# clown loaches for snail control



## BriFran9 (Sep 5, 2006)

The snail population is starting to get out of control in my 10G tank and I was wonder how effective clown loaches are at keeping the population under control. I know there are products that kill snails but they can also be harmful to shrimp so i do not want to use them as i have shrimp in my tank.


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## primal (Jan 30, 2007)

Please please please don't put a clown loach in a 10g tank. They will eventually need a 90+ gallon tank to be happy (they get around 8" in aquaria). A good alternative would be the yo-yo loach. They only get to around 4" and like snails just as much as clowns do. However, I still wouldn't recommend keeping one in a 10g tank.


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## IceH2O (Mar 8, 2006)

Anything you put in there to eat the snails will also eat the shrimp. The only option is manual removal of the snails.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

If the population is getting out of control, it's time to cut back on feeding. Once you do that, the population will gradually come back under control. 
Over feeding is always the #1 reason snails multiply and get out of hand.


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## bristles (Mar 7, 2006)

I agree with ice & Jan cut back on feeding and bait the snails with a slice of zucchini (weighted down at night) & remove first thing in the AM. And your snail problem will get under control quickly. Loach's can be helpful but 10g is way to small for them, even for dwarf loachs.


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## Mad Dog (Mar 3, 2007)

I agree whole heartedly that a clown loach, or almost any loach for that matter, should be kept in a 10 gallon tank. To help support that idea, I just want to point out that nearly all of the loaches do much much better when in a group of three or more. That said, keeping one loach in a tank would probrably do you no good because it would be too shy and reclusive to go hunting for snails as you want it to do. Clown loaches especially, IME, are very reclusive and sometimes even when they are in a group. I once used four clown loaches, along with 8 really large tiger barbs as dither fish in a cichlid tank. It took a while, but they eventually came out which is testament to the ideology of 'there is power in numbers'. None of them ever got beat up by a cichlid, although I wouldnt suggest doing that anyways and I did not keep the loaches there for very long.

ON the up side though, clown loaches are extremely slow growing fish and while they can reach a foot in length in the wild, and are in fact, used as a food source in some countries because they get that large, it takes them years and years to grow to those sizes and so many people can technically overstock a tank with a few clown loaches for a long time in a smaller tank. Still, 10 gallons is probrably too small.

The bait trick works, used it once, but it is slow and it takes a while for the snails to even find the food. Also, I beleive there are a few other fish that eat snails but are not really known for that, but of course, my mind is blank right now on what those fish are. Puffers are very fond of them from what I have read but it doesnt sound like your tank is set up to go in that direction. I am not sure if a puffer would be good in a planted tank or not so that is why I say you probrably are not going in that direction.


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## tkos (Oct 30, 2006)

If your tank has a gravel substrate then make sure to add good deep gravel vacuuming to the cut back on the food idea. An pick the nsails out manually when you can (or crush them as a treat).


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## vic46 (Oct 20, 2006)

Mad Dog said:


> I agree whole heartedly that a clown loach, or almost any loach for that matter, should be kept in a 10 gallon tank. To help support that idea, I just want to point out that nearly all of the loaches do much much better when in a group of three or more. That said, keeping one loach in a tank would probrably do you no good because it would be too shy and reclusive to go hunting for snails as you want it to do. Clown loaches especially, IME, are very reclusive and sometimes even when they are in a group. I once used four clown loaches, along with 8 really large tiger barbs as dither fish in a cichlid tank. It took a while, but they eventually came out which is testament to the ideology of 'there is power in numbers'. None of them ever got beat up by a cichlid, although I wouldnt suggest doing that anyways and I did not keep the loaches there for very long.
> 
> ON the up side though, clown loaches are extremely slow growing fish and while they can reach a foot in length in the wild, and are in fact, used as a food source in some countries because they get that large, it takes them years and years to grow to those sizes and so many people can technically overstock a tank with a few clown loaches for a long time in a smaller tank. Still, 10 gallons is probrably too small.
> 
> The bait trick works, used it once, but it is slow and it takes a while for the snails to even find the food. Also, I beleive there are a few other fish that eat snails but are not really known for that, but of course, my mind is blank right now on what those fish are. Puffers are very fond of them from what I have read but it doesnt sound like your tank is set up to go in that direction. I am not sure if a puffer would be good in a planted tank or not so that is why I say you probrably are not going in that direction.


"I agree whole heartedly that a clown loach, or almost any loach for that matter, should be kept in a 10 gallon tank. "
I presume you missed the NOT above.
Vic


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## Mad Dog (Mar 3, 2007)

Thank you Vic! I did mean to say that loaches should NOT be kept in a 10 gallon tank for the majority of cases. My computer has a few issues with not being able to keep up with me as I type really fast and sometimes it skips a word....or maybe my brain cannot keep up with my fingers. In any case, thanks for catching that.


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