# Alternative to clown loaches for snail problem



## fishington26 (Feb 5, 2005)

I have a snail problem in my heavily planted tank. I have had clown loaches in the past, but they get way too big. Is there an alternative fish that would do the same job and not get so huge??


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

yes, a humbug catfish.


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

yoyo-loaches, but need a group of 5.


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## leongreenway (Mar 29, 2005)

another alternative is snail killing solutions. I spotted some down LFS, but sorry dont know any names.


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## fishington26 (Feb 5, 2005)

The humbug catfish gets way too big


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

dwarf puffer


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## fishington26 (Feb 5, 2005)

I have a guppie tank and dwarf puffers are notorious fin nippers, I had one once, thanks though.


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

Check out the Zebra Loach, info here:
http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/botia_striata.html
and here:
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_striata.php

I think they are the smallest snail-eating loaches.


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## atltk (Feb 16, 2005)

Kuhli loaches work well also and stay relatively small.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Kuhli loaches don't eat many snails, black kuhlis even fewer.


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

> Kuhli loaches don't eat many snails


Indeed. They are recommended on the applesnail.net forums as good tankmates for apple snails!


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Most loaches are good. Some obviously better than others. There are also many Cichlids that will work but they dont do well in planted tanks.


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## fishington26 (Feb 5, 2005)

Thank you so much for the response. Could I just have 1 zebra loach. Because they are bottom feeders, loaches tend to get a bit territorial about the bottom of the tank. My guppies like to sleep on the bottom and they were bitten badly by the clown loaches as they got bigger and more aggressive, hence why I had to find a new home for them. I was thinking 1 zebra might not get so hostile. Suggestions? 

And thank you so much for the responses.


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

All loaches(exept kuhlis) are schooling fish, and they tend to go crazy ans extremely aggressive  when kept alone.


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## atltk (Feb 16, 2005)

I didn't know khuli's don't eat snails, good to know! I guess there's something else in my tank that eats them then, cause I see tiny empty shells all the time (tag-alongs from plants from other tanks, I suspect)


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Does it have to be a new fish? There are non-fish ways to get rid of snails, too.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

On a side note - I would avoid any of the rid-snail water treatments I have tried them and so have others I know and the only thing it seems to have killed is the fish in the tank. And I did not even use it at full doses. The bottle says harmless to fish but I definatally dont beleive it esp after using it.


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## atltk (Feb 16, 2005)

I try to avoid adding ANY meds/chemicals if I can help it. Natural solutions are always the way to go


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## fishington26 (Feb 5, 2005)

Sidthimunki Botia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Stays about an inch long, non-agressive, eats snails. Everything I wanted!


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

Remeber to get a group 4-5 is enough.


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

> Sidthimunki Botia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stays about an inch long, non-agressive, eats snails. Everything I wanted!


Hmmmm. I looked at several web pages on these fish and the web pages say they get about 2.5" long and none of them mention them eating snails! Maybe you have access to different resources than I do...


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