[soco1125]

My tank has become overrun with snails! The awful little beasties have covered nearly every surface with snail poo that I can't clean fast enough. Here are the specs on the tank:

Size: 55g
Temp: 80*
pH: 6.5
Arrangement: heavily planted with swords, vallisneria, sagittaria, java ferns, wisteria, anubias barteri var. nana, R. rotundifolia, java moss, microsorium, crypts, & Christmas moss. Hope to soon add some hygrophila, perhaps corymbosa or polysperma. Also includes several pieces of driftwood.
Substrate: 50/50 mix of gravel and Fluorite
Inhabitants: 1 large angelfish, 12 black neon tetras, 2 otocinclus catfish, unknown # of cherry shrimp

I've never kept loaches before so I don't know what my options are. All I know is that they are generally very active I will need at least 3 in order for them to be happy. Are there any that stay relatively small? I want to get some more angels and I don't want the poor things to be stressed out by a bunch of big boisterous loaches bouncing around. Also would my precious little cherry shrimp be safe or would they become dinner too?

Thanks

 

[Lupin]

Hi Soco.:wave:

I'd be very careful with the loaches as some of them can consume your plants. The likely victims are your crypts, swords, Javan moss, Christmas moss, rotala and wisteria.

Try Botia kubotai or Botia striata. Botia almorhae are also good options if you like. Your angels will not be bothered. It is the cherry shrimps I'm worried of as loaches can develop a taste for shrimps. Besides they do eat invertebrates. Botia sidthimunki stay to 2 inches and are great with cherry shrimps although they are more costly than the previous three.

 

[jones57742]

I believe that I can be of some help here with respect to two issues based on experience.

As you obviously researched the literature I am fairly certain that you are aware that the snails were imported via your plants.

"I have been there and done that": you can probably barely see into your tank due to the snails and their egg sacks on the walls of your tank.

I researched the literature and decided to purchase 7 yoyo loaches (one of Blue's options) as my tank is 110G.
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_lohachata.php
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/loaches/YoYoLoach.php
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/loach.html

I live in a community in West Texas where purchasing fish such as yoyo loaches is not possible and I purchased mine on line approximately 6 months ago.
http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/sharks_eels_loaches/sharks_eels_loaches.htm#loaches

Mine were very small when I received them.
4 to 6 weeks later I had much larger yoyos and no visible snails.
I have a wet/dry filtration system and even now I find very small snail shells on the mechanical filtration media (best guess is approximately 10/week) even though none can be observed in the tank.

I am also "into angels" and have 7 in my tank ranging in age from 5 months to 7 months and in size from 3 inches to 5 inches.
I have raised these angels from dime size.
I have 7 sterbai also which are somewhat boisterous.
The yoyos and sterbai also play with each other.
I have not observed the yoyos' and sterbai' playing bothering or stressing the angels and, as indicated above, the angels are growing quite well.

One last note:
I researched the literature extensively before I purchased my aquarium.
The literature indicated that a 30" deep tank was preferable to a 24" deep tank in order to raise angels to their full size.

TR

 

[sazzy]

my clown loach were great at eating snails

 

[soco1125]

Well heck... I am just batting zero these days.

I did some research on Botia sidthimunki and nothing I read mentioned eating snails. Is this a commonly omitted piece of information because sites spend more time talking about how endagered they are? I haven't seen them in any stores around here, but my primary LFS will special order anything my little heart desires.

Yoyo loaches are readily available here at a decent price, though I still worry about them chowing down on a shrimp dinner. I guess I could put them in a "test" tank with a couple of sacrificial shrimp to see what happens... it'd be far better than losing all 20+ of them.

Jones, I assume you were just mentioning sterbai's because of their high activity levels not bothering angels? I had to look them up because I didn't realize they were cories (haven't kept cories in almost 8 years, perhaps I should again 'cause they're so cute).

Thanks again.

 

[jones57742]

Jones, I assume you were just mentioning sterbai's because of their high activity levels not bothering angels?
I had to look them up because I didn't realize they were cories (haven't kept cories in almost 8 years, perhaps I should again 'cause they're so cute).

Yes I was.

They are also very entertaining.
They are also very, very hardy fish. The 7 juvies which I purchased when I reentered fish keeping 10 months ago have survived all of "my stupid stunts" and all are still alive and growing.

TR

 

[soco1125]

Oh well... the cherry shrimps are now going to get their own tank. Will dip & clean the plants VERY thouroughly before putting them in that one. Going to put yoyo loaches in the big tank(s).

Thanks ya'll

 

[miagrrl]

yoyos are good snail eaters

 

[Lupin]

yoyos are good snail eaters

All botiine loaches are.