I Just Don't Believe It!

[GrumpyJohn]

So, many, many months ago I found a few snails in my tank. A quick visit to the LFS and I returned with two little YoYo loaches that soon put paid to the snails. Over time these grew to around 3.0"-3.5" long; I never saw another snail.
 
Later on I purchased a young fire eel which has lived happily beside the YoYo's until it started to grow, and then one YoYo decided that it would bully the fire eel when feeding. I have always intended to keep the fire eel with the view of moving the loaches on to a friend. Not wanting to make the fire eel shy I decided to pass on the loaches sooner rather than later. This I did on Wednesday evening.
 
Wednesday night I noticed a snail in my tank; tonight I have more than several. I don't believe it!!
 
Heck knows where they have come from but they have to go.
 
I'm looking for some larger tank mates for my fire eel and I need to get rid of the snails. I'm liking the Clown Loach and the Blue Botia, both which grow to a size that would stop them being lunch for a fire eel. My plan is to get a couple of small ones now and see how things pan out as they grow alongside the fire eel.
 
Which would be the best option; clown loach or blue botia? I like the look for both and will have a tank large enough for a couple of either (assuming these are OK in a couple) in due course.
 
Your opinions appreciated please..
 
Thanks
 
John

 

[Ch4rlie]

A couple of Assassin snails will help to get rid of your pest snails. Obviously not as quick to get at the snails as your loaches did but still.....

 

[GrumpyJohn]

Reports I've heard vary on the effectiveness of assassin snails; some say they work, others say they just bury themselves in the sand. I can't vouch for either view as I've not kept them as I have never really fancied them in my tank for some reason.
 
John

 

[Ch4rlie]

I have 2 assassin snails in my tank when I found I was being overrun by pest snails, had about 20! Now theres only a few pest snails, maybe 5 or 6 now, granted it did take about 2 months but a good controller of pest snail population.
 
Now my assassin snails are breeding......

 

[Shelster]

They hide in the sand when they predate upon other snails. They are very effective.

Clown laches need 6+ I'm afraid.

How big is your tank?

 

[JoshM22]

Keep in mind that if you want loaches, they will need to be in a school. Assassin Snails have done the trick for me in the past. You can also try the lettuce method.

 

[SarahR]

I too can vouch for assassins.  I had a monstrous population of ramshorns in the Bristlenose breeding tank due to the mountain of driftwood and plentiful supply of food (they thrive on the same veg the plecos enjoy).  The assassins took a little while, but they are definitely effective.  They are also attractive snails IMO.
I do believe they prey on eggs/wigglers however if they run low on snails, so be aware of that possibility before introducing them.  I have them only in bare bottom tanks, so I can find and remove most of them after the ramshorns are gone.  I wouldn't want to have to search for them in a tank with substrate.  

 

[ech0o]

Clown loaches are less requiring of a school than the smaller loaches are, although they would still much prefer it over fewer numbers.  Also, they get to 16" long, good luck keeping a school of 16" fish LOL.  The botias would be much more of a fit, they usually only max out at about half the size of the clown, and you could stick a few in.

 

[Starfishy6660]

I am new to this hobby only having had my fish tank for a year. This is my first post on any forum. I too had a problem with snails they ame with my plants... I bought 3 Yoyo Loaches at the weekend and I can only see a few snails left. The Yoyo Loaches are so sweet and get along well with my panda and albino Catfish.
 
Why did you get rid of yours? Is there a problem with Yoyo Loaches? The Fish shop said they were good community fish. Also is 3 enough? I have read elsewhere that you need 5?

 

[ShinySideUp]

Don't get Clown Loaches unless you want a lifelong committment to getting ever larger tanks. I bought some and have moved from a 120 litr when they were small through a four-footer to a six foot, 700 litre tank and even now when they get a spurt on they can get from one end of the tank to the other in just over a second and they are only six inches long at the moment.

 

[GrumpyJohn]

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.
 

How big is your tank?

 
Current tank is 150 litres but I have a 4' x 2' x 2' waiting in the wings for the eel as it grows.
 

Clown loaches are less requiring of a school than the smaller loaches are, although they would still much prefer it over fewer numbers.  Also, they get to 16" long, good luck keeping a school of 16" fish LOL.  The botias would be much more of a fit, they usually only max out at about half the size of the clown, and you could stick a few in.

 
Really!?! In an aquarium?!? I have seen a pair of adults that were approaching 30 years old and they were nowhere near that size. Seriously Fish states an average adult size of 200 - 305mm to be found in its native rivers, and nothing greater than that has been found in aquaria. If you've got (or seen) a monster of 400mm report it now!
 
However, whether they grow to 6" or 16" I still wouldn't want a school of them.
 

Why did you get rid of yours? Is there a problem with Yoyo Loaches? 

 
No, they were no problem at all apart from one started to hassle my young fire eel as it was feeding. My aim has always been to keep the fire eel to maturity and I therefore didn't want it to get shy, especially at feeding time which it is doing nicely out of my hand.
 
Since my opening post I have looked around, talked to various keepers, etc and decided to go neither route. I have decided on using a chemical remover and see how that goes.
 
Thanks again.
 
John

 

[ShinySideUp]

Clown loaches are unlikely to grow to sixteen inches in captivity but I sense from your reaction to echoo's post that you may have heard the hype put about by LFS's that "they limit their growth to suit the size of the aquarium". This is a patent (perhaps even blatant) lie, or great ignorance on behalf of those fish shop owners. They do grow if they can and if they can't, they get stressed and have much shorter lifespans.
 
However, you have decided on your course of action so I will add no more about Clown loaches.

 

[GrumpyJohn]

Clown loaches are unlikely to grow to sixteen inches in captivity but I sense from your reaction to echoo's post that you may have heard the hype put about by LFS's that "they limit their growth to suit the size of the aquarium". This is a patent (perhaps even blatant) lie, or great ignorance on behalf of those fish shop owners. They do grow if they can and if they can't, they get stressed and have much shorter lifespans.
 
However, you have decided on your course of action so I will add no more about Clown loaches.

 
No, not at all. What I do believe is that the quoted (by specialists, scientists, researchers, etc) size of fish is that which it could grow to in it's ideal habitat, perfect water conditions, absolute ideal food sources, etc., more than likely based on the largest found. The sizes quoted by amateur fish-keepers are (I believe) mostly based on hear-say, what they've read, what they've been told, inaccurate measuring (how many owners get their fish out to measure them properly rather than try to measure them swimming around a tank?)  or just plain old exaggeration. Yes, maybe in an ideal world, a clown loach could get to 16" (but one has not, apparently, been recorded of that size), but in the aquarium I very much doubt it.
 
As for what the LFS tells me - I'm far too old to believe a salesperson ;-)
 
John

 

[snazy]

Just leave the snails alone. If you are hand feeding the eel, then there'll be no left over food for the snail population to feed on and their numbers will be always low. Personally I don't have any issues with snails and in the last tank I setup I introduced a variety of snails on purpose, was warned by everyone as usual that they'll overtake the tank but it still hasn't happened I barely see them and I've got pond snails, Malaysian trumpet snails and rams horn snails.  The pond snails I've had for years in all tanks. The clown loach tank does not have visible snails but I find the occasional one in the filters so they can't kill them all. With snails its always about overfeeding and bad maintenance of the tank, they flourish in these conditions.

 

[GrumpyJohn]

Just leave the snails alone. If you are hand feeding the eel, then there'll be no left over food for the snail population to feed on and their numbers will be always low. Personally I don't have any issues with snails and in the last tank I setup I introduced a variety of snails on purpose, was warned by everyone as usual that they'll overtake the tank but it still hasn't happened

I barely see them and I've got pond snails, Malaysian trumpet snails and rams horn snails.  The pond snails I've had for years in all tanks. The clown loach tank does not have visible snails but I find the occasional one in the filters so they can't kill them all. With snails its always about overfeeding and bad maintenance of the tank, they flourish in these conditions.

 
So I'm over feeding and badly maintaining my tank then!!
 
I'm very careful about feeding (so as to not over feed - and I do have other fish in there so I don't hand feed them all) and my tank is properly maintained with regular water changes, an efficient filter, regular 'hoovering' etc. I had none until a short while ago, first spotted a few days after I added a couple of new acquisitions and I believe that is where the snails have come from.
 
I don't want snails, pure and simple, and they will have to go.