Snail eaters

Taratron · Post by **Taratron** » 21 Sep 2005, 02:04

Due to the fact our electric eel seems to have an uber fast metabolism, and despite twice weekly water changes, the snails have come out in full force.

Hence I am looking for a fish that will devour snails, and yet not be aggressive to said Pikachu...or not have the brains to run away when the eel eyes it! Eel has never been fed fish, only worms, and now wafers.

Also, in search of a good snail eater that will do great in a planted discus tank. Any ideas?

metallhd · Post by **metallhd** » 21 Sep 2005, 06:11

Hi Taratron - my first thought was to loaches, most of which make short work of snails. I have a pair of clown loaches and they keep snails under control in my big tank, I have read that yoyo loaches also do well. Check out loaches.com, there is lots of info there. Good luck !

WhitePine · Post by **WhitePine** » 21 Sep 2005, 06:11

Carinotetraodon travancoricus - pea puffer
Botia morleti - Skunk Botia
Bunocephalus species - Banjo catfish
Leiocassis siamensis - Asian Bumblebee catfish

you could try these. I have the puffers and some botia striata I rotate through tanks with snails. The puffers stay small.

Cheers, Whitepine

Taratron · Post by **Taratron** » 21 Sep 2005, 10:04

The big question though, for the eel tank:

Would any of those survive with Pikachu?

I love the idea of banjo cats; I have a good lot of them at home, but my planted tanks with them have floating plants, and anubias: nothing actually planted in the ground, and I don't use fertilizer tabs. Would a few banjos be happy and not wreck the thickly planted discus tank, which has a ton of crypts and swords, and several tabs?

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 21 Sep 2005, 11:14

dunno about Banjo's eating snails, but I DO know a few snailinfested tanks with a group of healthy Banjo's in them!
and the owner of 1 of them keeps his fish healthy, not overfed, skips 1-2 feeding days a week to avoid the tank polluting; doesn't seem to make the Banjo's eat snails.
all the other fish are fine too.

myself, I got a pair of Eeltail Banjo's that don't seem to eat snails either.

his snailproblem ended when I gave him 4 Botia striata wich immedeately went total war on the snailpopulation.
He got 5 Yoyo loaches before, but the larger Yoyo is LAZY.....it skips the snails very fast for the frozen food....

his other tank has a shoal of Botia sidhimunki and is snailfree as well; maybe the small but lively and peaceful sidhimunki is suitable for the Discus? it's one of the few loachspecies that never goes after finnage, and it's rarity (endangered in the wild, fish for sale are bred) and contrasting pattern make a nice fit in your discustank.

also they're so small they don't uproot plants, but they can and do find ALL the snails, even the ones hiding in dense bushes.

Puffers are a really BAD idea: they always go for fins of slowmoving fish, your discus will be sitting ducks.....and in the other tank; if the eel accidentically swallows one, it's one dead eel! all puffers are highly toxic, I've seen fish tumbling over stonedead 30 minutes after biting a fin off a puffer.....

how big is that tank with the eel?
I know Electric eels reach 2 meters or so; if it's in a suitable tank, you might think about adding a Megalodoras; that'll be the end of any snailproblem!

Jackster · Post by **Jackster** » 21 Sep 2005, 14:30

The skunk botia (Botia morleti) is by far the best snail eater I've ever found.
They are inexpensive and I also find them quite interesting. I have a Botia beauforti
in my 55 gallon with all of my Tanganyikans. It's my favorite and it's aggressive but
a step down from Botia helodes (tiger loach) which is a good choice for aggressive aquariums.
Clown loaches are the most timid but one of my friends has 2 mixed in a 55 Hap/ Mbuna tank.

Most botias eat snails and I agree that puffers are not a good choice.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 21 Sep 2005, 17:07

However the Skunk botia (is that the one that's used to be B horae?), if it is what I think it is; is a very bad and nasty finpicker wich will go for the Discus like a balistic missile.....

discus are virtually defenseless, being developed in a very acidic environment with very few animals.....many fish when confronted with a discus cannot resist the temptation of nipping at the doofuslike discus

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 21 Sep 2005, 17:23

What about the Key-way-mamma (mother of snails) or Megalodoras uranoscopus, at least for the time being?

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 21 Sep 2005, 19:01

Earth to Marc; wake up Marc

sidguppy wrote

how big is that tank with the eel?
I know Electric eels reach 2 meters or so; if it's in a suitable tank, you might think about adding a Megalodoras; that'll be the end of any snailproblem!

DeepFriedIctalurus · Post by **DeepFriedIctalurus** » 21 Sep 2005, 19:32

I'd be concerned about ANY Botia bothering the discus, they're all very inquisitive fish that will "play" with slow-moving tankmates. The banjo cats would be the most natural (in biotope terms) out of those mentioned, but I've never heard any praises of their snail-eating abilities.

What I'm surprised to not see mentioned here, (besides the mammoth Pseudodoras) are dorads! These guys make short work of any snail species, and would gladly stay out of any discus or eel's way. I'd recommend , or Acanthodoras species, since they all stay around 6".

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 21 Sep 2005, 20:58

You too need a strong dose of coffee, Deepfry; since when does Megalodoras belong to a non-Dorad family?

not for the Discustank no.

I didn't recommend them for a discustank with a specific reason in mind:
their nocturnal activities! Dorads tend to bump into things at night, wriggle forcibly through plantbushes (they make a real mess out of a tank with fine-leafed plants!), growling and chirping while they're at it all the time (esp a clumsy Agamyxis, they're known for their bulldozerlike activities)

If there's ANYTHING that can send a discus straight to fishy heaven it's a medium-big growling, bumping catfish that swims repeatedly into a sleeping discus......discus are easily spooked and go straight up ramming themselves to death against the hood, lights or glasspanes on top.

the best discustank has no fish that are even remotely discus-sized, all should be quite a bit smaller to give the discus a relaxed time.

one of the reasons I never bothered with them; too much of a wussy

Another reason: I've seen tanks with adult Platydoras and subadult Orinocodoras overrun with snails; the tank I mentioned with the Botia striata in it also has a mediumsized healthy Agamyxis in it wich did nothing, nada, zip about the snailpopulation whatsoever.

the only Dorad that DOES (and goes at them with a vengeance), is the huge -unsuitable for any discustank- Megalodoras.

WhitePine · Post by **WhitePine** » 22 Sep 2005, 07:00

I think the Botia striata or the sidhimunki would be your best bet... the sidhimunki is great looking and stays very small.. but they are ussually pretty expensive for a botia. I have never noticed fin nipped from my puffers... but then again they are probably well fed on cherry shrimp babies.

Cheers, Whitepine

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 22 Sep 2005, 08:01

sidguppy wrote:Earth to Marc; wake up Marc

Nanu, nanu

sidguppy wrote

how big is that tank with the eel?
I know Electric eels reach 2 meters or so; if it's in a suitable tank, you might think about adding a Megalodoras; that'll be the end of any snailproblem!

[/quote]

To be honest, I did miss your remark.....
What I could do now is just say that I specifically mentioned the M.uranoscopus because that one is well known for its snail eating

.

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 22 Sep 2005, 11:32

Taratron wrote:Hence I am looking for a fish that will devour snails, and yet not be aggressive to said Pikachu...or not have the brains to run away when the eel eyes it! Eel has never been fed fish, only worms, and now wafers.

I think any fish you put in with an Electric Eel may be at risk unfortunately, regardless of the diet it is usually fed, and so on ethical grounds I think you might have to reconsider.
When we had a problem with snails in the Piranha display I considered moving all the Piranhas into off-show and having a temporary display of Colomesus Puffers (just until they dealt with the problem), but didn't need to as feeding regime management reduced the snail population back to acceptable levels.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 22 Sep 2005, 13:08

maybe Marc should reply; i can remember his tank about a million years ago; 1 electric eel and a lot of catfish including some doradids and other nocturnal critters.

they did fine.

unlike the Electric cat wich kills anything else it's housed with, electric eels seems to be quite docile and easygoing to easygoing tankmates, when they're fed properly.

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 22 Sep 2005, 15:27

It was a small one (about 30 cm), but indeed very easy going. The cats weren't bothered by it, yet they kept some distance. I don't recall any victims.
I couldn't enjoy it very long, however, because the front window of that tank cracked* and I had to get rid of all my fish.
(*: That was a regular problem a million years ago...)

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 26 Jul 2006, 16:58

Suggestions to use small Botia species are good advice. They are discus compatible. I have found that L199 is another snail eater but not as good as Botia sp.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 01 Aug 2006, 17:45

I have identified another snail eater in my collecton for a peaceful tank and you would need at least six of these to be effective, Tatia perugiae, Oil Cats, they stay small and have beautiful colors. The collecton of 20 I have have the bottom of their tank covered with the empty shells. They do hide except at feeding time and then they come out of hiding in a flurry of activity. Their favorite foods are F.D. Bloodworms and frozen blood worms. But evidently during their relentless night hunting they are eating pond snails. Puffers are never a good idea in any community tank and loaches are unpredictable. I trust the smaller clown loaches and the extremely expensive sidthimunki dwarf botia as snail eaters. Although the clowns grow to fast and big.
Your electric eel poses obvious problems when it comes to biological snail control and may be one of those rare occassions where chemical snail eradicators are useful. It should only take 10-14 days to chemically rid it's tank of snails. I once had a 30 inch electric eel and I never got shocked, but I once tried to scoop out a 4 inch electic cat out of a cichlid tank where it was being harassed and I was surprised at how strong a shock it delivered to my bare hand. I'm glad the eel never got me through heavy rubber gloves as their output is about 100volts/ft!

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