Snail Problem, Any Tips?

[tqfan]

after buying some plants, a snail appeared in the tank. a few days later, i noticed another snail, and since then, well, let's just say the snails outweigh the fish

asked local pet store (not the one i got said plants/snails from) and the girl said 3 things...

1) use the chemical stuff, but it could also kill your fish (so i said no thanks to that)

2) get a clown loach, the love snails. got one in another tank, will see if he likes them...

3) put cucumber in a jar in the bottom of your tank overnight and in the morning all the snails will be in the jar...

so first i tried the cucumber in the jar method, sounded easy! it killed 3 fish, clouded the water and not one snail was in the jar

so i moved on to the clown loach method. i did try catching some snails and putting them in the tank with the clown loach, and so far those i've put in have disappeared, but not sure if that was the loach or the various tetras...

so my question is, do clown loach's really eat snails? i've been thinking of getting one for the snail ridden tank.

if they do, do they eat ALL snails, or just little ones? may sound stupid but there's a couple of big snails (about 2cms, not big, but big compared to the others!) i'd like to keep if possible.

or, any other ideas you can throw my way?

 

[kewskills]

Clown Loaches will definitley eat the snails
If its a fully grown Clown it will probably eat even the biggest snails you have.

You get other smaller Loaches/Botia that are smaller and will keep your snail population under control.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

2 fish which are great at eating snails which are small are
1)skunk loach (but can be quite nippy to other fish so not for community aquarium)
2)humbug catfish (peacefull)

 

[loachman]

How did the cucumber in a jar turn out so poorly?

Just about all the loaches of the genus botia and yasuhikotakia will put a serious dent in a snail problem. Clown loaches IMO are the worst as a "snail eater." Not because they dont' eat snails, it's that they're just too big to be suitable for most hobbiest tanks.

Easiest way to tell if they're eating any is to look for empty snail shells while cleaning. Loaches will suck out the snail out of the shell by its foot.

 

[Matt_northants]

Botia Striata IMO is the best snail eater.

 

[tqfan]

the loach we have atm is just over 2 inches long, (he's the only fish that keeps the knifefish in check!) so i thought some of the snails might be a bit big for him.

haven't seen any shells in his tank, however the snails i put in beside him have been on the small side, so that's probably why i can't see shells in the gravel (just double checked, can't see any).

no idea why the cucumber in the jar never worked your guess is as good as mine!

haven't seen in skunk loaches in the local shops, although i can always ask if they can source them. tbh, can't actually think of any other loaches they stock atm, they'll be the fish they sell quickly, think it's thursday they get new stock, so i'll be visiting them later in the week, see what they have.

are there any sites out there that have good info about snails? be good to find out a bit more about them.

thanks for everyone's help, though