Snail Eaters?

[richandzhaoyan]

Hi guys, thanks for your previous help and advice, alls well with my tank now. I was just wondering if anyone can suggest a decent snail eater that does not grow to clown loach sizes.

[ChilDawg]

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4742/snail_faq.html

[10_Gallons]

I have a fair number of snails in my tank, but they don't seem to be hurting anything. Most of them go around on the glass eating algae. They're the small, almost transparent ones with rounded shells... they're actually quite interesting to watch.

When I had a betta it used to eat them a lot, although it would spit them out repeatedly before actually swallowing them. Again, interesting to watch.. ;)

By the way- can you get larger snails (the size of the normal garden snails or whatever they're called) for bottom feeders?

[ChilDawg]

You can--apple snails and ramshorns would be good bets, although I don't know much about their detritus-eating habits.

[dbcb314]

a skunk botia would work. they dont get very big and they destroy snails

[NJ Devils Fan]

Yea, I can't stand all the snails in my tank, they are everywhere, on the glass, decorations, and algae covered plants. Both of these problems will be taken care of soon with about five clown loaches and some liguid fertilizers for the plants.

[carpguy]

There are lots of extremely cool loaches out there and very few that get as big as the clowns. Not that I've got anything against clowns, but they get BIG. Too big for most of the tanks they live in. 5 mature clowns will be just about all you can keep in a 75g NJ.

Zebras, Skunks, and YoYos are all just as available, not terribly pricey, and will do yeoman's work on snail patrol. Skunks have a reputation for being a little ornery, the others not so much. My zebras are some of my favorites and I think I will have loaches as long as I keep tanks, just ones that fit the tanks. Puffers are also well-known snail killers.

Snails, just like everything else, grow to the capacity of their food supply. A snail invasion might be an indicator that you're feeding too much or otherwise leaving too much edible organic material in there.

A piece of lettuce left on the bottom overnight will draw snails to it. In the morning remove the lettuce and the snails. No fish required.

[nvision]

i love snails, but i absolutely hate them for congregating in my nutrifin bubble diffuser and blocking the gas from doing its job. :mad:

[wetmanNY]

The only snails I have are Melania, two species. If I had snails that munched holes in plant leaves (like my Striped Botia do, but let's leave them be) I might feel differently.

My thought about snails is, what's the alternative? Snails represent a certain amount of nitrogen, calcium, phosphate etc., and they fulfill a role/fill a niche, processing detritus that is in particles too large to be handled by fungi and bacteria.

So, if there weren't snails in the tank, what would take their place? Flatworms, largely, in my tanks, I think.

But "Life will find a way." If the nutrient opportunity exists, it will be used. Better lots of little snails than lots of little planarians eh

[RENEGADE]

i heard crabs will eat them but i don't know for a fact and some crabs only get to 2" (RCC and fidler)

[elgecko]

RCC will eat snails, but they sould be in brackish water, and need access to air. http://www.geocities.com/elgecko1989/crab.html

For information on keeping larger snails, like the Apple snails http://www.applesnail.net/

[Firsttanks]

Puffers love snails, but they may not be compatable with your other fish:)