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need a loach to erradicate snails

3539 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Lupin, 
S
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 :)
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S
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.
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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
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