Snails - tiger barb brunch?

[Grundy]

I have noticed one large and at least 8 small snails in my 10 gallon quaratine tank (currently no fish or plants otherwise). These snails have a spiral shell and the largest shell is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in length.Couple of questions:
1. Would these guys survive in my main tank? (see sig below)
2. Would they be beneficial or just a pest?
3. Would they compete with my oto's?
Thanks! :)

[CaitxSith]

don't tiger barbs eat snails? but then, never use animals for pest control ;)
I'm going with they don't eat plants, just that we need pics...
and if they compete, feed them veggies, for pete's sake! :D

[Tommy Gun]

don't tiger barbs eat snails? but then, never use animals for pest control ;)
I'm going with they don't eat plants, just that we need pics...
and if they compete, feed them veggies, for pete's sake! :D


Tiger barbs dont, but most loaches do and clown loaches really love them but they could only be temp residents of the tank becaues they would eventually get too big and are better in groups of three.

Some snails do benifit a tank, especially with a sand substrate, but quite a few of them (if not all) have the ability to breed super fast and in big numbers and can quickly take a tank over. If it is a q-tank, you may or may not want to get them out of there. Do a google or yahoo image search for aquatic snails or freshwater snails to see if you can pick out the type. You can also get products like "had-a-snail" to get rid of them, but I believe that these are copper based meds and would result in you having a problem keeping snails or inverts in the future. This is not so much a problem with freshwater though as it is in salty tanks.

[Shocker6966]

but quite a few of them (if not all) have the ability to breed super fast and in big numbers and can quickly take a tank over.

Also of interest, most if not all are asexual - so just having one won't help control as they can reproduce independently.

[Grundy]

I'm not too cncerned about them in the current tank - if needed, I could always drop some veges in and scoop them out the next day. My real question is: would they be beneficial (or harmful) in my 125 gallon in the current configuration?

[Grundy]

Hello? :huh: Anyone?

[khombre]

Hello there, with regards to the first question, originally, my tiger barbs didn't bother with the snails in the tank. The snails are small ones, common pond snails perhaps? But when I introduced clown loaches into the tank, I caught some of them in the act of eating snails. Kinda like sucking the snails from the inside of the shell, same way I see how my clown loaches eat them snails. Could have been a sort of acquired behavior from the loaches but well, what I'm trying to say is that I've seen them eat some. Good luck :cool:

[sarcare]

I've seen my tiger barbs try to eat snails--I know they've killed a lot of snails, but mine are still smallish, so they can't get a good grip on even the smaller snails. You have more space in your tank, so the snails might be fine. I wouldn't worry about the snails outcompeting the otos, but with your barbs there probably isn't a lot of excess food at the bottom of the tank leading to a population explosion of snails. I know my barbs pick through the gravel to eat any excess food.

[Grundy]

I've seen my tiger barbs try to eat snails--I know they've killed a lot of snails, but mine are still smallish, so they can't get a good grip on even the smaller snails. You have more space in your tank, so the snails might be fine. I wouldn't worry about the snails outcompeting the otos, but with your barbs there probably isn't a lot of excess food at the bottom of the tank leading to a population explosion of snails. I know my barbs pick through the gravel to eat any excess food.

Yeah, the tigers do a good job of keeping the bottom clean. However, they are definitely outdone by the rosies - they are eating machines. This is why I try to feed some sinking food after the lights are out 2-3 times per week for the cories and otos.

[tjBlotto]

You probably shouldn't put snails in your tank. They are the most frusterating thing to get rid of and they kill your fry. I've been hand picking them out of my old tank for months and I come back a week later and there's hundreds of new baby snails.

Putting a snail in my tank.
Biggest mistake ever.

[pbecot01]

If you don't overfeed, and you're patient for your tank to reach equilibrium, they can be beneficial. They do a good job in my large tank cleaning detritus and small amounts of algea off the plants. There were a lot in the beginning, and then they leveled out to the point where while they're in there, you have to look for them.

I probably wouldn't intentionally introduce them since the population explosion can be a pain... but once it's over I like having them.