[Sven]

I'm looking for a good snail eater for my open tank. I don´t want to get loaches since they are quite expensive and likely to jump out.
Do you have any suggestions for a good snail eater that will not be likely to jump out? Are there perhabs some species of loaches that are not big jumpers?

 

[waterdog1]

assassin snails...#1 choice

 

[NJAquaBarren]

It's only been a few days, but my new Chain Loaches have almost cleared the tank of a lot of small snails. Very entertaining fish. So far they've shown no desire to leap out of the tank.

AB

 

[comatoast]

AB- I have also aquired three dwarf chain loaches within the past week. I inititally saw a big reduction in the number of small pond snails, but it seems like they're making a comeback in the last couple of days. Probably because the chain loaches are filling up on the other available food (which I can't stop feeding or I'll starve my cories). I would go with assassins, but I'm afraid they'd go after my smaller nerites, too.

 

[NJAquaBarren]

Toast - I don't have cories. So far I've limited the cleanup crew to just Otos and Chains so I haven't had to manage a conflict like that. Maybe you can reduce their food for a short while. The Chains seem so active, maybe they'll get back to the snails quickly, before the cories suffer.

Keep us posted.

 

[tw33kerloki]

puffers love snails...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myfish/20-Dwarf_Marble_Puffer_Carinotetraodon_travancoricus.html

dwarves are supposed to be less aggressive than spotted and figure 8's.
if your aquarium is big enough, and has lots of plants and interesting nooks and crannies, these guys should not get bored and resort to fin-nipping.

and they eat snails like nobody's business.

 

[Ariel301]

Don't the puffers need to be moved to a brackish tank eventually?

 

[Sven]

Thanks for the suggestions, I think I'll give assassins a try.

 

[suebe333]

Don't the puffers need to be moved to a brackish tank eventually?

Dwarf puffers are strictly a freshwater variety

 

[midnightrider]

I had a green spotted puffer in a 55 gallon tank. The puffer was about 2 inches long and constantly nipped my 6 inch albino oscar, polypterus senegalis, and plecotsomas. The polypterus suffered so badly I moved him to another tank.

 

[matar]

yes i would also recomend the dwarf puffers. they will your snails over time. they might not eat them all for weeks or a month depending on the snail population. i have had a lot of fun keeping these fish. they have alot of personality and are fun to watch them hunt snails. they might nip fins on some fish if they are slow moving. if the tank is heavily planted they will be less likley to do so due to their vision being distracted by plants. also a thing to consider is when your snail population runs out you will have to still feed them live food. they dont accept anything thats not live. i supplement mine with live blackworms and feed them plucked snails from another tank. very acceptable tankmates for these fish are bumble bee gobies, ottos, and shrimp with no problems.

 

[waterdog1]

oh, yea if you have snails you actually want then assasins wouldnt work

AB- I have also aquired three dwarf chain loaches within the past week. I inititally saw a big reduction in the number of small pond snails, but it seems like they're making a comeback in the last couple of days. Probably because the chain loaches are filling up on the other available food (which I can't stop feeding or I'll starve my cories). I would go with assassins, but I'm afraid they'd go after my smaller nerites, too.