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I have a queen botia that keeps the snail population down to "reasonable" - 4 or 5 larger ones and thats it.

Well, thankyou for all you're help, but i think that i can hand this post over to RedBarron now.
You see, i loved the Corys , and when i went to my LFS there was such a gourgeous little Albino Girl i couldn't stop my self. i now have two (and yes, i will up their numbers) However, the little Albino Girl was swimming all over my plant, and she has eaten all of the snail eggs, so i only have the live ones in there now. Who would of thought, it was the Corys that solved my snail problems.... Anyway, RedBaron, The people here have given very good advice so far. Thankyou for your help everyone! The snails are gone now. (Also, they have no Rams at my LFS, so that wouldn't of been much help, in fact, they had hardly anything at my LFS, so...)

Thankyou again,
BNF

Just to comment, I have 5 Bolivian Rams,
and I have never once seen them eat a snail.
German Blues may though - I have never kept them.
I keep Platies at 28C, and they dont "melt"
they arent the wicked witch of the east - "im melting im meeellllllttttinnnngggg eeehhheeehhheee"
Sorry .

I think the load of
3 Platies
1 Blue Ram
2 Ottos

Is the best. Personally, looking at the size of my Alpha Male Bolivian Ram at 4 inches - I doubt he would be very happy in any less than a 30g tank. Bolivians are quite large in comparison to a Blue Ram.
I tried mine for a breeding run in a 10g tank, and they were very unhappy and didnt eat for 9 days, after which I moved them back to my 75g tank.I dont think a 15 would have been much different.


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well, as everyone suggested, German Blue rams work pretty well. they are sensative to water quality, but no doubt they make a colorfull centerpiece fish.

My deepest appologies for interupting the thread, but I am also looking for a snail eating fish for a small aquarium. I have a 20H, moderate to heavily planted tank with 3.25 wpg, 5 Neon Tetras and 2 SAEs (yes these are true SAE).

Future plans include a school of Black Neon Tetras and a centerpiece fish. I am hoping to find a centerpiece fish that will eat snails and is also very colorful. Any suggestions?

My Aquarium

Last edited by RedBaron at 22-Jan-2006 14:02

honestly, i would go with the load out i suggested since you got another male. the ottos and corys need to be in groups to be happy, and in a 15 gallon its just too much commotion on the bottom. i know you want to get both, but for the sake of your fish i am advising against it. i am really in favor of a small school of tiny hearty fish such as white cloud minnows, and then a single bolivian ram.

again, this is your tank, but i am just going off my own personal experience to give you advice as to what would work best.

Problem:
One of my platies is a girl ] she curled her anal fin up when i bought her, so she looked like a boy, and it's too late to take her back now. (Shop guy said she was a boy, but i love her now) I know that this means that i will have to get another female, and skip on the tetras. Now, i DON'T intend on breeding them, but i know i have to have 1m per 2f to stop the male harrassing the female. By 'Waste' i ment food that fell down, and i know that any 'scavengers' are entiteled to their own food.
This also probably means i am going to have to skip the tetras, dosen't it.

So that means something like
3 platies
2 ottos
1 ram

OR

3 platies
2 ottos
3 Corys????

Please help. thanks for suggestions.

BNF


Edit: Female died, getting another male today, stocked information needed as before.

Last edited by BlackNeonFerret at 22-Jan-2006 06:05

ok, if the platies eat your algae and you dont have a big algae problem, then drop the ottos. if you get corys, get rid of the ram. he will chase them off at feeding time.

no fish feed on "waste"...corys or rams will eat food from the bottom that the plattys miss when they are fed, but, no wish will eat bio waste...poo that is...at least none that i know of.

my suggestion... if you have snail problems, get the ram. forget the corys. keep your 2 platys, and get some very small dither fish like white cloud minnows or neon tetras.

so, here is the suggestion:

5 neon tetras
1 bolivian ram(and yes they eat snails and food that falls to the bottom, you will still need to get some shrimp pellets or other sinking food to suppliment though, they are hungery buggers and love to eat)
2plattys

loadout 2:

6 white cloud minnows(fairly heardy, readily available)
1 Bolivian Ram
2 Plattys


the ram shouldnt be agressive with any of the other fish, he prolly wont leave the bottom, however, in that small of a space he WILL chase the corys away from food. he prolly wont do serious damage, but due to the small school and being picked on, the corys wont be happy, and cause he wont have territory the ram will be more agressive than normal, and wont be happy either. ottos arent needed, and will add to problems and overstock the tank. they are also fragile and need schools.

corys can be kept by themselves, they just wont be very happy, and i wouldnt get even a few corys with a ram in a 15, too crowded apoun further review. try that, it should work out well, change your water once a week, 30% of it at a time, and all should be well.

Okay then, thankyou for the suggestions.

Do the Bolivians eat snails, or just German???

And also, is there any way i could keep the Corydoras???
(Love themand i heard somewhere they would be okay in groups of 3...i may be wrong though.)

Any other comments/suggestions welcome - PLEASE!

BNF

Edit: It's just that i need something for waste food. Could i maybe drop the ottos, because my platies seem to eat algea, and use an algea scraper for the rest, and then up the corydoras, so it was something like

1 Ram
2 Platies
4 Corydoras

Or is this mayjorly overstocked. Going to LFS TODAY/tommorrow, so i kind of need suggestions SOON.

Thankyou BNF

Last edited by BlackNeonFerret at 21-Jan-2006 02:59

Edit: Ah, lots of bottom fish, HELP, i really don't know what to do now. I need something for waste food aswell, so now i am really stumped. I also need something for algea, but my platies do that, but they seem to like to hang around the bottom aswell.
Or are there any small botia that eat snails, and waste food, and then maybe i could have some blck neons to fill up the middle??? That get on with my two platies????
But then i'd probably need a solitary botia, and it would still be pushing it. HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!! I am really confused

Last edited by BlackNeonFerret at 21-Jan-2006 03:07

Edit: Is the tank overstocked because the rams are teratorial, or because it just is????
Sorry for all the questions. The thing is aswell though, because most of the fish hang around the bottom, they would be very cramped. Can anyone then suggest a suitable scheme, (thankyou to those who already have) That i cpuld stock my tank with (preferably including the corys)
Tankyou BNF

Last edited by BlackNeonFerret at 21-Jan-2006 03:13

may i make a suggestion to that loadout? drop the corydoras since you have a small tank. my bolivian ram never leaves the bottom, no sence in crowding it, besides, while there is argument about the magic number of corys to keep in a school, my personal experience is that 3 just isnt enough and they are shy and skiddish.

my proposed loadout to you is:

2 platies
3 ottos
1 Bolivian Ram(two get territorial in a 30 gallon or larger, i think if it was a male and female pair, they would kill your platties in a 15 gallon. if it was male male they shouldnt kill anything or eachother, but they would most likely not get along with anything in the tank or themselves...they are from family chiclidae after all. besides, even if you step up to 30% weekly water changes everyone would be cramped with your loadout)


i have a single ram in my tank, and as long as you float him for a good 15 minutes or longer and slowly acclimate him to the water by allowing your tanks water to trickle into his bag, he should be fine. keep up with the water changes. also, your platies should be ok at a lil bit higher temperatures. its a old trick to step up the temps with mollies and platties when the males harrass everything too much, makes em a lil less active and agressive, and as long as the temp isnt too high it shouldnt have any long term health problems.

get bolivians, they are easier to care for and acclimate/less sensative.

Robnap, thankyou very much for the information, VERY helpful

BobW, The rams you origionally pointed out were German Rams, Would Bolivians eat snails as well, as i have heard they are easier to care for.

So, once the whole ram thing is sorted out, what do you think of this stocklist?

2 Platies
2 Rams (Bolivian, German???)
2 Ottos
3 Albino Corydoras

Suggestions greatly appreciated, and information about the rams from BobW and Robnap please!

Tankyou! BNF

The rams will do fine at 25C and they aren't very difficult to care for. When I made my first attempt in the hobby, some fifteen years ago, my initial fish were a pair of rams that were given to me. Back then I was pretty clueless and kept them with, among others WCMM's which prefers a lot cooler water. Both species worked out well and were the ones surviving the longest and even spawned repeatedly. Since the other tank mates included a pretty big and aggressive blue gouramy the rams didn't stand a chance to protect the eggs though so I never got any fry.

As for tank mates both the platies and the cories will be great, ottos are nice to but might be a hassle to keep alive. If you do go this route please keep us informed about the rams vs. snails business since this is the first time I've heard about the former eating the later. Not that I mistrust you BobW. but still...

---

So here I am once more...

I have heard that Yoyo Loaches will eat snails.

---

Those who say they cant, Never will !!!

Bob,
I do love the rams, but i also love my platies....
I suppose i COULD do larger water changes, but then there is still the temperature problem. I can't get rid of the platies, because my LFS don't accept fish back unless they have died for no apparant reason within 48 hours. in that case, what is the minimum temperature that platies and rams both enjoy?
Sorry if this is loads of questions, but this is my first tank, and i want to get it RIGHT!
So IF a compromise could be reached about the rams and platies, could someone suggest a suitable stocking scheme including the fish i have/want??? If i can't keep the rams, can someone else suggest a snail eater???
I really appreciate all of your help so far.
Thanks
BNF
To anyone who mentioned clown loaches, i always thought they grew to a foot??? Which is REALLY big for my tank. Dwarf Loaches, sounds good, but i can't find them anyware, and by the sound of things they cost £££

What kind of small fish eat snails???? I am a complete beginner, but are there any peaceful fish that will live in a community aquarium that eat snails???? Thankyou in advance.

BlackNeonFerret

BNF,

To keep rams you would need to boost the temp in your tank to 28C and change out 5 gallons of your water each week. Tetras, otocinculus, corydoras and rams work well together, so you have no compatibility problems. However, your platies will melt at 28C as they like it a bit cooler, 25C.



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researched from Steven Wright

I think the snails are just common pond snails. They look normal, and they arn't funny shaped anyway...
About the rams, my water temp. is 25C, not sure what that is in F. I do a 20% water change every two weeks, and i think my water is pretty good. I love the rams :&#163 but if i can't provide for them properly i wont have them, the fishes intrests come first after all. I am also a begginer, and i really don't want to mess the Rams life up as they are such beautiful fish, and it is quite a small tank (15US gal).
If i could care for the rams, however, what fish would they work with??? (i have 2 male platies, and i also like albino bronze corys, ottos, black neon tetras... i know i can't have tetras and rams, and i don't want to overstock the tank, or take on any fish i can't care for properly) Thankyou very much for all your help, but more is needed
BlackNeonFerret
Edit: I could give the rams a very varied diet

Last edited by BlackNeonFerret at 19-Jan-2006 14:54

You can add a Clown Loach for a few days & he'll take care of the Snails.



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BNF,

Rams do eat snails, not as aggressively as botia or puffers, but they do munch them. My pond snail population was wiped out by rams.

A question will be, "What type of snails do you have?" If you have pond snails, that look like turbans, or ramshorn snails, look like ramshorns, then rams will clean out the juveniles and therefore the entire snail population over time.

If you have mts (Malaysian Turbo Snails), then botia is definitely your choice. Mts are nocturnal then burrow into your substrate. Botia are nocturnal and will dive into your substrate after the buggers.

Now, rams do need care. Water temperature shouyld be 82 to 86. Water quality should be excellent. The problem that most hobbyists have with rams is:
o Cool water temps,
o Minimal water changes,
o Poor diet.

Do a 30% water change each week, feed them a varied diet of flake and bloodworm, keep your temps up... the fish will be happy and thrive. You should be able to put 3 in your set-up.

A caution is that rams have short lives much like bettas.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

I always thought Rams were quite sensitive and hard to look after??? I don't know if i have mentioned but i am a complete beginner. Any suggestions on Stocking, and especially snail eating fish would be appreciated. Bearing in mind i already have the two male platies, and they are not going anywhere.

And to Bob, do the rams eat snails??? if so are they easy to look after??? Thankyou

Last edited by BlackNeonFerret at 19-Jan-2006 12:46