Peaceful Snail Eater?

qpc68

I'm looking for a fish to help rid my tank of snails without attacking any of my other fish. I have heard dwarf puffers are the best snail eaters, but as they will attack my other fish, especially my tetra's, I'd rather not go that route. Here are the fish I currently have:

6 Neon/5 Rummy Nose Tetras
3 Otocinclus
4 Corydoras
1 Rainbow Shark
1 Raphael Catfish
1 U-D Catfish

I have tried putting a piece of lettuce into the tank to collect the snails and I caught bupkus. I'm crushing all the little one's I find and feeding them to the tetras so they can get a taste for them, and I haven't fed my fish in about a day and a half to encourage them to go snail hunting.

I don't have room to place a school of fish (elminating most loaches) but are there any specific species of fish known for eating snails that would do well in a peaceful tank? My Raphael is doing a decent job I think, but he may need some help.

1077

Banjo catfish is reported to do a fair job as well as the raphael. I had a severe snail problem in 55gal. two or three years ago and between gravel vaccuming and cucumber and zuchinni sliced long ways I was able to get them under control although I was not able to eradicate them completely. It is best to catch them on the cucumber etc while lights are off or just before lights on of a morning. They do serve a useful purpose in the aquarium but some folks despise them.

PDXfishy

There are also assassin snails. I have seen them for sale in Europe, but reportedly they also appear on Aquabid occasionally.

Here is a link: http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fish/Assassin_Snail

qpc68

Well I certainly don't despise them, and in fact am happy keeping a few larger snails in the tank. But I believe some little guys snuck through on some plants and we're now up to killing about 15 a day. My concern is that without something in place to keep them in check that they will soon overrun the tank.

1077

Another thing you may try is to cut back on feeding your fish to once a day .I keep Discus,dwarf cichlids,tetras,corys etc and only feed them once each day okay , maybe twice on weekends. By reducing the food the snails will decrease in numbers. Your fish will not suffer from once a day feedings. What it will do is ensure that when feeding time arrives that they quickly get after the food thats offered and will in most cases then patrol the bottom in search of food as well. I know some will not agree with this but it has worked for me for a number of years. Good Luck.

paytheplayer

I have most of the same fish as you, although I have a dojo loach, and they enjoy snails. It's possible that they can bother they other fish, but mine usually keeps to itself.

I have a question about your Rafael Catfish. Yesterday I was at the LPS, and I bought an Upside Down Catfish. I saw the Rafael there, and I was really interested. It was labelled as semi aggressive, so I chose to look it up first. Does it do well in a community tank?

qpc68

I haven't had any problems with him at all. All my research pointed to him being relatively peaceful. I've heard they can be territorial especially towards other raphael's but I haven't seen any territorial behavior.

In fact, him and my Rainbow Shark actually share several hiding places without getting after each other at all. The shark will chase away some of the tetras and small cory's, but he never nips at them. I don't know if they get along because they are of similar size, but so far they do.

Lupin

False information. I've kept a raphael here myself and it is in a community. They can eat fish that fit their mouths otherwise they are fine.

qpc68, what size is the tank? I wouldn't resort to fish to solve the problem, not even loaches. Cut back on feeding and manually remove as many snails you can see as possible.

qpc68

Lupin

That's the course I'm currently taking. So far it seems to be working. I just wanted to have a backup plan :D

Lupin

You still have not mentioned the tank size.