Snail Eating, Plant-Friendly Community Fish

TookyFL

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Hello! I have a 75 gallon heavily planted tank that has a new nuisance snail problem. I am looking for a way to naturally get rid of them. I thought I would get some clown loaches but after researching a bit found out they love to eat live plants. In the past, I mistakenly gotten Bueno Aires tetras and realized they did a nice job on eating my snails but did an even better job at eating my plants... so I don't want to go this route again.
 
So my question is simple -- What community fish is commonly available that eats snails but won't eat my plants?
 
Thanks so much in advance!
 
I have seven botia strata in my 600l planted tank andnot a snail in sight :)
 
Very playful loaches in the right numbers also and very active during lights on and feeding times.  My only nemesis in my planted tank are my 2 severums which like to pick holes in my amazon sword and pluck the moss from the bogwood!
 
Hope this helps
 
Without knowing what other fish you have in your tank, I wouldn't like to recommend any particular species of fish, as my recommendation may not be compatible with your current stocking. The Zebra Loach (botia striata) that Bricko recommends, for instance, aren't particularly good with bettas, guppies and other slow-moving, long-finned species. Whilst most botiid loach species like a bit of snail, they aren't exclusively snail-eaters, so they may not do the job you want them to do.
 
If you're infested with snails, it generally means that you're feeding the fish too much, which is a common issue, and if I'm honest, one that I am guilty of myself. The more left-over food there is, the more there is for the snails, and therefore the more they reproduce. So, part 1 of your solution is to cut down on feeding.
 
Second thing you can do is to manually pick the snails, crush the shells, and dump the snail bodies back in the water - most fish will enjoy the protein snack. Another trick is to put a lettuce leaf in the tank overnight, and you'll find that the snails enjoy munching on this too, so in the morning, you just pick out the lettuce leaf, and loads of snails too.
 
The method I used in the past to combat the snail problem is assassin snails. These are molluscivores, so their primary diet is snails. It will take a while but two or three of these will rid you of the pest snails. Whilst they do reproduce, they take a lot longer to do so, and you can at least sell the offspring. I was only able to breed them when I had a gravel substrate, when I switched to sand, they stopped. Now, that might be because it was about that time that I sold the majority of my assassins that I changed from gravel to sand, and I may have left myself with all one gender (I kept 3 or 4 mature snails).
 
It would help to know the extent of your snail problem, as it may really not be a problem to begin with.  What species of snail is it?  Assuming it is one of the small snails that often arrive on plants, such as pond, bladder, ramshorm or Malaysian Livebearing, keep in mind that these snails will only be at a level relative to the available food supply.  These little snails get everywhere you never could to eat all the organics (fish excrement, etc) so they provide a very beneficial service and contribute to the health of the biological system.  If they are in real heavy numbers, it is only because the food is available, which could signal other issues that may need action.  I have well over a thousand MLS in my 115g tank, but they rarely get much of a size simply because the food is not sufficient.  I'm very glad they are there.
 
Having said that, I completely agree with lockman about adding any fish to deal with snails or any other "problem."  Each species of fish has its own requirements to be in the best health, and many have traits or behaviours that can be disruptive to say the least, or downright destructive at worst.  You mentioned clown loaches initially, and your tank is no where near sufficient in size for this species, as it needs a small group , grows to between 8 and 12 inches, and may have other issues along the way.
 
Byron.
 

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