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Hello, I have a cycled 48G, with:
10SerpeaTetras
6BronzeCorys
1DwarfGourami
2Platys

I was planning on getting other fish but I have too many snails and everyday i take out around 10, I havent taken them out for 2 days and now there like 15, can I put in a Snail Eater.

I am also getting 3-6 ottos.

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

Try:

10SerpeaTetras
6BronzeCorys
1DwarfGourami
2Platys
4 otos
4 Kuhlie* or yo-yo or zebra loaches


*Not sure if they eat snails

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

Yo-yos are good at snail control. They like company of their own kind so I'd personally recommend a minimum number of 4. They are very active fish.

If you can find them, dwarf chained loaches (Botia sidthimunki) are smaller but just as effective with snails. They too should be kept in a group.

As far as kuhlis, IME they will eat MTS out of the shell but I don't know if they go after other types of snails.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Kuhlis aren't the best snail eaters. A few people have said they eat snails but most either just eat a few in passing or don't bother at all. Same with the dojo loaches I have. Yoyos though will spend all day hunting down snails and I've heard the chain loaches are just as good. Most any small botia will work for your tank and be a great snail eater. Dojo and kuhli loaches aren't actually botias but each in a different genus. http://loaches.com

The only one of thoses i ever see is clow loach, but are they too big?
Dam snails really make my aquarium look bad, discourageing for me.

Also I will probably get rid of the corys so mabey I can still put the Blue Rams?

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

Clowns get about a foot long and are social. Unless you're ok with giving them away or making a major tank upgrade, I would skip them.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

Ill look for one of the smaller ones then.

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

When I set up my Betta tank I had a small snail problem which developed very quickly to some thing that could be nasty if did not do some thing quickly. I found a small Clown Loach about 1ins+ Very quickly all the snails went I left him in for several months and to my supprise his size developed faster than any CL I have ever seen. It is not only the snails they must eat it is all the snail eggs that is the reason I left him in for a longer time as I was adding more plants to the tank.

The only problem was catching him this took a lot of time I adventually left the net in while feeding and one morning he swam straight into the net to have his usual feed of frozen blood worms.

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

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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AWWWWW...Is there no way to stop these PEST I cant take them out by hand everyday...but I also dont want to get rid of my cories
ANd I still want to get my Blue rams.

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

Botia sidthimunki, the Pigmy Chain Loach, is your ideal snail eater for the smaller aquarium. The only downside of this species is the pruchasing expense - here in the UK they are hideously expensive, and I suspect they won't be that cheap elsewhere.

However, if you can obtain a group, they are wonderful fishes, and WELL worth every penny or cent you spend on them. Just be prepared to spend a LOT more on these than you've spent on your other fishes if you can find them.

There are some small Puffers that are also efficient snail eaters, but the BIG disadvantage of Puffers is that several species can turn VERY nasty and start dismantling your other fishes ... the majority of Puffers are species aquarium material. Go for the Pigmy Chain Loaches as they stay small, are lovely to look at, integrate well into a whole variety of community aquarium setups, and expense aside, have a LOT to recommend them.

If I had the money, I'd hunt them down and buy them. Trouble is, where I live they're at least £10 each for tiny juveniles, and a shoal of 6 would break the bank spectacularly at the moment (sigh).

If ever I do invest in these fishes, however, and I figure out how to breed them in captivity, I will make a serious killing. At £10 each, even a small batch of fry will net me some serious money. Trouble is, I haven't alighted upon any captive breeding accounts, and £60 is a lot of money to spend on an experimental breeding programme if you've no idea how to start ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I'm just gonna try to lure them in with lettuce and kill the ones I catch, but there pond snail do you think the eat spot algae, I dont mind them since I found a pretty cheap easy way to kepp there numbers down, hope it works.

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

Cucumbers work as well, just rubber band or tie them to the rock with fishing line.

Pond snails eat anything but nothing can really wipe out spot algae. It's very tough and sticks to the glass better than superglue. About the only effective way to get rid of it is a tough algae scraper or razor blade. The snails aren't really harmful and usually having a ton of them is a sign you are feeding too much. They multiply based on the amount of available food so the more you feed the tank the more snails you get. Of course even if you didn't feed the tank for months on end the snails would still exist in at least small amounts. They are quite hardy to most conditions except high metal concentrates like copper in the water.

You really need to wipe out all the snails. A few snails are a very good cleanup crew. They will get leftover food and algae from even the most hidden spots in the tank and keep your substrate stirred up. I add trumpet snails to my tanks because they have lots of benefits and being nocturnal you don't see them as often. They also will eat the eggs and even the actual snails of other species keeping more noticeable and less diserable snails from taking over the tank. I also have a 5g filled with bright red and blue ramshorns. They multiply like crazy but have really impressive color and are useful to the tank. Too many people get stuck on thinking snails are harmful and don't see what useful aquarium inhabitants they can make. The only time I setup tanks without snails is when I'm trying to breed egg layers since snails love to snack on fish eggs.

I really dont mind a few its when i have like 10 on the glass its annoying, I out pennies in my 10g filter to bring up the copper level, I really dont want to open up my filter agian because it spills some water so can I just hide it under my gravel also I think I might look for trumpet snails

Thanks alot everyone.

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

If you put pennies in the filter/tank, it will be detrimental to all inverts like MTS.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

Pennies can kill fish as well. Not to mention if you do raise the copper levels high enough to kill the snails you are going to have dozens of rotting snail bodies creating ammonia in your tank. If you want to treat with copper buy a copper med. Cupramine is my favorite because it's much easier to remove from the tank and decorations after you are done with it. Alot of forms of copper will hang around in the tank, gravel, or decorations for years.

Clown loaches - I've had 2 in my four foot tank for years and the biggest one is now about 3 inches long and I haven't had a snail since they went in. Sociable and will sleep either standing up or flat out upside down, but anyway you look at it they are the best snail eater in town.

Fish are Fun not Food!