The Effectiveness Of Clown Loaches Against Pest Snails

[crmpicco]

Like so many other fish owners on this site, I am having problems with pest snails in my tank at the moment. I took around 40 out last weekend by hand and I thought I had got pretty much them all, but I woke up on Wednesday morning to find about 20-25 of them crawling along the glass!

I read about how Aquarium Salt can be effective against these pests, but as I have Neon Tetras i've also read that Aquarium Salt doesn't sit well with these fish.

So, my question is if I get one or more Clown Loaches would they eat or kill the snails effectively and would Clown Loaches be suitable for the fish I have in my tank just now which are:

1 x High-Tailed Platy
3 x Harlequins
3 x Neon Tetras

I have a 70ltr tank.

Thanks.

 

[snazy]

Clowns are not suitable for a 70l tank I am afraid. These guys grow huge. They need 5-6 foot tanks, need to be in groups of at least 5-6 specimens not to be stressed and a 70L tank is just a no,no. They are pieceful and won't attack anything but are hyper active and may just push around other fish at feeding time by accident. As for snail effectiveness, all my snails were gone two days after I put the clowns in and I had many. Unfortunately, they like eating my plants too, at least the soft leaved ones.

 

[crmpicco]

Clowns are not suitable for a 70l tank I am afraid. These guys grow huge. They need 5-6 foot tanks, need to be in groups of at least 5-6 specimens not to be stressed and a 70L tank is just a no,no. They are pieceful and won't attack anything but are hyper active and may just push around other fish at feeding time by accident. As for snail effectiveness, all my snails were gone two days after I put the clowns in and I had many. Unfortunately, they like eating my plants too, at least the soft leaved ones.

Ah, that's a shame. I thought that would have been a good solution.

Since aquarium salt is not recommended due to the Neon Tetras, what else would be advisable to rid my tank of these pest snails?

 

[angelfishguy]

Weigh lettuce down at night and in the morning there should be snails on it, then through it out and repeat until theyre gone.

 

[crmpicco]

Weigh lettuce down at night and in the morning there should be snails on it, then through it out and repeat until theyre gone.

I've heard of the lettuce trick.

The problem is there seems to be snail eggs in various places in the tank. They look like transparent slimey balls that are stuck to the glass, filter, plants etc. I'm assuming that they are breeding at a rate that I can't keep up with.

Are there any other species of fish that will go after the snails?

 

[Davo86]

Assassin snails or dwarf chain loach,

Scrape off any eggs you find and net them out, then have a really good gravel clean, then starve the tank for two days and then add a green lettuce leaf at lights out,

That should encourage the vast majority of leftover snails onto the leaf for you to dispose of.

 

[Baccus]

Depending on the type of snail (I am guessing rams horns) than Pakastani (yo-yo) loaches are very good and my dwarf chain loaches are starting to really develop the taste the snails and the eggs. Pakastani loaches are also social and can be largish but not in the league of clown loaches, Dwarf chain loaches (again social) are alot smaller and very inquizative about everything in thier tank, mine often buzz the tetras just for the fun of it, No damage and nothing nasty they just like swiming around in the various levels of the tank more than other loaches.

 

[snazy]

Clowns are not suitable for a 70l tank I am afraid. These guys grow huge. They need 5-6 foot tanks, need to be in groups of at least 5-6 specimens not to be stressed and a 70L tank is just a no,no. They are pieceful and won't attack anything but are hyper active and may just push around other fish at feeding time by accident. As for snail effectiveness, all my snails were gone two days after I put the clowns in and I had many. Unfortunately, they like eating my plants too, at least the soft leaved ones.

Ah, that's a shame. I thought that would have been a good solution.

Since aquarium salt is not recommended due to the Neon Tetras, what else would be advisable to rid my tank of these pest snails?

Just cut down on food. The amount of snails is proportional to the food you put in and if there is infestation of snails than you are feeding too much. Only one of my three tanks got overrun and that was because I was overfeeding. It was on purpose though as it's full of bottom feeders and the smaller ones don't get anything if I don't put the extra bits. I can barely see snails in my other tanks, only if I search for them I'll see a couple at a time and it's been like that for a year. It's a good idea to skip a day here and there without feeding too.

 

[lolobunnz]

I agree with davo86. Assassin snails for the win. Eatch the youtube vids. Look pretty efficient