Something To Eat Snails

[gt568]

After having been in Afghanistan for 4 months, and leaving my tank in the care of my darling wife, I have returned to a massive snail infestation. Now other than clown loaches, which I don't want, what would be good for keeping the population under control, and obviously be good ina planted tank? MTIA.

 

[backley420]

Do you serve? If yes . u da man



i add pennies...make sure they are clean and they will usally kill the snails

 

[ShoC]

u pennies as in money???
if so Wont the copper be harmfull to the fish?

 

[three-fingers]

Why not clown loaches, is it because they get too large?

If so, then what about yo-yo loaches?

 

[backley420]

u pennies as in money???
if so Wont the copper be harmfull to the fish?

most medications to kill snails is copper... wont harm fish if they have scales. Really works well

 

[three-fingers]

wont harm fish if they have scales.

I'd like to see preoof of that. IMO thats a myth, just like how people say fish with no scales are more sensitive to salt in the water.
Copper meds arent good for fish, sensative fish (regardless of scaes or not) can be killed by them.

See here.

The dangerous level of copper for snails, plants and fish is 0.10mg per litre. So really, if these pennies really are removing snails, it cant be good for the fish.

If you look around the web, there's tonnes of scientific papers explaining the effects of copper on various species of fish in aquaculture. None of them are good....

To summarise, coppers not a wise choice for use in controlling snails.

 

[backley420]

ok ok ok ok... But its a way, he dosen't want clown loaches and I do't expect him to hand pick them all.. Plus with pennies you can add as little as you want and then take them out

 

[reggieschuey]

At night before you go to bed put a lettuce leaf in the tank making sure it anchored to the gravel, and by the next morning you will see the snail all over the leaf, simply throw away the leaf, repeat the process if necessary.

 

[gt568]

Why not clown loaches, is it because they get too large?

If so, then what about yo-yo loaches?

I don't want clown loaches as I've had them in the past and want something different, just want to go in a different direction. I've not seen yoyo loaches before, I'll do some googling.

Can't say I'm keen on putting pennies in TBH, or chemical mediaction for that matter. I just want a different kind of fish that'll take care of them really, unless anybody wants some?

 

[SnBMeg]

How would yoyo loaches do sharing a tank with an opaline gourami?

I've had a female opaline for some time now, and have kept her with a small group of emerald catfish and an African dwarf frog. She ignores the frog completely, and although she occasionally chases the catfish if they get into "her" area of the tank during the day, they pretty much just ignore her and go about whatever they were doing. Often I find her resting right next to them in the cats' sleeping area at the back of the tank.

The catfish are moving out soon, and the tank is absolutely infested with pest snails, so I'm looking into new tankmates, and if I can find one that would eat the snails, that would be spectacular!

The tank used to be heavily planted before the snails chowed down most of the plants. It still has driftwood, and ample hiding places even with so many of the plants gone. Right now it has Flourite and gravel for substrate, but if the yoyo's would be okay, I'm certainly willing to tear down the tank and provide them with sand.

Edit: Well, from what I've been reading it sounds like the yoyo's would most likely be fine with the opaline (most sites that mention compatibility say that "semi-aggressives" are alright, and a few specifically list gouramis.) So right now it's a tentative "go" on getting them once the cats are moved. But I'd still really like to hear your opinions first!

 

[three-fingers]

Yep, they would be fine with the gourami . They are really quite peaceful themselves if kept in groups, I keep 2 with a nippy angelfish and a nippy female dwarf gourami.They can hold their own against overly aggressive fish in ever needed. They have quite hard mouths for biting (that's how they get past the snails operculum) and apparently a n almost invisible sharp spine underneath each eye that they can erect and use as a deterrent.

Another loach to look at is the slightly smaller zebra loach, which is pretty much the same care, and you can mix the two species with each other as well.Gravel is fine as long as it is smooth enough, but naturally they prefer sand .

 

[Neo8223]

Personally, i prefer to eradicate snails rather than to stomp any growth. Flubabol 15 is very good for this and actually helps aid fish and filter! You mention you have clown loaches. This stuff has been known to cure skinny disease in clowns! I used it once and although it did not eradicate them in the first dose, theres so little in the tank that i'll be lucky to find one every two days. I'm dosing it again tomorrow so i will keep this topic updated as i progress with the second wave of treatment.

 

[petetong]

Definitely go for Yo Yo loaches. They're delightful cretaures. Keep them in groups and they'll happily munch away at any snails ( not the trumpet snails though). I had to squash a couple of snails from them to eat , so they can get taste for it. And now they take care of things alright. I keep finding loads of empty shells.

 

[BINKSY]

i had a similar problem, and went and purchased 3 zebra loaches, and within a week all snails were gone, but apart from that they are a great fish to watch can be a little shy at first, in fact i didn't see one of mine for 2 months and thought 1 had died, but one day he/she appeared and i was very pleased.

Cheers Gordon

 

[garuf]

how about a dwarf puffer, they'll happily wipe out a snail infestation, the only problem is theyre not team players and dont realy get on with other fish