# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Snail eating fish and shrimp



## steinish (Aug 7, 2004)

My snail population is starting to get a little out of control and I was thinking of getting a fish that would eat the baby snails but I am concerned about the same fish eating my Amano and Cherry shrimp too.

I've heard clown loaches will eat shrimp, but how about dwarf puffers? Any other suggestions?

Many thanks!


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## steinish (Aug 7, 2004)

My snail population is starting to get a little out of control and I was thinking of getting a fish that would eat the baby snails but I am concerned about the same fish eating my Amano and Cherry shrimp too.

I've heard clown loaches will eat shrimp, but how about dwarf puffers? Any other suggestions?

Many thanks!


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

I always presumed dwarf puffers would eat shrimp, but I know people who have sworn they do not touch them. Dwarf puffers are slow, maniacal feeders. Shrimp could probably easily out run them.


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## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

I added two Yoyo loaches a couple months back to try to control snails. Personally, I can't say if they're doing much or not. But, when you start with 1000 snails, would I notice 100 missing







? I, too, now would like to add some shrimp. I added some ghost shrimp because they were dirt cheap. And they're still in there. I also added four Amano's, but they went on a walk-about








.

So, since Yoyo's stay smaller than clowns, are they a better candidate for snail-eating-shrimp-safe fish?

Brian.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I kept Yo-Yo's with shrimp with no problems, but take into account the shrimp had already grown large. There could be a problem if the shrimp are still young & small.


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## zensloth (Oct 14, 2004)

I too am starting to get a snail problem but don't have any shrimp. Is there anything else apart from a loach (clown or yoyo) that could help? I really don't want to use chemicals.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Easiest way is to use bait to get as many as you can, and do this periodically. You can put a piece of food, such as sinking pellet or cucumber, in a small bowl. All the snails will gather there. You can then take the bowl out and repeat the process. If you don't mind heavy work, then you could drain your tank to a few inch of water, after you took out the plants and fish. Pour boiling water into the tank in small amount. The sudden heat shock will kill the snails. You need to do this at least 5 times, though, and stir the gravels to make sure everything gets heated by the water. Good luck!

Paul


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## SoCalSar (Feb 4, 2003)

Pygmy puffers are the best snail eating mahcines I have seen. They're also called pea puffers and green/gold puffers. They're a true freshwater species too. Due to their size they can't take on the big snails, but those are pretty easy to remove manually. A pygmy puffer is a nightmare to any snail smaller than a BB. My 60 gallon had two puffers and I never saw snails in the tank. I used to take snails out of another tank and put them in the 60 gallon for the puffers to hunt- if you can call sneaking up on a snail hunting. Like I said, all these snails died at the fins of a hungry puffer. Also, the puffers never touched the 15-or-so Amano shrimp in the tank- a bigger puffer species would be a different story though. I consider them to be the USW (ultimate snail weapon) after you've gotten the bigger snails out. 

The pygmies don't seem to acclimate to the aquarium that well, or maybe they're not found in the LFS in a healthy state to begin with. I went through about five of them before I got two that lived. I'd choose carefully at the LFS and pick only the better looking specimens that aren't being bullied by others. The ones in my tank quarrelled at first, but settled down after awhile. As a bonus puffers are very interesting fish and fun to watch.


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## Rach (Nov 26, 2003)

I believe that ghost shrimp will eat baby snails. So if you wat to put shrimp in your tank they might be a good place to start! Puffers are fin nippers in a BIG way, so if you have other tank inhabitants then you might like to consider another option. Clown loach *love* snails and it's quite fun to watch them snuffle and suck the snails from their shells.
Good luck with whatever you decide to go for!


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## mooky (Feb 22, 2005)

I was told that Rams eat snails, anyone have any experience with this? Also how do Pea Puffers do in with a community tank with active fish? The ones I see in my LFS's show tank just hide in the back among the leaves and this tank has just a school of Neon Tetras with a couple of Ram's.

As for my own indirect experience, my friend had a problem with snails in his new 30g planted tank. He bought a couple of 2-3 inch long Clown Loaches and they cleaned up his tank within a week. They both ended up belly up though, so he is trying again now that his tank has cycled properly and stabilized.


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## Margolis (Sep 22, 2004)

I have added a pair of dwarf gourami's to a 20 high that was FULL of snails. Now there are only a few left. I have never seen them eat the snails, but the substrate is littered with empty shells now.


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## fishaholic (Nov 12, 2004)

Dojo (weather loaches) do great with eating small snails, as do Maylasian Trupet snails. Dojo's are lighter on the bioload, so in a 30g you can have 3 or 4 and are usually pretty available and inexpensive.


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