Do the loaches go a good job with snail mitigation? What’s your policy for handling snails?
I recently made the move to live plants and discovered a snail (ramshorn) shortly thereafter. There only seemed to be one, so I let him live…assuming that for lack of a paramour, I wouldn’t be bothered with baby snails. A month or so went by and my snail grew larger. I kind of liked him…especially since he was still a solo act. Then it happened. I woke up one morning and discovered thirty little baby snails clinging to the glass.
I was flabbergasted. Where did these little snails come from? After I discovered that many snails are hermaphroditic and can reproduce asexually, I felt pretty stupid for not avoiding this predicament. He promptly met his end, humanely, of course. Another month later and I’m still cleaning snails off the the glass every week. I had hoped that I had eliminated the only egg layer. Are these tiny little snails already mature enough lay eggs too? Am I doomed to have these unsightly little buggers on my glass forever?
Loaches are great at keeping the snail population down. The common Clown Loach grows very large though, so I don’t usually recommend them. A favorite of mine is the Zebra Loach (Botia striata) Here. It grows slowly and not very large, even after years.
When small, they’re not too damaging, can be a small help in controlling algae as well as serving as a food source for certain fish. But don’t let them grow large. They love to travel along the bottom of the tank, chewing off plants at the base.
Yoyos also eat snails.
In the tanks where I don’t have yoyos, I just smash unwanted snails against the side of the tank, and the fishies gobble up the meat.
Well, oh so many moons ago, I bought a boat load of real plants and put them in my aquarium. Within short order I had HUNDREDS of snails all over the glass. The tank was literally infested - I could scrape along the glass with a credit card and pull it out covered with snails - it was really gross, to be honest.
I inquired at my local “Really, really, really good fish shop” and they suggested I get a clown loach. They’re very small when they’re young - about an inch long - they can get bigger but it takes a LOOOOOONG time - they are very slow growing. I asked if I should get two, because I had so many snails, but the man suggested I start with just the one little guy (Ralph) and see how I did.
Put him in there, went to bed, the next day the snails were GONE. I mean, literally, gone. I hunted and couldn’t find a single one. Ralph was resting at the bottom of the tank holding his belly in a contented manner.
So yah, I’m very pro loach to keep the snails under control.
First, DON’T clean out the tank with soap- it can leave a residue that can harm fish. If you think the tank needs scrubbing, use salt instead, or see if your local pet store has something designed for that purpose.
Water weighs about 8.33 pounds per gallon. Be sure to set up your tank on a piece of furniture that can handle the weight (about 250 pounds, plus the weight of the glass and other stuff, in case you don’t feel like doing the math yourself). Most regular home furniture isn’t designed to have something like that on top of it- you’re probably better off getting a tank stand that is designed for a large aquarium. Be sure to put the aquarium where you want it before you start filling it with water- a partly-full aquarium can be heavy, awkward to handle, and slippery if any water gets on the outside of it during filling (which it probably will).
Be sure to put your aquarium somewhere where it’s not likely to get furniture, lamps, etc, knocked onto it and risk breaking it. Be sure it’s not somewhere where someone is likely to knock it over. 30 gallons of water plus shards of glass can make an unholy mess.
Get some test strips that test water hardness, and use one on your tap water. It’s been a while since I had an aquarium, but ISTR different kinds of fish prefer different levels of water hardness.
You don’t want purified water (that’s too soft), but you will want to get the chlorine out of the water before you put fish in it. Pet stores sell stuff you can put in the water to remove chlorine.
When you do get your aquarium set up, don’t replace all of the water at once unless you’re disinfecting the tank after your fish have been sick or something like that. Beneficial bacteria build up in an aquarium, and you don’t want to get rid of them, because they keep the ammonia in the water under control. If you get water or gravel from the pet store, that’s essentially what you’re doing- bringing in a bacterial culture from an established tank.
When you do clean the tank, you might want to use purified water to replace the water you took out- water gradually gets harder as it sits due to evaporation.
I have a bit of a snail problem in my tank right now as well… not that bad, as I think the Gourami’s are eating the really small ones and the eggs, but still… I’ve got one that’s a little bit bigger than a nickel, and I want to keep him. The others are all smaller, usually around pea sized. If I get a loach, should I cordon off the big snail, or is he big enough that a loach would leave him alone?
Well, it sort of depends on the size of the loach. If you get a very small loach your snail should be ok, but if you’re really attached to him, I’m not sure I would risk it. Loachs are tenacious when it comes to getting food.