Snail infestation. Are chain loaches the answer.

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Northern_Union

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Hi all,
This is my first message here. We brought a second hand 24 gallon tank recently, got everything set up correctly and have lost only one neon tetra in a month. What we didn't realize when we brought the tank is that two rams horn snails were coming free of charge so now a month on we have a lot of baby snails. In fact we have pulled out around 50 in the last few days.
So basically what I want to ask is this. We have nine neon tetra, nine pristella x-ray tetra, seven guppies and one bristlenose pleco in the tank. Can the tank support another five chain loaches without over loading it or causing the quality of life for the fish already in there to diminish?
Thanks in advance.
 
Loach will messing with your fish, don’t add them. I recommend you buy the snail trap.
 

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Hi all,
This is my first message here. We brought a second hand 24 gallon tank recently, got everything set up correctly and have lost only one neon tetra in a month. What we didn't realize when we brought the tank is that two rams horn snails were coming free of charge so now a month on we have a lot of baby snails. In fact we have pulled out around 50 in the last few days.
So basically what I want to ask is this. We have nine neon tetra, nine pristella x-ray tetra, seven guppies and one bristlenose pleco in the tank. Can the tank support another five chain loaches without over loading it or causing the quality of life for the fish already in there to diminish?
Thanks in advance.
This pleco will grow far too large to live in a tank of this size. I hope you have another place to move it to and this is only temporary.
 
It is never a good idea to buy a fish just to solve a problem. You should only buy fish that you want for themselves.


Snails are an important part of a tank's ecosystem, they are only a problem when their numbers get out of control. The reason they get out of control is because they have too much food. If you overfeed the fish, the snails will eat the left over food so make sure you don't overfeed. Keep the bottom of the tank free from uneaten food and fish poop. If you have gravel on the bottom of the tank, make sure you clean that by pushing the siphon tube right down into the gravel during a water change.


You can also make your own snail trap using a jar with a lid. Punch holes in the lid from the outside so that spikes from the holes go inwards into the jar. The holes should be big enough for snails to get in, but small enough so the fish can't. Last thing at night, add something vegetable to the jar and sink it in the tank, laying it on its side. Lettuce is ideal.
The idea is that during the night, snails will go into the jar to eat the veg, but the spikes round the holes will stop them getting out. Next morning, just remove the jar and dispose of the contents. repeat every night for as long as you want.
 
It is never a good idea to buy a fish just to solve a problem. You should only buy fish that you want for themselves.


Snails are an important part of a tank's ecosystem, they are only a problem when their numbers get out of control. The reason they get out of control is because they have too much food. If you overfeed the fish, the snails will eat the left over food so make sure you don't overfeed. Keep the bottom of the tank free from uneaten food and fish poop. If you have gravel on the bottom of the tank, make sure you clean that by pushing the siphon tube right down into the gravel during a water change.


You can also make your own snail trap using a jar with a lid. Punch holes in the lid from the outside so that spikes from the holes go inwards into the jar. The holes should be big enough for snails to get in, but small enough so the fish can't. Last thing at night, add something vegetable to the jar and sink it in the tank, laying it on its side. Lettuce is ideal.
The idea is that during the night, snails will go into the jar to eat the veg, but the spikes round the holes will stop them getting out. Next morning, just remove the jar and dispose of the contents. repeat every night for as long as you want.
Thank you that's a great idea for a snail trap.
 
So basically what I want to ask is this. We have nine neon tetra, nine pristella x-ray tetra, seven guppies and one bristlenose pleco in the tank. Can the tank support another five chain loaches without over loading it or causing the quality of life for the fish already in there to diminish?

The quick answer to your question here is, no. All botine loaches require a group of at least five (they are highly social and need to develop an hierarchy) and a 25g is insufficient for this regardless of the other fish.

As others have said, acquiring a fish to deal with a "problem" is never the best course of action, and almost always makes things much, much worse for the poor fish.
 
I have a snail infestation in my 55 gallon tank. I captured them when they would climb up the side of my tank to get air. I must have captured around 80 to 100 and put them in a spare tank until I decide what to do with them. I also cut back on how much food I was feeding my fish. I have 6 nerites snails in the tank also. I now catch 3-4 a day. I may give them to a friend with a pond.
 
Besides what others say my chain loaches aren't even much good at catching snails.

Oh and my bristle nose is just over 7 inches.
 
The quick answer to your question here is, no. All botine loaches require a group of at least five (they are highly social and need to develop an hierarchy) and a 25g is insufficient for this regardless of the other fish.

As others have said, acquiring a fish to deal with a "problem" is never the best course of action, and almost always makes things much, much worse for the poor fish.
Most of them are lazy too :unsure:
 
Besides what others say my chain loaches aren't even much good at catching snails.

Oh and my bristle nose is just over 7 inches.

I have read that Ambastaia sidthimunki is somewhat less inclined to actively hunt down/out snails compared to some of the larger botine loaches. My group of five which I have now had for eight or nine years has not seemd overly effective when it comes to snails; not that this was the aim at all, but I have pond snails and MLS in my tanks and the Botia kubotai were much more effective at keeping the snails fewer, by which I mean I saw very few in that tank by comparison. Just an observation.

The Bristlenose is in the genus Ancistrus, and the precise taxonomy and origin of the common "bristlenose" is unknown; some authorities believe it may be a hybrid of other species. Several selectively bred varieties exist, including the albino and long-fin forms. Size can vary according to the actual species; when I was writing my profile of the "common" bristlenose I gave five inches (7.5 cm) as the largest with many species not exceeding three or four inches. I think I took this from Seriously Fish. Fishbase has 112 Ancistrus species listed, not including the numbered undescribed species in Planet Catfish. Not knowing the exact species it is rather difficult to say much more.
 
Lots of questions about snails today! Having said that my bristlenose was about 5 inches maybe 6, never seen a full grown under 4.
Having said that surprised no one has brought up that guppies are hard water fish and tetras soft water, having said that guppies are pretty hardy and adaptable where as tetras will suffer in harder water so as long as your water is more towards what the tetras need than the water isnt as much an issue. Good luck with those snails
 

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