Clown loaches to help with army of small snails.

[rockfisher]

I have lots of small snails in 2 angelfish breeding tanks. So many that the eggs are getting eaten of the breeding stone. The parents are doing there best to keep them away but no luck. Will adding small clown loaches. Help @Guppysnail @Odd Duck

Edited November 29, 2022 by rockfisher

[Odd Duck]

What kind of snails are doing the eating?  Are you certain it isn’t the parents?  Any other fish in the tank?  Is it bare bottom or is there substrate?

I think clown loaches might be too risky. They get too big and eat too many other things.  I’d worry more about them eating the eggs since eggs are way easier to eat than snails.  I’d start trapping the snails if there’s so many that you think they’re eating the eggs.  You can also get a ton of small snails out with the Dennerle snail catcher.  If you’re taking out the young snails, that leaves far less to reproduce.  Start trapping the bigger snails and your population will drop quickly.  You can make snail traps from soda or water bottles.  Don’t let food sit on the bottom of the tank and your snail population will start dwindling and the angels will have cleaner water.

[lefty o]

clown loaches will do a number on small snails, but as mentioned above, they get pretty dang big over time.

[Kurt Brutting]

I recommend Dwarf Chain Loaches for snail control. Clown loaches are awesome but they get big and you need a good group for them to feel safe.

6 Dwarf Chain Loaches will clear up your snail problem. They might go for the Angel eggs though. 

[Guppysnail]

I second @Odd Duck  maybe throw in some assasin snails. They do eat eggs but with only a handful the angels can defend against them. Assasins also sell for a couple dollars each when they have babies. 
I remove any “pest” snails on the front glass or food dish. Whatever happens to come up with the siphon during maintenance I do not return to the tank. I like my bladder snails but if I’m not diligent about removing extras with tanks because of feeding for fry and breeding parents they quickly overproduce. 

[Katherine]

On 11/29/2022 at 7:58 PM, Guppysnail said:

I remove any “pest” snails on the front glass or food dish

How do you dispose of them? I'm going to need to do a big cull of my "pest" snails soon.

[Guppysnail]

On 11/29/2022 at 9:11 PM, Katherine said:

How do you dispose of them? I'm going to need to do a big cull of my "pest" snails soon.

Submerge them in seltzer water. They asphyxiate. 

[rockfisher]

I have the room for the Clown loaches. Once they out grow the 55 I want to put them in. I have a 220 here that is not set up yet. I think I’m going to change the Tank Substrate. Some you may remember I have a UGF with a filter pad and covered in moss. The snails can’t really get big because of the filter. Since there is just the filter and moss in the tank they stay small but all the little holes are great for small snails. In one of the other breeding tanks I have sand and place a algae wafer in a pot base and remove the snails that way. In the moss tank that just does work. It’s a 55 gal. That I just put lava rock in one half of the tank to see if that helps. I had it here for the pore space experiment Brandon P. did. I ordered BDBS to use. I’m tried of losing so many fry to snails. I think I’ll try the assassin snails first. I have never keep the Dwarf Chain Loaches. The loaches would have to be removed before the angels could be successfully. I’ll try I get a pice of just how many are in there. I’m pretty good at not over feeding I think. It’s mostly live foods with small amounts of beef heart flakes. Sorry if it’s a little hard to read im sick and overtired 

[anewbie]

A few things - first clown loaches should be kept in packs no smaller than 6 and more the merrier. Second clown loaches get large. They will approach 5 inches after a couple of years and can grow as large as 18 inches over 50 years but typically around 8 to 12 inches in the aquarium. Third clown loaches will eventually need a large aquarium and a 55 is not large. Fourth clown loaches love current and hate dirty water. 

As to your snail problem if you don't over feed them the clown loaches will eat them but don't get fewer than 6 and 20 is a bonus as they love company.

 

Now there are smaller loaches; one of my favorite are zebra loaches; these max out around 4 inches and don't get nearly as wide body as clown loaches (i.e, they are significantly less mass); again they like large groups i keep 10 together and when i move them into their new home in may it will grow to 20 but you can get as few as 6. 

-

There are kubotai and yoyo loaches but these are inbetween the size of clown and zebra; some say they can have a nasty temper but my group of yoyo have left my angels alone; and once again they really need to be in a large group.

Btw my angels are in the aquarium with clown/zebra and yoyo and have no issue breeding with the loaches. Pleco on the other hand can be a probelm but pleco don't eat snails.

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Also i will note that in one of my aquariums assassin snails have done diddly to remove my tumpet snails; and in another of my aquarium assassin snails are breeding like rabbits - i must have 100 in there. I'm not sure assassin snails are much better than other snails over time.

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As for my tank with loaches; oddly i don't have any snails at all and the occasional snail that gets added via new plants seem to turn into empty shells.

Edited December 1, 2022 by anewbie

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/29/2022 at 3:52 PM, rockfisher said:

Will adding small clown loaches.

I would lean towards other loaches, depending on temp, that don't get gigantic in the end.  If you have a place for them, cool.  But something like yo-yo or zebra loaches would be where I start.

On 12/1/2022 at 3:05 AM, rockfisher said:

I have the room for the Clown loaches. Once they out grow the 55 I want to put them in. I have a 220 here that is not set up yet.

Ah I see. Very cool.  I would base the choice on long term care (lifespan) and on your temp needs. 

[The endler guy]

On 11/29/2022 at 6:52 PM, rockfisher said:

I have lots of small snails in 2 angelfish breeding tanks. So many that the eggs are getting eaten of the breeding stone. The parents are doing there best to keep them away but no luck. Will adding small clown loaches. Help @Guppysnail @Odd Duck

id go with assassin snails

[rockfisher]

Thanks

[rockfisher]

On 12/1/2022 at 12:46 PM, anewbie said:

A few things - first clown loaches should be kept in packs no smaller than 6 and more the merrier. Second clown loaches get large. They will approach 5 inches after a couple of years and can grow as large as 18 inches over 50 years but typically around 8 to 12 inches in the aquarium. Third clown loaches will eventually need a large aquarium and a 55 is not large. Fourth clown loaches love current and hate dirty water. 

As to your snail problem if you don't over feed them the clown loaches will eat them but don't get fewer than 6 and 20 is a bonus as they love company.

 

Now there are smaller loaches; one of my favorite are zebra loaches; these max out around 4 inches and don't get nearly as wide body as clown loaches (i.e, they are significantly less mass); again they like large groups i keep 10 together and when i move them into their new home in may it will grow to 20 but you can get as few as 6. 

-

There are kubotai and yoyo loaches but these are inbetween the size of clown and zebra; some say they can have a nasty temper but my group of yoyo have left my angels alone; and once again they really need to be in a large group.

Btw my angels are in the aquarium with clown/zebra and yoyo and have no issue breeding with the loaches. Pleco on the other hand can be a probelm but pleco don't eat snails.

-

Also i will note that in one of my aquariums assassin snails have done diddly to remove my tumpet snails; and in another of my aquarium assassin snails are breeding like rabbits - i must have 100 in there. I'm not sure assassin snails are much better than other snails over time.

-

As for my tank with loaches; oddly i don't have any snails at all and the occasional snail that gets added via new plants seem to turn into empty shells.

 I have group of 6 clown loaches in my 250 that graduated from 55g. You are correct that 55 is not a big tank. I breed both L134 and L-333 plecos with my angelfish in a few tanks. I know better than anyone that you can have the same fish in one tank and they work fine and you set up a second tank and it doesn’t work. The clown loaches I do have eat so many snails I feed them from other tanks and they have a shell graveyard. It’s a shell substrate on one side of the tank. Thanks for the help.

[anewbie]

Another loach is gold zebra; I've not had much luck with these - they always find the smallest hole in my lid and jump out after 12 to 18 months....

On 12/1/2022 at 7:27 PM, rockfisher said:

 I have group of 6 clown loaches in my 250 that graduated from 55g. You are correct that 55 is not a big tank. I breed both L134 and L-333 plecos with my angelfish in a few tanks. I know better than anyone that you can have the same fish in one tank and they work fine and you set up a second tank and it doesn’t work. The clown loaches I do have eat so many snails I feed them from other tanks and they have a shell graveyard. It’s a shell substrate on one side of the tank. Thanks for the help.

My problem with pleco and angels is they will sometime get nasty and suck the slime off the angels causing a lot of damage to them. For example I had a nasty temper bn pleco that was not a problem for 4 years but then one night he decided angels tasted yummy and he caused a lot of damage to my group of 7... eventually i figured out it was him (it was a male) and remove it and the problem went away.

[rockfisher]

I have hear of the pleco eating slime but never seen it. I do think about more than many because the leopard frog plecos and  king tiger plecos because they are carnivores. So far in 3 years no problems.

[anewbie]

On 12/2/2022 at 2:50 AM, rockfisher said:

I have hear of the pleco eating slime but never seen it. I do think about more than many because the leopard frog plecos and  king tiger plecos because they are carnivores. So far in 3 years no problems.

Yea but just remember in my case it was the 'algae' loving bn that did it.... so you can never tell... I had an L333 for a while - well 3 years but finally gave him away because well mostly because the tank was a bit on the populated side and he didn't fit in my long term plans but still maybe i shouldn't have he was kind of a 'character' in the tank - he had his one and only coconut shell - no one was allowed in and he never left well - he did now and then - he esp had this habbit of expecting me to put a pellet near the opening so he could run out grab it and take it back in.

Edited December 5, 2022 by anewbie

[rockfisher]

I’ve not really heard of plecos eating slime I have heard about the Chinese algae eaters doing that. 
 

My 333 each have a cave and if one goes in one that’s not theirs except to mate there is heck to pay. They tolerate a Cory going in and out as long as there are no eggs or fry. If another 333 goes in it can get nasty. They need extra caves. They have plenty of room they just like their cave.  The 134 are similar but I find them less aggressive as all as the all have caves they seem fine and I do keep at least one extra sometimes more for them to.

[rockfisher]

So I decided to go with a very course lava rock in the angelfish breeding tank. The number Malaysian trumpets snails is falling. I think this is a temporary and due to the sharp edges. Similar to the way DE kills insects. The mystery snails seem to handle the edges better but I don’t think it’s the best possible environment for them. I think the edges will wear do  an pretty quick. I t have 2 was makers in the a lava rock is soft. I’m going to let that go for a bit until I think the rocks are smooth enough to have clown loaches in there. I do have some areas of tight moss. 

[rockfisher]

In the other breeding tank with the double The Black Angels, and the L333 plecos I change from white very fine white sand  to BDBS which I did for 2 reasons. First being Brandon P. Experiment on substrate and pore size. One of things he noticed but that he didn’t report was he saw was the number Malaysian  trumpet snail numbers were lower than in the Eco complete. I the colors of the L 333 are harder to see right now due to some methylene blue in the tank. I’ll post some better pics later but here is the tank before andin the 3 photo a male has a female trapped in the cave. There are 4 breeding age and 3 that are at least 8-12 months away from breeding age. 

Edited December 8, 2022 by rockfisher