What fish eat snails???

[silver]

I had one darn snail for a month or so and then it reproduced......now I swear I have more than a dozen larger ones (dime size) and probably hundreds of babies. I took one of my rocks out and put it outside and investigated it....there were at LEAST 100 microscopic snails on it....I just left it outside and didn't think about it again. I should go out and hose it off. The rock was too sharp anyhow.

But what kind of Pleco's or bottom feeders REALLY eat the snails up. I need one that will just GO TO TOWN!!!! Although, I'd like to keep the few larger ones cause MAN DO THEY CLEAN A TANK IN NO TIME!!!

Thanks,
Silver

 

[Jamnog]

a pair of clowns are ideal
edit : i can allmost hear them now cfc would have said clowns i think cm would say most cichlids will eat them and im just on a hunch here but i think puffer pack will suggest umm oh nope its gone i cant think what he would say

 

[dolphin]

Hi Silver
Most loaches will eat snails, Clown's love them. Puffer fish are also good snail eaters.

 

[Pufferpack]

If your outbreak is in the 55 gal I couldn't in good conscience recomend Puffers ...unless you want to get rid of all those pointy fish you keep and fill the tank with about 30 Dwarfs...snails gone in no time

 

[CFC]

edit : i can allmost hear them now cfc would have said clowns

What makes you think i would suggest clowns? Actually i have never found my clowns to be very effective snail eaters but thats probably because i give them so much live food they dont need to bother.The fish i find to be a most affective snail eater is the banjo catfish Dysichthys coracoideus,i have two in one of the tanks and you never see a snail in there,theyre not to everyones taste though as they are rather ugly and very boring to most people,you have to be a cat or oddball lover to love them.

 

[silver]

So puffer.....what do you mean pointy fish? Do you mean my fish are too big....and maybe they'd eat the puffers? That would be horrible

CFC,
I will look at that banjo catfish and see what his specs are, maybe it would work you neve know. I don't really care what the fish looks like. The only really colorful fish I have is the Parrot and we've already had rounds with that one
Dolphin,
So any loaches would be good....there, I'm back on the loach banwagon it looks like! I'll have to go back to my post about loaches and see what we came up with!! )

Thanks,
Silver

 

[Thomas A. Anderson]

My thin striped loached aka zebra loaches love snails, so much so I even get the lfs to give me some of his

 

[AqUaDoc]

Hey there

A figure-eight puffer will eat all your snails in no time!

 

[silver]

I think the zebra loach is the one I narrowed my search down to. They are neat little guys, aren't they! B)

Would Puffers be okay in my tank...(see signature for habitants)?

Silver

 

[Jesse]

How's bout a yo-yo loach? They keep the snail population down.

 

[Pufferpack]

So puffer.....what do you mean pointy fish?

Compared to my round little Dwarf puffers most other fish seem pointy (not including your Polly )

Would Puffers be okay in my tank

Definately not....there are too many nice flowing fins in your tank..

The fish i find to be a most affective snail eater is the banjo catfish Dysichthys coracoideus

Really? ...our Billy the Banjo hardly moves I never would have taken him for a snail exterminater....but I guess it makes sense, he spends most of his time lying buried in the sand not moving so he could wait for the snails to come to him.

 

[Graeme]

Any Botia loach will do the job for you. Plus others loaches. Just make sure the loach wont grow to big!! And please dont buy a loach just fot That!!









Graeme.

 

[Jamnog]

im still waiting for cm ... come on cm there must be a good cichlid i will have to look for some myself but the trickey thing is most cichlids are not verry comunity driven.
edit if you get a snail eating fish then they wont eat the big ones just the babies. thats why i agree with the whole idea i can understand people not liking an infestatiation. anyways clowns where allwaysrecomended to me for snails as banjos can get pretty big... tho i might be wrong dunno about rtbs hmm there are soo many to choose from as i think they will all kinda eat the youngest snails and after that its up to you to pick out the adults.

 

[ang7880]

Just to add...

I had the same problem. Shortly after my purchase of live plants, I noticed one tiny snail....within a week or two there were dozens more!!! I ran to the store.... got a Clown Loach... and NO MORE snails! But, they do better in groups of 3+.

 

[CFC]

anyways clowns where allwaysrecomended to me for snails as banjos can get pretty big...

Ermm..... clowns can grow to 12" and banjo cats only grow to 5" .How is a foot OK if 5" is too big?