Snail controlling fish

[iamzrad]

You all know the story. Buy a couple of snails and within weeks, you have a million of them.
I need a snail controlling fish to keep the population down. This is all in my community tank and the fish in there don't bother with the snails. I mostly have Tetra's, Danio's, Rasbora's, Apisto's and Cory's.
I heard clown loaches take care of this problem, but I think they will too big for my tank, given that my largest fish is a 3" diamond tetra.

Any ideas?

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

a puffer will do it just ask danger chicken lol! he actively searches for snails to supplement his diet. also mainganos and electric blue johannis tear them up as well. i couldnt keep mystery snails long with these.

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

Rhoadesii and Tretocephalus are good snail eaters also but wouldn't mix with the community setup. DQ's right about the puffer, but most are brackish water. If you don't have a decent salt content, there is one true freshwater amazon puffer, but they aren't always readily available. What size tank? Clown loaches grow very slowly, they wiped out a 55 gallon tank full of snails for me in a few weeks. I think skunk loaches eat them also and don't grow as big.

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

Here is a partial list of some fish that are reported to eat snails in no particular order. This list was compiled from various sources including books, magazine articles, Usenet, web pages, and reports from other aquarists. I only have first hand knowledge with Clown Loaches and Bettas from this list. Others surely exist and if anyone would like to add to this list, please email me with the details.

BAA#:### = Baensch Aquarium Atlas volume #: page ### (Tetra Press editions)

• Clown Loaches (Botia macracantha) notes: community fish, schooling. BAA1:370
• Skunk Loach (Botia morleti, formerly Botia horae) (some say better than the Clown L.) BAA1:368
• Puffers (Tetraodon species) notes: aggressive, keep alone.
• Banjo catfish (Bunocephalus species)
• Malawi Cichlids (Pseudotropheus & Melanochromis)
• African Butterfly or Thomas' Cichlid (Anomalochromis thomasi). BAA1:748
• Malawi Cichlids (Pseudotropheus & Melanochromis species)
• Yellow Labs, Electric Yellow (Labidochromis caeruleus) (Malawi Cichlid)
• Chocolate Cichlid (Cichlasoma coryphaenoides / C. hellabruni)
• Asian Bumblebee catfish (Leiocassis siamensis) BAA2:450
• Giant Gourami (Osphronemus goramy) notes: VERY large, not recommended!
• Betta/Fighting Fish (Betta splendens) notes: some do, some don't. BAA1:632
• Keyhole cichlid (Aequidens maronii). BAA1:668.
• Black ghost knifefish (Gymnotidae family)
• various Lake Tanganyika Synodontis catfish species
• Red Devil Cichlid (Amphilophus labiatus) (C.America)
• Slender Bumphead Cichlid (Steatocranus gibbiceps) (Tanganyika)
• Black-Banded Leporinus (Leporinus fasciatus) S. American, large, may eat smaller fish.

These are listed in a book I have (Drs. Andrew & Baensch) as being snail eaters, but one person who has bred both claims they do not eat snails.

• Opaline/Blue/Three Spot Gouramis (Trichogaster trichopterus)
• Convict cichlids (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum) BAA1:690
• Banjo Catfish (Bunocephalus knerii) (he didn't breed these but kept them)

In addition, most other Botia species eat snails as well, but I didn't list any specific ones other than Clown & Skunk Loaches. Also it is a good bet that a large percentage of African cichlids will eat snails besides the ones listed above.

From:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4742/snail_faq.html

 

[iamzrad]

This is for my 45gal planted, community of SA/CA. I want most of the smaller snails gone because I could use the big ones as algae control.

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

Skunk loaches don't get too big and would be fine in that size tank. Otherwise, there are a few catfish species listed above. Loaches and puffers are the only ones I can personally vouch for eating snails. I may throw a johanni and syno in my tanks with snail problems to see if they live up to it.

 

[msjinkzd]

What kind of snails? They should die out without an ample food source so reducing feedings while increasing maintenance should help. If you just want to rid yourself of some, i wouldnt' recommend adding a snail eating creature. I would take a 1L water bottle, cut off the top right where it flares, invert it and silicone it together. Then add a piece of blanched veggie to inside the bottle. Drop it in at lights out and remove it a few hours later. This will bait most of them out and you can repeat it frequently to remove the majority.

 

[danger_chicken]

You can add Oscars to your snail eating list. Mine suck up MTS and you can hear them crunching up the shell. There are several full fresh water puffers but most get big. The ones that are small will probably be fin nippers.

 

[livingwatersaquarium]

Great info everyone. I'll have to try it.

Gerard

 

[iamzrad]

The snails are mostly from the Melanoides family. But there are a couple of baby nerite snails as well.

 

[maddog10]

Zebra Loaches stay small and handle the small snails pretty well.