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Get a few Clown Loaches!
They LOVE snails(like Escargot) and suck them right out of their shells to eat them. They will smell eggs, tiny or large snails deep in your gravel/sand and dig, and dig until they find them to eat with "relish"! Incredable!

I somehow got an infestation of snails from a fish I bought at a store and before I knew it they multiplied out of control! I tried "Had Snail" because was told it did the job on unwanted snail infestations...but it only slowed the snail reproduction down...And Killed my 5 beautiful six inch Bala Sharks (found out late that they couldn't take the copper in the medicine).

But after geting 4 clown loaches, the tank is free of them and their are hundreds of empty dead snail shells on the bottom of the tank. The clowns LOVE eating snails, like Escargot...and were incredably quick and thorough.

Yes, clown loaches are indeed effective against snails. The downside is that they get about a foot long, making the adults inappropriate for any of the smaller tank sizes.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

making yoyo loaches a better choice much smaller and just as effective

i like feesh

My biggest CL is about 8-9ins and I have had it for at least 18years just a guess I think he would be at least 20yld. Now saying all that you will have to wait a very long time and have at least a 6ft++ tank also a lot of luck in keeping it alive.

Your next job will be to remove as many shells as you can before they start to break down and effect the Ph.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Clown Loachs work well, but they do grow big.

What I did was put a slice of zuchinni in the tank at night and in the morning remove it with the snails on the vegetable. Over time you would see less of them. Plus you don't have to use chemicals that could cause harm to other fish.

A much better choice for more modest sized aquaria is the Pigmy Chain Loach, Yashukiotakia sidthimunki (one taxonomic name that even I have to rehearse before saying it out loud!).

This is the smallest of the Botiine loaches, and is just as avid a snail eater as the larger species. However, its small size means it won't outgrow any reasonable aquarium.

The BIG problem likely to be encountered with this species is availability. It's now on the critically endangered list in the wild, though there have been reports of successful captive breeding of this fish, which I presume must have been successful because I have photographed tiny juveniles at a local fish store within the past year or so. And yes, you put them in with snails and they go into instant attack mode!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002