stay small - 4-5cms and are gentle and amusing tankmates. They are energetic and I moved mine on as I felt they needed lots of room to chase each other. (In fact I couldn't catch one so he remains in my tank but seems quite happy on his own) They do make holes in leaves sometimes.

 

[merry78]

lovely.
thanks so much for the help everyone!!!
merry.