# loaches and red cherry shrimps



## looking4roselines (Mar 28, 2008)

Snails are eatting the new leaves of my plants and they are starting to irritate me. So, I am looking to buy a group of loaches to keep the snail population down and I am wondering if they will eat cherry shrimplets.

Also, which type of loach are good snail eaters?

Please advise.

Thanks.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Hit or miss, but they're USUALLY OK with shrimp.


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## looking4roselines (Mar 28, 2008)

epicfish said:


> Hit or miss, but they're USUALLY OK with shrimp.



I am assuming that you have/had loaches in your tank? What kind did you have?


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Clown, skunk botia, and sidthimunkis.


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## MGuzi (Sep 6, 2008)

I've had good luch with 2 Botia almorhae (yoyo or pakistani loaches). Never saw them bothering the shrimp in my community tank. I expect all of my fish supplement their diet with an occasional baby shrimp they find, but my RCS population has continued to grow in my well planted 75 gal. I like having 2 or 3 of these loaches too because of the way they tend to swim around each throughout the tank - very entertaining. They take care of any babies and hitchhikers I get and leave my larger nerites alone.

Good luck!


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## looking4roselines (Mar 28, 2008)

MGuzi said:


> I've had good luch with 2 Botia almorhae (yoyo or pakistani loaches). Never saw them bothering the shrimp in my community tank. I expect all of my fish supplement their diet with an occasional baby shrimp they find, but my RCS population has continued to grow in my well planted 75 gal. I like having 2 or 3 of these loaches too because of the way they tend to swim around each throughout the tank - very entertaining. They take care of any babies and hitchhikers I get and leave my larger nerites alone.
> 
> Good luck!


 
Cool...thank you.

I will give them a try.


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## plaakapong (Feb 28, 2008)

It's generally not a good idea to get loaches for the purpose of snail control.How big is your tank? B. almorae can get pretty big. They, like most botias should be kept in groups, 3-5 min. Consider all your tank conditions such as existing stock, water movement/oxygenation, temp, PH, for compatibility. B. striata would be a smaller option, there are quite a few. Visit loachesonline for further info.


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## flanders (May 3, 2008)

plaakapong said:


> It's generally not a good idea to get loaches for the purpose of snail control.How big is your tank? B. almorae can get pretty big. They, like most botias should be kept in groups, 3-5 min. Consider all your tank conditions such as existing stock, water movement/oxygenation, temp, PH, for compatibility. B. striata would be a smaller option, there are quite a few. Visit loachesonline for further info.


Why aren't loaches a good idea for snail control? As long as you have a large enough tank, keep them in groups 3+, and keep water quality high they are very useful and entertaining fish. They won't completely eradicate your snail pop, but can keep it in check. 

I've found clowns to be the most avid snail hunters but they get big, but very slowly. So, you could get a small group (1-2") of 5 and they will be fine in a 50 gal for at least a year. I did this, and my clowns got really big, in about 20 mo, to around 5", so I traded them for......

B. striata, I have a group in my 55 gal, eat lots of snails, very entertaining and attractive, and stay relatively small ~2.5". I've raised lots of dwarf cichlid fry with these guys-- no problems.

I've also used B. sidthmunki. These are super cool fish. They school more than most botia, swim in different levels of the water column, stay fairly small, and eat lots of snails. Farily expensive though, at least around here, going for at least $10, and these guys really should be in groups of 6+ at least.

So, I think you have a few good choices here. I believe this is the best way to control snails. I don't want to kill them all, and I don't want to use chemicals. Overfeeding your fish also contributes to your snail pop, but most aquarists do this anyway, even if they don't think they are. What better way to control your waste? Let snails eat excess food/waste, get loaches to keep them in check!


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## Soujirou (Jun 16, 2008)

I purchased some sids as well for both snail control and because I wanted them anyway. They did wipe out my snail population at first, but then they got used to me feeding them and no longer go for snails, although occasionally I might find one snail shell every few days. I usually do not feed any of my fish one day a week and it still does not encourage them to eat snails.


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## plaakapong (Feb 28, 2008)

flanders said:


> Why aren't loaches a good idea for snail control?
> 
> If you know what you're getting into and you've thoroughly researched the species(LOL is the place to do this) and are prepared to give them a proper environment, no problem. Too often people randomly suggest loaches to clean up a snail infested tank and then run out and buy a single clown loach for a 10 gallon tank. Some loaches eat them some don't. They are wonderful fish ( my favorite) and need quality care to thrive.


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## bulrush (May 7, 2007)

I keep a single clown loach for snail control and he's great at it. I know they are supposed to be in groups but he does just fine, he doesn't seem nervous or anything. All my tanks have red cherry shrimp. This clown loach is supposed to eat snails and shrimp but he never seems to bother the shrimp. At least the shrimp population never seems to go down noticably. He seems to prefer those pond snails, even over the MTS. 

I have 6 tanks and when one tank runs out of snails I put him in another tank.


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## plaakapong (Feb 28, 2008)

^^ Fish can adapt and survive in many environments, just because it's still alive doesn't mean it's happy! Clowns are very social fish. Have you ever seen them interact in a group? It's a thing of beauty!! I've never seen one look that happy alone. Moving it from tank to tank will be very stressful also. If we choose to take fish from the wild for our own enjoyment, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to keep them as they should be kept.


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## newshound (May 9, 2005)

i have seen a striata botia rip apart a ghost shrimp.
i can't imagine a mature skunk loach leaving a shrimp alone.
loaches are social fish and need to be kept in groups 
really clean water conditions are also amust.
in the tanks i have had snails after i put a loach in said tank in less then a month no more snails.


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## flanders (May 3, 2008)

plaakapong said:


> If you know what you're getting into and you've thoroughly researched the species(LOL is the place to do this) and are prepared to give them a proper environment, no problem. Too often people randomly suggest loaches to clean up a snail infested tank and then run out and buy a single clown loach for a 10 gallon tank. Some loaches eat them some don't. They are wonderful fish ( my favorite) and need quality care to thrive.


100% agree. Same can be said for any species......


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