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I have a heavily planted tank and recently noticed that there are a few snails in the mix eating the leaves. The fish I have are very placid, slow, and peaceful but I desperately need a snail exterminator. I know that skunk loaches are really good but they are also so very aggressive and so are puffers. Plus from what I understand puffers are solely brackish. A dojo loach would also be out of the question since my tank isn't big enough to house one properly. I have been doing research on-line on kuhli loaches but it's a 50-50 split on if they eat snails or not. I have the space to house a few since I have read on this site that they like to be in a group. Anyone know for sure if kuhli loaches do in fact eat snails? Or maybe know of a peaceful loach that is readily available that can do the job? I can't use any snail killing meds since I have a group of amano shrimp and don't want to kill them. The only thing I can do thus far is take out the snails I find by hand but it gets annoying at times. They breed like rabbits. If there isn't any fish I can add does putting Zucchini in the tank to lure them to one spot actually work since they already have a bunch of vegetation to snack on? Thanks so much in advance

How big is the tank? this is a big factor on what your options are also

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

What kind of snails do you have in the tank? If you have the regular round kind (apple snails), that breed like nobody's business, then the kind of loach you're looking for is the yoyo/pakistani/border loach.

I have two of these in my tank, and they took out all but the trumpet snail hitchhikers that came in with my plants in just a day or two. They are very excellent for exterminating snails - although you'll have to clean out the empty shells yourself.

You can usually find them for anywhere from $4-7 depending on if you can find them in an LFS or online, and you need to get at least 2, preferably 3 or more so they'll be happy. I only have 2 because that's how many the LFS had left and I haven't found them again locally.

Listen! Do you smell that?

You mentioned having a placid, slow tank. One thing to keep in mind is that loaches are active fish I have kuhlis in my 30g and I do have an issue with them uprooting the plants with their activity.

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Good point, Theresa, about the kuhlis! That's one good thing about my yoyo's. I haven't SEEN them uproot any of my plants...yet. But they tend to stick to the crevices of rocks when they're hiding, and the rest of the time they're swimming around playing with each other.

Occasionally, they peek out to say hi.



Listen! Do you smell that?

I have a 20-gallon tank with 5 platys and 2 offspring plus 6 amano shrimp. The snails are.... no idea. The kind that sit there and eat holes in my beautiful plants I know they aren't the burrowing ones. I'll have to do some research to identify them. They are so relentless. I noticed that there are 2 types. One with a round oval shell and one with a coiled shell. Would a yoyo loach be okay? They get pretty big and from what I have observed can be too boisterous. Maybe I should try to lure the snails with fresh veggies. Anyone ever done this? If kuhli loaches uproot plants then that is definitely out of the question. Thanks again

Hi there,
I have never had a problem with my Kuhlis uprooting
plants that are properly buried and well established.
However, I have never seen a kuhli loach eat a snail.

You could try it, but I am unsure as to whether they would make much of a dent in the snail population.
You would be better off with a Botia species in my opinion.
All loaches should be kept in groups of 3 minimum.
Id recommend Botia Sidthimunki - the smallest of all botia species, this diminutive little guy is a menace to snail society! A group of 3-6 of these little 1.5 inch wonders would keep your tank snail free.
Another option is a trio of Botia Kubotai, the Angelicus or Polka Dot botia. These beautiful little barely 3 inch fish can devour even large apple snails with ease. No snail will remain after these guys get through your tank.

Any other botia species I can think of are either too large, too boisterous, or unsafe to keep with shrimp. These guys should be fine with larger shrimps like amanos.
My Botia Kubotai share their 75g tank with several bamboo shrimp, the smallest of which is 1.5 inches currently.
Both these species are peaceful fish. I have a pic of one of mine in the profiles here on this site.

Skunk loaches are way too big and aggressive for your tank.Skunks acheive 6 inches in length and often kill other fish.

Another option would be to add a nonloach snail eater, such as a Paradise Fish (related to the gouramis), or a Betta (male or female). These fish often enjoy small snails.

Finally, your last option is for you to be a snail trapper. Snail traps are easy to make, and can be as simple as a peice of lettuce stuck down with a rock, leave overnight, in the morning when covered wth snails remove.
Do this daily for several days and the snail population will be diminished greatly.
Reducing feeding of the fish can also reduce snail populations.
Good luck!

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Would a yoyo loach be okay? They get pretty big and from what I have observed can be too boisterous.

Yoyo's don't get that big, barely over 4" long and while they are playful, they are less active than the majority of the other loaches out there.

Listen! Do you smell that?

I have a bit of an apple snail problem in 1 of my tanks so I threw 1 snail in my 10 gallon that has 3 kuhli loaches in it to see if they would enjoy a nice snack. Its been about 3 weeks and the snail is thriving and growing and I haven't seen the kuhli loaches even try to eat it. I would look into the suggestions of the others above me.

I've noted on several different occasions that the Malaysian trumpet snail populations decrease in tanks with kuhlis. I think they suck them out of their shells (purely my theory, but the populations have gone down each time I added kuhlis). I've noticed them eating baby snails (I actually saw this behavior several times).

That said, they won't eat a big snail and don't compare to the botias or puffers as snail hounds.

Eric

Applesnails do not reproduce like rabbits. These snails actually require a male and female to reproduce, most lay their eggs above water, and unless you are trying to breed them usually don't multiply that quickly. Marisas are a slight exception since they do lay their eggs underwater but still don't generally reproduce to pest levels. Plus only the really big applesnails that really are around the size of an apple eat plants. The other common species are mostly carnivorous and won't touch most plants. Chances are we're dealing with either planorbids(ramshorns) or physidae(pond snails). http://applesnail.net/content/snails_various.php

However none of the pest snails are truly big plant eaters. They mostly just eat weak spots in the plants and won't touch healthy leaf tissue. I'd double check that you don't have a nutrient deficiency adding to your problem and the snails are just cleaning up the dying sections of the plant leaves.

Yoyos and all other botia species will eat snails like crazy. They are extremely active though and social. Try to get 3-4minimum and not in less than a 29-30g or with really calm slow moving fish. Kuhlis are an exception but they aren't a botia species and don't really go after snails. Mine do burrow much more than other loach species I've had but they haven't actually uprooted any plants. I specifically got them instead of other loaches because they don't eat my fancy red and blue ramshorns that I do want to keep.

Your best bet is to just remove as many snails as possible to keep the population under control and find out if there's something causing your plants to not be 100% healthy. Snails can be a huge benefit to a planted tank so there's really no reason to go out of your way and mess up your tank just to get rid of them. The population can easily be kept under control by squishing some and baiting. Add a piece of weighted down lettuce overnight and remove it in the morning or punch a snail sized hole in a small plastic container, add fish food, let it sink, and remove the next day full of snails. Also be careful not to overfeed your tank. If the snails are really getting out of hand your probably feeding the fish too much and the snails are using all the extra food to multiply.

Thank you so much for everyone's reply. I will try the bait method and keep my feeding in check. I probably am feeding them too much... It's hard to resist when everytime I walk by the tank those platys are wagging their tails and begging. I don't feed them everytime but now that I think about it I do sneak in little snacks for them here and there. Hopefully my water is in good condition for the plants but being new to the planted tank community I'm more than likely lacking in that dept so I will pay a visit to the plant forums for some more plant information. I have the basics down but I'm sure there is more to it than that. I guess I was looking for a quick fix rather than swallowing my pride and saying I was doing something wrong Thanks again