Fish that eat snails?

[Mykayel]

What are some good fish that will eat snails. I cleaned out quite a few of them from my planted 55g last night, but if there is a fish that will keep the population under control, I'd rather go that route.

 

[blitzen25bm]

loaches and puffers eat snails, depending on your current fish you will probably go with loaches.

 

[phanmc]

Most loaches are excellent at keeping the snail population down, I recommend yoyo loaches for a 55g tank.

 

[Fishgovno]

Any loach will do but I think the burmese border loach are very nice and easy to keep.

 

[OrionGirl]

Or, reduce feedings and increase cleanings to remove the nutrients available that are feeding the snails.

 

[ncgoldfish]

heh

i've a lovely crop of pond (egg laying beasts that they are) and mystery snails in a 10 gal tank - i've seen baby guppies and platies plucking at the egg sacks.

in the 67 (approx) have mystery snails but after throwing handfuls of pond snail in that tank to get them started, not one has survived.

angels and gouramis spit them out but swear i've seen my biggest rainbow eat a bunch.

does anyone know if large rainbows will eat small pond snails?

spotted climbing perch eats anything, he's built like a tank (prolly why he has that guilty fish look.)

 

[Emg]

The yoyo is a good loach for snails, especially if your tank isn't really big. They only grow to about 4 inches and will also do well by themselves, without any other yoyo buddies....unlike the clown, which is happier in a group and also grows quite a bit larger.

 

[daveedka]

If it's a small tank, try Ghost shrimp or cherry shrimp. They both seem to wreak havoc on the ability for snails to reproduce in a tank. the large snails remain, but no new babies appear. you can then keep a few snails for algea cleaners or remove the big ones until all are gone.
Dave

 

[Leopardess]

I suggest you take Orion's advice. Snail populations, by necessity, are inherently proportional to the food source. Remove the food source and you remove the snails. Decrease the food and you decrease the snails. A snail explosion often indicates an over abundance of organic matter in the tank. Gravel vac really well a few times, do some water changes, and make sure not to over feed

Some snails are a good thing. They add biodiversity to the tank, help eat waste food, clean algae, etc.