# Smallest loach that eats snails?



## shrimpNewbie

Forgot to mention my bnps spawn so they need to be docile


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## Bahugo

shrimpNewbie said:


> First I'd like to start by saying I love having trumpet snails, to an exten, but they need a docile and very small predator that won't become a pest itself like assasins
> 
> Any loach that is small like a bn pleco should work I just don't know of any I need suggestions, also can't be a digger which I know is hard but I'm planning on using turface


If this is for your 25 gallon I would just stick with Assassin snails then start donating them back too the pet store when your snails are gone.

Many loaches prefer too be in schools and can become quite rambunctious. 

I wouldn't use an adult BN pleco as a size comparison though, they can get 5-6" which is alot of different loach species.


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## AW0L

2-3 assassin snails should skink the population down but not totally get rid of them for awhile. That way you getthe benifits if the mts but not the mass population growth


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish

Zebra loaches stay small at 3.5 inches or so. You want to keep them with a few others.


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## rreekers

What about kuhli loaches. 

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## shrimpNewbie

The 25g is turning into a 60 cube, so for sure getting loaches just dot know what kind yet


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## NWA-Planted

Dwarf chain loach, they only get around 2-3", pretty sure they eat snails, Dario loach, yoyo and I think a few others stay in the 4-6" range

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## aweeby

+1 on the dwarf chain loaches. Mine are 1.5"-2" and I've had them for a while. I have turface as well, and they do fine. Don't bother much at all. You will need to keep pretty much all loaches in groups though. These guys are no exception. They love to shoal midwater too, it's awesome to watch.


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## aweeby

Oh, shoot, just read the trumpet snail part. MTS are hard to kill. My dwarf chain loaches won't/can't kill those, apparently I've read that the shells are too hard or something. But for ramshorns, bladder snails, mysteries, etc etc, they are all good to go. I'm not sure a smaller loach will be able to handle MTS at all. You might want to consider scaling back on your feeding a little, instead My tank is heavily planted, so there's always something hiding around for my fish to eat, no need to add extra for the snails. I started feeding them maybe 2x a week, and the snail population dropped to a managable size.


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## shrimpNewbie

I feed live worms and zucchini dunno how they over populate I got rid of over 200 lost count durring last water chAnge, I am still gonna get the loaches hopefully I can track down 6 dwarf chain


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## LB79

I believe my kuhlis are the ones keeping the snails extinct... not for sure there, but they're the only loaches in that tank and I've not seen any snails for an eternity.


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## reignOfFred

Khulis have never touched my trumpet snails, while a couple of assassin snails ate them all


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## ptr

Same here - I have about 10 Kuhli loaches in my 60g, and though they're getting fat, I still have lots of pond snails and mini ramshorns. So I don't think kuhli loaches eat them.


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## shrimpNewbie

I'm going to go with dwarf chain because i need something too small for bnp juvies


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## aweeby

dwarf chain will not take care of your Trumpets. (if that's what you have)

They eat everything else, just not trumpets. 
And they are a tad pricy. I've never seen them cheaper than 9$ a piece. 

When I say scale back on the food, I mean feed less food less often. I.e 3x a week or so.


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## shrimpNewbie

No can do I'd rather feed a lot less but more often, found it keeps my fish the most colorful, also I found some at ocean blue for $5 a pop either price I'll snag em up they're cute, thanks everyone


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## shrimpNewbie

Sorry forgot if I mentioned or not but all mid swimmers are target fed, plecos go nuts on zucchini but somehow the trumpets over breed which isn't a serious deal just wanted less


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## shrimpNewbie

Also might add some kind of snail to have food for the loaches


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## 150EH

I agree with Dwarf Chain Loaches, I have 3 but you also need to reduce your feeding amount and even skip feeding one day a week and you won't have a snail problem.


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## HybridHerp

sometimes I feel funny when buy mts for my tanks when I see people trying to figure out how to get rid of them 
Oddly enough, in a tank I have for breeding snails, I noticed that my snail populations took a hit whenever guppy fry were in the tank and had reached the size where they get most of their color
if anything, I bet something like some live bears would at least encourage the mts to stay underground more often, then again, I don't know how bad your population is XD


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## Kunsthure

Dwarf chains will absolutely take care of your MTS. Mine love them. My substrate it littered with empty shells. I can't keep the MTS alive in there. Any time the MTS come to the surface the loaches go after them. It's my only tank without a zombie apocalypse population of MTS. But don't get them until you upgrade your tank. I wouldn't put them in anything less than a 29g. I keep mine in a 75g. You'll need a dither fish. Mine were never out when they and the kuhlis were the only ones in the tank. I got some Von rio tetras and now I see them all the time. They're great to watch. They're not shy like a lot of other loaches. 

-Lisa


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## roadmaster

Have kept many loaches over the year's and the larger trumpet snails are dealt with fairly easily by the loaches, but the smaller ones are too difficult for the loaches to extract the snails from the shells.
Agree with other's,,feed less food less often,,and you'll have way fewer snails.


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## shrimpNewbie

Again I target feed the only time food touches substrate the plecos are all over it, still going to be getting dwarf chains, I have "dithers", they'll like the tank assuming they don't dig up my plants


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## roadmaster

shrimpNewbie said:


> Again I target feed the only time food touches substrate the plecos are all over it, still going to be getting dwarf chains, I have "dithers", they'll like the tank assuming they don't dig up my plants


Fish waste, fish food,plant matter,all = food for snails.
Feed less,remove decaying plant matter, and you'll have fewer snails.
more fish = more food= more waste=more snails.
Adding more fishes ALWAYS increases the amount of waste in the tank and loaches cannot survive on snails alone, so you;ll hopefully be feeding them as well as the other fishes.
If you like the loaches then fine,but adding more fish adds to the amount of waste = snail food.


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## JasonG75

rreekers said:


> What about kuhli loaches.
> 
> Sent from my SPH-M820-BST using Tapatalk 2


 
Nope..I have 3 Kuhli and none touch the MTS. I have hundreds and Hundreds of MTS.

Thinking of getting some assasins myself.


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## shrimpNewbie

I take time to prepare my fishes food of course I'll be feeding the loaches food other than snails. Dead plant matter isn't in my tank I keep everything clean the waste I understand especially with the amount of plecos currently in the tank. Won't be amprob in the new tank


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## Soujirou

shrimpNewbie said:


> I found some at ocean blue for $5 a pop either price I'll snag em up they're cute


What a score! I kind of want to check out Ocean Blue now.

Anyhow, I had them in a planted tank and I do not believe they will dig up any plants. They are considered "docile" but they are definitely active and have no problems grabbing food at the surface of the tank and freaking out slower moving fish. They are sensitive fish though, at least mine were.


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## shrimpNewbie

I have a Betta I hand feed and the tetras have no problem competing for the worm feeder hope the loaches will like zucchini


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## shrimpNewbie

New bnp spawn is free swimming atleast three albinos counted so far


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