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i have a ton of baby snails in my tank, i need to keep them under control, can i get a pea puffer?

i have 1 angel, 5 rummy nose, 3 ottos, 1 clown loach, 1 yoyo loach (the 2 loaches school together, its kinda cute)and 1 clown pleco... heavily planted 29g

i heard the puffer is aggressive, but it'll only be like 1.5 inches big, i know they nib fins, but my angel isnt veil fin, does that make any difference?

will the puffer be a trouble in my tank? i just need something small to eat the snails, my loaches dont seem to be doing a good job even after being starved for 5 days now still dont see a real improvement, i dont even see them eat the snails, they just kinda swim by when there are snails around. also most of the snails come out at night, so will the puffer be active at night? any other suggestions besides a puffer?

It seems very strange the loaches are not controlling the snails. If you the snails come out at night why dont you just collect them your self. For some reason the snails are breeding extremly fast. If you can add any more fish I certainly would only add Clown Loaches

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because there are SO MANY OF THEM, and they are so small, almost like small grains of sugar on the glass/leaves, hard to remove them, most the time i just move the water too much and they fall to the sand bottom. plus they are so icky lol

Puffers do not belong in a community tank. If the puffer doesn't kill another fish then one of the more active or bigger fish will cause the puffers death. They are fin nippers but they aren't very manueverable or very big. They compete for food very poorly and after they wipe out the snail population will probaly starve to death. Very few can be taught to eat dried foods and require at least frozen foods if not live. Occasionally you can mix puffers with 1 other species of fish or a couple bottom feeder species without problems but most of the time that ends in a dead fish.

I would look into why you have so many snails. Did you overfeed the tank for awhile or haven't cleaned the substrate much so there is a buildup of excess food for them to feed on. If the snails are that small they might be too small for the loaches to bother with or you are overfeeding the tank and the loaches are too full on flakes and other foods. To starve a loach you have to not feed the tank at all including top swimming fish or feed so little the other fish only get a bite or 2 each and it's gone before the loaches get there.
Since loaches prefer a group of their own species I would get at least 2 more yoyos(clowns get way too big for your tank). They are swimming together because they are lonely. Most of the time a group of at least 4 of each species of loach is recommended and 6 or more is much preferred. Having more loaches at least 1 should have a taste for snails or maybe if you got some smaller loaches they would be willing to eat the tiny snails before they grow up.

I have kept 3 dwarf puffers in a community setting for years.
It is a very peaceful tank, and I provide a constant supply of snails to the puffers. I supplement 2-3 times a week with frozen brine shrimp or blood worms for them. I have had absolutely no problems with agression in the tank.

Sometimes they work but mostly they dont. Mine lived in peace for 2 years and then went super-predator on the other fish. It all seems to go wrong about the same time they notice another fish has been injured and they realise that tankmates are edible.

Last edited by longhairedgit at 07-Dec-2005 19:55

When people say it works usually they haven't kept them long. A couple years is the longest I've heard. Most turn out like longhairedgit said. They are fine for a few months, a year or 2 maybe, and then tank mates start to die. It's a disaster waiting to happen and while you may get lucky for awhile I don't know anyone that breeds puffers or has kept them for more than just a year or 2 that would suggest them for a community tank. It's too rare to find one that would work long term and the setup would have to be just right.

Last edited by sham at 07-Dec-2005 20:40

yeah i had algae bloom in this past summer, and snails really took advantage of that i guess... after i got rid of the algae the snails didnt stop coming, at first was like 5 on the glass, i would just kill it and let the fish eat them, but now theres more than 200 just in the front glass, plus more on the back, sides, and on decors and plants. they are tiny little guys about the size of this dot here .

i cant even tell if i really squished them or not, and it sure would take forever to pin down hundreds of them. i have eco complete sand, so it is difficult for me to vacuum them out, but i will try that this coming up weekend when changing water.

my loaches are actually doing pretty good, at first i just have the yoyo, he seemed shy at first, but eventually came out of his cave and swam all over the place. then the snail problem didnt decline, i got the clown, and i know the size problems, i was planning on trading both loaches in after the snails... but now watching the two loaches swimming together like a team, its really cute, i am thinking about keeping them a little longer, but yes eventually i will need to trade the clown for another yoyo probably

Put a saucer on the bottom of your tank, put a piece of lettuce (not iceberg) on it and weight it down with something (I use a 1oz fishing weight). Turn off lights over night, in the morning, you'll have a plate COVERED with snails, more on the lettuce, and more in the general area heading to the plate/lettuce. Remove & repeat as needed.