snails

[Tara]

Never done this before, but I would like to know what kind of snail eating fish to buy for my tank? I have a freshwater tank with tetras, mollies, and platties.

[oscarbartoni]

Tell us a little about your tank such as how large, how many fish of each kind and how big they are, do you have live plants, and what kind of snails? If you want to trap some of the snails then put a piece of lettuce leaf in the tank at night and by the morning you should have several snails on the lettuce which you can take out and destroy. If you have room in the tank you could get some clown loaches which love to eat snails and get along with other fish but they do get large, up to 13 inches. They like to be in a small school of 3 or more. They do grow slowly so you can have them for several years with out them out growing your tank as long as you do not have too many fish in the tank.

[Tara]

My tank is 20gallons long. I have no idea what kind of snails they are. I have only one live plant which is where the snails came from. I have one plecostumus(4in.),one rainbow shark(3in.),four tetras(1in.each),two black mollies(one is a baby,the other 1in.),one platty(1in.). I have been picking the snails out for some time now. I would like to have more plants, but I don't want more snails.

[oscarbartoni]

Another suggestion would be to feed less and vacume the gravel in the tank more often (less food for the snails to eat and there for less likely for them to be able to reproduce. Another way is to squash the snails and let your fish have live fish food which is a good source of protein. This is humain as the snails will die very quick with out suffering. I have a planted tank with maylasian trumpet snails that burrow under the gravel and act like "earthworms of the aquarium", they do not bother the live plants and go in the gravel to eat uneaten food breaking it down for the plants to better use it for fertalizer. They also make sure that there are no "dead spots" in the gravel to prevent anarobic bacteria (bacteria that uses no oxygen) from creating a problem. These snails are about 3/4 inches long and look like ice cream cones with a spiral twist. Good luck in your tank. If you have any more trouble or just questions ask because the only stupid question is one that you do not ask.

[Tara]

Well I have been smashing the snails and feeding them to my fish and the fish are loving them. I have also bought 1 clown loach. The reason I only bought 1 is because that was the only one in the store, so I will have to get more later. Thanks for the advice.

[oscarbartoni]

That is what I want tdo is to make your aquarium more enjoyable so that you will watch it more and be able to see if there is something wrong now or possibly heading off a problem before it gets to be a problem. our are aqite welcome for the advice and good luck to you and your tank.
oscarbarton@aol.com