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Hello all! I have several questions and hope to gain several suggestions concerning my situation...

I'm going to make this story as short as possible...

A recently took on a 20g (tall) tank from a co-worker of mine (Judy). It belonged to her daughter but since her daugter left for college Judy has been unable to properly care for the tank. She knew I was looking into getting another fish tank going and offered this one to me just to take it off her hands. (I have had fish tanks in the past and love caring for them.) Anyway... Big long story but we did get the tank moved, the fish moved and everything is running well; all numbers look good (ammonia/nitrites at zero and nitrates around 10).

However, before the move I noticed that she had a good bit of snails in her tank. (Her daugter tried a live plant a while back and snails came from that.) I have done my best to clean off the plants, decorations, etc. However, I know they live in the filters and I know I didn't clean out every single one... So, my question is, what kind of fish can I get that will take care of these snails as they re-emerge?

Some stats on the tank:
20g tall
Running a AquaTech 20 and a Penguin Biowheel 125
Inhabitants include:
- 4 Harlies
- 2 Neons
- 1 Cherry Barb
- 3 Black fin cories
- 4 Panda cories

(Now, the fish are in such akward numbers due to the fact that Judy couldn't properly care for the tank.)

So, I'd appreciate suggestions that anyone would have in what I should focus on restocking (I know I need more Harlies for sure). So, I am definitely open to restocking ideas and hoping to find a fish that can eat snails and work in this tank if possible.

Thanks so much to everyone who offers a suggestion! I really appreciate it and I love this board so far!!

A small loach would be good

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A 20 is a bit small for loaches. They are quite active. You could borrow a loach from someone temporarily but the only loaches that fit in a 20g either aren't known for eating snails or are near impossible to find with a fairly high price tag. The snails are not at all harmful and are in fact quite helpful in keeping the tank clean and the substrate stirred. If you don't overfeed the tank and occasionally squish a few the population should not get out of control. Some people though just can't stand snails for often unexplainable reasons.

Thanks Sham. Yes, I am hoping I can just keep the population down. I don't really mind them as long as they do not get out of control. I will see how things go and hope for the best.

I am still open to suggestions about my restock...

Go with the harlies (add some more), pandas(add some more), and maybe a pair of Apistos, which will occasionally snack on snails. Or a dwarf gourami if you don't care so much about the snails. So something like this:

8 Harlies
8 Pandas
1 pair of Apistos (maybe agassizi?) or 1 dwarf gourami

The bigger groups of each species do add a lot more activity and happiness to a tank

><>

For the restocking...I would add:
*2 more harlies
*4 neons (or if you don't want to keep them, take them to the lfs and get 6 more harlies instead of 4)
*2 more cherry barbs (if you have a male, get 2 females, if you have a female, get 1m/1f)
*1 more black fin cory

So the final stock looks like:
6 Harlequins
6 Neons (or substitute more harlies)
3 Cherry Barbs
8 Cories (4 panda/4 black fin)

You could possibly add another panda and another black fin to bring each group to 5...its up to you though.

Sounds like a nice tank!


*Kristin*

There are some loaches that are good for a 20 gal. Unless you are a huge cories fan, I would replace the cories with 3 or 4 botia striata (zebra loaches). They should be able to take care of the snails and are peaceful and funny loaches that are not too pricey

Zebras are not much if any smaller than yoyos and I would most definitely not add a yoyo to a 20g long term. Loaches are the definition of active and will bounce around the tank all day. With only loaches maybe I would keep some but otherwise I'd say 29g minimum. I know a few others have said a 40-55g minimum. Now some dwarf chain loaches(sidthimunki) might work but getting ahold of these little guys is often very difficult.

To keep down snail populations you can occasionally bait the tank. Add a piece of lettuce overnight and remove it covered in snails the next day or setup a small container like a film container with a snail size hole punched in the lid and some fish food inside. If you keep it up you can nearly wipe out the population but there would always be a few wandering around waiting for you to give up so you'll never get rid of them completely that way.