How Fast Do Snails Breed

[soybean]

Add the two clown loaches then. Overfeed the tank so you have a snail explosion for them to feed on. They won't reach full size because they're already stunted, and in an overfed and needlessly polluted environment, fed exclusively on snails, lonely through lack of company, they'll be dead before they do much growing.

Or you could listen to the sensible advice you've been given and don't add clown loaches. Unsuitable fish for an unsuitable tank. End of.

Snails don't do a better job than a gravel vac either.

 

[sarah40011]

if you always want some snails then you are pretty much in luck with that lol. they can increase in front of your eyes if youre chucking food at them. cutting feeding helps to a degree but tbh assassin snails are just the best things ever to control them. they keep the numbers down so they dont make your tank ugly. i think buying 'micro loaches' isnt really needed as a snail cure. assassins all the way.

 

[ProjectMayhem]

Add the two clown loaches then. Overfeed the tank so you have a snail explosion for them to feed on. They won't reach full size because they're already stunted, and in an overfed and needlessly polluted environment, fed exclusively on snails, lonely through lack of company, they'll be dead before they do much growing.

Or you could listen to the sensible advice you've been given and don't add clown loaches. Unsuitable fish for an unsuitable tank. End of.

Snails don't do a better job than a gravel vac either.

You're an idiot, you're attempting to tell me an 80 gallon tank isn't big enough for clown loaches when most people, on this site have them in 200 - 250litre tanks. The reason I'm not following the advice is because it's wrong. As for your previous post about not adding a fish for a snail problem. Firstly I don't have a problem I have 4 snails which I could kill myself. Secondly using clown loaches to eradicate snails is the most preferred method anywhere you look, unless you think everyone is wrong but you in which case you have a severe case of meglomania, you can understand why I was too polite to respond to you before.

The advice I have been following is that which actually relates to the question I asked, why anyone would claim to be helping anyone by giving advice someone didn't ask for is beyond me.

Heard the clown loaches can eat about 5 snails a day, so I should be ok when I have about 20 in the tank given the speed they breed, or should I wait till I'm up to about 30 - 40 snails?

 

[Scott MacAdam]

... I think I'm lost.

Ok, the people getting worked up here are only looking out for the best interests of the fish. Let's help eachother out here.

Just so I'm sure I'm correct, you plan to breed snails and then introduce 2 clowns to get rid of them, or keep the numbers down? You mentioned clowns as being the preferred method of eradication... I'd assume they'd just eat them all inside a week.

Also as far as the snails "cleaning". I think this is a common misconception. I mean, whatever it eats, it's going to poop out right? They may suck on the glass from time to time but it's nothing you wouldn't be able to do within 5 minutes once a month.

Honestly man, you're being lied to about those clowns sizes and to give them a good home I'd want to go at least 5x2x2... Even if the parents are stunted the young can still grow. It's not genetics.

I hope we can come to an understanding. I don't think anyone wants to be mean here. Some day we'll get advice from you on something you know more about but there are plenty of other options here.

 

[soybean]

Add the two clown loaches then. Overfeed the tank so you have a snail explosion for them to feed on. They won't reach full size because they're already stunted, and in an overfed and needlessly polluted environment, fed exclusively on snails, lonely through lack of company, they'll be dead before they do much growing.

Or you could listen to the sensible advice you've been given and don't add clown loaches. Unsuitable fish for an unsuitable tank. End of.

Snails don't do a better job than a gravel vac either.

You're an idiot, you're attempting to tell me an 80 gallon tank isn't big enough for clown loaches when most people, on this site have them in 200 - 250litre tanks. The reason I'm not following the advice is because it's wrong. As for your previous post about not adding a fish for a snail problem. Firstly I don't have a problem I have 4 snails which I could kill myself. Secondly using clown loaches to eradicate snails is the most preferred method anywhere you look, unless you think everyone is wrong but you in which case you have a severe case of meglomania, you can understand why I was too polite to respond to you before.

The advice I have been following is that which actually relates to the question I asked, why anyone would claim to be helping anyone by giving advice someone didn't ask for is beyond me.

Heard the clown loaches can eat about 5 snails a day, so I should be ok when I have about 20 in the tank given the speed they breed, or should I wait till I'm up to about 30 - 40 snails?

You can call me an idiot if you like, I don't mind, but I'm not the only one who has said your tank is too small for clown loaches. So perhaps I am not the only megalomaniac. And you actually mentioned a 125 litre in your first post, not an 80 gallon. If you plan to keep them in the smaller tank and then move them, why not just keep them in the larger tank from the start and not risk inhibiting their growth?

You don't have a problem with snails yet. But you wanted to know at what point you could add loaches to control the population. Presumably to get to the point where you want the population controlling, you would consider the numbers of snails to be quite high. If your snail numbers are high, you are overfeeding, which is a problem in itself, and adding fish isn't the solution to that.

Adding clown loaches is not the preferred method for controlling snails 'anywhere you look', except for in tanks large enough to house them and in satisfactory numbers, 6+. You don't have a tank large enough for 6+ clown loaches, given the sizes they can reach. You will struggle to find someone to agree with you that you do.

If you post in a forum asking for advice on one thing, but mention something else that needs addressing, you will get responses on that from people who are responsible fish owners wanting the best for other fish. What you want to do involves overfeeding a tank to create a snail population growth, which you then want to control with unsuitable fish, which you believe to have been bred to be small, when in reality they'll be stunted. It's hard not to comment on that really, in good conscience.

You've been offered alternative snail eaters (zebra loaches and assassin snails), by others, not just me, and you haven't responded to this, so presumably you are set on the 'only option' of two clown loaches? A real shame.

 

[fluttermoth]

You're an idiot,

Come on, OP, there's no need for personal attacks on other members, surely?

you're attempting to tell me an 80 gallon tank isn't big enough for clown loaches when most people, on this site have them in 200 - 250litre tanks.

I'm sorry, but that just isn't true. A lot of people do have clown loaches in those size tanks, yes, but a lot of us on here spend a lot of time telling them it's a problem and they need to re-home or upgrade. One of the biggest issues we deal with here is clown loach, plecs, oscars and other large fish in too small a tank. It doesn't work, and we are honour bound to mention it.
If adding clown loach is what you want to do no-one on here can stop you, it's just that with the fish's best interests in mind, we can't agree with you that it's ok.

The reason I'm not following the advice is because it's wrong.

But it's not wrong. I can't ever remember anywhere on this site anyone saying that a 90g was alright for clowns, because it's not.

As for your previous post about not adding a fish for a snail problem. Firstly I don't have a problem I have 4 snails which I could kill myself. Secondly using clown loaches to eradicate snails is the most preferred method anywhere you look, unless you think everyone is wrong but you in which case you have a severe case of meglomania, you can understand why I was too polite to respond to you before.

I'm sorry, but using clown loach to eradicate snails is in no way, shape or form the 'prefered method'. Most people will recommend a combination of trapping.crushing/reducing feeding to erdicate snails; possibly zebra loach or assassin snails; maybe, yes, even clown loach if the questioner has a massive tank, but only then.

The advice I have been following is that which actually relates to the question I asked, why anyone would claim to be helping anyone by giving advice someone didn't ask for is beyond me.

We care about fish on here, as I hope you do too, and we cannot, with a clear conscience, give advice on only one small topic, when there are clear risks to the welfare of the fish in some other, un-related area.

Heard the clown loaches can eat about 5 snails a day, so I should be ok when I have about 20 in the tank given the speed they breed, or should I wait till I'm up to about 30 - 40 snails?

I'm afraid I still don't understand the point of this whole exercise. Clown loach can't live on snails; they don't even need them in their diet and even if you had a huge tank seething with snails, the clowns would still need feeding and would probably erdicate the snails completely anyway; which you said you don't want?

 

[ProjectMayhem]

This is the point, I never once said I was only feeding the clown loaches on snails. I never said that you've just assumed, just like assuming I was stopping gravel vaccing. I will vac and feed as normal, eating the snails will be additional. Theres no point assuming I'm doing something when I'm not because it just gets my back up. Also an 80g tank isn't big enough? but you say 5x2x2 which if you bother to do the math and work out the volume of a 5x2x2 you come to about 60g, so either you're just looking at 80g which btw is 375litres 6 x 2.5 x 3. What is the problem? The 125litre I'm talking about might be too small when they get bigger but I have this 80g which isn't too small in case they do.

The reason I'm getting annoyed is because none of this has anything to do with what I asked and so isn't helpful, to me which is why I was ignoring it anyway, most of it was also assumptions that I was going to stop gravel vaccing and feeding the loaches despite not even saying it or being asked.

Back to the question, I want them in because they benefit my tank cleaning wise (in addition to my weekly water change and clean and vac) but they get out of control quite quickly, I just want to control the population without eradicating them so I can have the benefits without ending up over run. I only have 4 in there so there is no problem at the minute but if I get more than 50 there will be a problem. As most people swear by using clown loaches to get rid of the snails completely I was thinking they could be used to simply control the population if the snail population is allowed to get big enough so I can have the benefits without the disadvantages.

The clown loaches feed off snails (not soley, but if I don't say that someone will no doubt assume thats what I meant) in their Asian home but they must only eat so many without wiping out the snail population and thats what I'm after in my tank.

 

[soybean]

Nobody is saying anything to get your back up. It's to try and help. Stop being so defensive.

Ok, let's focus on your actual snail question:

"Back to the question, I want them in because they benefit my tank cleaning wise (in addition to my weekly water change and clean and vac) but they get out of control quite quickly, I just want to control the population without eradicating them so I can have the benefits without ending up over run."

The point we are trying to make which YOU don't seem to be grasping is that in order for them to 'get out of control quite quickly' and need to be controlled, you will need to be overfeeding the tank. A snail population will NOT grow on its own without excess food being available, provided by you. The benefits they provide to the tank in terms of cleaning are minute in comparison to the extra mess YOU will add to the tank in order to get the population up to the level you would like. And snails do add to the mess as well - what goes in must come out.

Do you see the point? To get your snail population up, you must overfeed the tank, which eradicates any good they might do for your tank. Therefore if you get to the point you need the population controlled, but not eradicated as you say, it's because you are doing something wrong. Excessive feeding. And the ultimate snail controller is you, not a fish, not an assassin, because it's YOU controlling their growth by how much you put in the tank.

 

[@ombomb]

but you say 5x2x2 which if you bother to do the math and work out the volume of a 5x2x2 you come to about 60g

5" = 150 cm
2" = 60cm

150 x 60 x 60 = 540000cl / 540l

540 x 0.264 = 142.56USG

The reason I'm getting annoyed is because none of this has anything to do with what I asked and so isn't helpful

if someone was asking whether they should shoot or stab someone, the correct response would be: don't do either

what you are planning is fundamentally flawed which is why people have been giving you some very useful (and accurate) information about clown loach requirements in an aquarium which is significantly removed from your plans

The clown loaches feed off snails (not soley, but if I don't say that someone will no doubt assume thats what I meant) in their Asian home but they must only eat so many without wiping out the snail population and thats what I'm after in my tank.

the two environments aren't comparable given the monumental difference in scale, clown loaches will eat every snail in the tank they can, they have no concept of "leaving some for later"

the snails do virtually no algae removal in your tank, if you are worried about a population explosion, take the advise you have been given and remove them manually and watch how much you feed your fish

 

[Tizer]

I've totally skim read this thread because its a bit of a bent one.

However, this is how i see it.

Snails can breed very fast when mature, i had 3 apple snails in my tank and they knocked out about one batch of 300 eggs every 3/4 days. I dont know how long it takes for them to reach sexual maturity but i didnt really care, all i realised is that they are worse than rabbits. So with snails, just be careful

As for Clown loaches, if you did your own research on breeding, you will find that breeding them in captivity is a somewhat non existent. From all the the research i have found myself, it suggests that they are all imported.

For someone to tell you they are breeding them "to be small" is just rubbish.

While i dont advocate for them to be kept in a small tank, juvies will be ok for a while but once they get to 3/4 inches in length (which can happen very quickly) they must go into something of a decent size. I myself have half a dozen in a 5 foot tank, 435 litres. I personally view this as a good size tank, however, i still plan to upgrade to a 6 or 7 foot tank in a couple of years time. It is actually quite rare to see foot long Clown in captivity, but that said, its not impossible.