[Mr. Furious]

Hi all.

I'm having a snail infestation in my 10g. I understand that the Botia species will eat the snails, but most of them get too big for a 10g (is this true?). I've done some research on Botia Sidthimunki. Most of the information I have suggests that they only do well in groups of three or more (is this true? any opinions?).

Current inhabitants of the tank are 5 neons, 1 dwarf gourami and three amano shrimp.

Any suggestions? I've tried culling the snails by hand but there are too many of them and some are too small to see easily.

 

[typically]

the loaches might eat your shrimp not positive. if you have a bigger tank you could just put the loaches in there after they clean up your 10 gallon.

 

[distrbd]

try yoyo loaches,thet will take care of you snails in a day or two.

 

[Lupin]

Yoyos are a very good suggestion but unless you are prepared to have your shrimps eaten, then don't. Yoyos can easily surpassed 4 inches and in a group,you'll need to upgrade the tank to 20 gallons or more. Botia sidthimunkis are small for most pond snails so you'll need to manually remove big ones. Loaches are best kept in groups rather than alone.

Just an added information, pls avoid clown loaches. 10 gallons is far too small to support even one on a long-term basis.

The other method I can suggest from loaches is the use of a lettuce.Once it is loaded with several snails, you can throw them right down the bin.

Avoid the use of chemicals. They contain copper sulfate which will kill your shrimps and may have dire effects on the fish. Be prepared for ammonia spike caused by rotting dead snails after using copper sulfate.

 

[Mr. Furious]

Thanks for the advice. Chemicals were definitely not among the options I was considering.

I think I will try to find two dwarf botias. I realize more would be better but I don't want to overload the tank.

I'm right in assuming that kuhli loaches won't eat snails?

 

[Lupin]

They don't. Far too small to eat snails. But they may eat the eggs. I doubt they would scrape eggs on plants and glass as they stay mainly on the bottom.

 

[Riche_guy]

I find loaches that eat food scraps from other fish tend not to want to eat snails anymore. I imagine that takes effort and if they are eating well will bypass the snails. :icon_conf

 

[Lupin]

I find loaches that eat food scraps from other fish tend not to want to eat snails anymore. I imagine that takes effort and if they are eating well will bypass the snails. :icon_conf

I forgot all about this. An excellent point in fact.:hihi: 'Tis the same as feeding BNs with veggies and they'll most likely forget consuming algae.

 

[MOsborne05]

I had the same problem so I picked up some zebra loaches for my tank, and within a day all of the snails were gone! They were really small when I got them too, so I didn't think they would be big enough to eat the snails but they did. So I would definitely suggest some of them. They only get about 3" and they are very entertaining little fish

 

[GDominy]

If Yyou can find Botia Sidthimunki I would recomend them. Most botia species get far too large to be considered for a 10 Gallon tank. Sid's stay reasonably small, have a wonderful temperment and shouldnt bother your other fish.

Shrimp might get picked on, as most loaches can be destrustive towards any invertebrate (either as a result of feeding on them, or simply taking a curious nibble to see what they are).

 

[poisonpen]

I have 2 Chain Loaches which have done wonders cleaning out my tanks (46G, then moved to my 16G) of unwanted snails. I would have gotten more but they are fairly expensive fish. I did see one of them tearing up what was left of a cherry shrimp, but it may have been a leftover that my small apisto never finished off. I don't keep small shrimp with either loaches or cichlids any more. I will say that Chain Loaches are a joy to watch and are very functional. I recommend getting them.