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Hi guys, I've got LOADS of snails in the Zeb-tank! Can somebody PLEASE help? Thanks, Dawn

Snails are a nasty adversary. The most effective methods for killing them involve chemicals etc. that you don't want to subject the zebras to. The next most effective method is also not possible in a zeb tank- loaches.

Snaills thrive where there is excess food. While you will never be able to eliminate them, you may be able to reduce their numbers by a combination of things.

1. Feed as little as possible for a week.
2. Manually remove as many snails and eggs as you can find.
3. Rig a snail trap. this can be as simple as something with a piece of zuchini or blanched lettuce for bait in a small dish or open jar on its side. Put it into the tank near normal lights out. In an hour or two it should be cover with snails. Remove it, get the snails off and put it back in the tank.

Snails multiply fast when there is lots of food for them to eat. Overpopulation of snails is a good sign you are overfeeding. Cutting back on the amount you feed will reduce their numbers over time. The chances of you getting rid of all of them are about zero though.

Personally I like having snails in my tanks. They do a great job of cleaning up excess food and keeping the tank clean.

My zebs and other plecos, as well as some of my cichlids all feed on the snails as well (MTS and ramshorn snails).

Hi Chris, do you mean feed the fish less? We already lay a trap with the cucumber, but we don't see the eggs! I think it was John who told us not to put loach in the tank, Yourself and Russ have said to place the loach in, but he says NO! I'm so confused

TwoTankAmin wrote:The next most effective method is also not possible in a zeb tank- loaches.

TTA says the same dawn

No loach to boistrous and greedy

I've not tried the loach method although I'd prefer that to any chemical method

we keep clowns without other small hypancistrus species so cant see it beeing too much of a problem with zebs in the short term...

I've not tried the loach method although I'd prefer that to any chemical method

we keep clowns without other small hypancistrus species so cant see it being too much of a problem with zebs in the short term...


we just use a corse mesh net - scoop sand - the sand strains through the mesh leaving a nice meal for the clowns in our other tanks

Hi guys, we've done the cucumber trap and great news! They're almost gone and as you all seem to have suggested, we've got a couple of baby loach which we hope to place in the tank at the weekend! Many thanks for your advise!

Hi guys, we've done the cucumber trap and great news! They're almost gone and as you all seem to have suggested, we've got a couple of baby loach which we hope to place in the tank at the weekend! Many thanks for your advise!

It all depends on what kind of snails you have. Most snails are egg layers, so even if you think you got rid of them, you'll still eventually find more later. They were probably just newly hatched and too small for you to see.

MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails) are livebearers, so picking them off would eventually rid them.

Clown loaches are the most favored against snails, but it's best to keep them in groups. Unfortunately, they will get big, though at a slow rate, and they do not do well with snails that have trap doors.

It has been reported that Spixi snails are predatory and will eat most snails, except for mini ramshorn snails. Mini ramshorn snails look like ramshorn snails, but remain small. Spixi snails have also been reported to eat snail eggs.

Snail chemicals probably do more harm to fish than to snails. IME, I had a pond snail infestation in my tank before. I tried Had-A-Snail, which never really affected the snails. I even directly dosed (full strength from the bottle) the snail when it would reach close to the surface line, I would see the snails fall to the substrate. I figured I would let them die, but eventually, I would later see the snail move from the spot.

Puffers also eat snails, because it helps grind their teeth down.

There are also snail leeches, but who wants to keep leaches in their tanks...http://www.shrimp-diseases-online.com/snailleech.htm

Yes, they are the DREADED trumpet snails! Can I ask, aren't puffers rather dangerous with the zebs? I've heard they've got quite a nip on them (and I wouldn't want ANYTHING to happen to them)

My clowns had no trouble with MTS which have trap doors. I can also tell you that I lost a total of 6 adult size bn plecos in my tank with clown loaches. I would bet dollars to donuts it was the clowns that did them in.

Clowns tend to rule the bottom of any tank once they get any size and plecos tend to like the same spots and hidey holes that clowns do. This means there will eventually be turf wars which will be won by the clowns unless the plecos involved are as large or larger than the clowns. Clowns are also pigs, they will eat anything and everything and do not tolerate competition for their lunch. If a clown can fit into a cave, it will and if there happens to be something already inside, the clown will work to evict it.

I have watched one of my 6-8 inch clowns sit on a bn- not for any other reason than where the clown wanted to sit there happened to be a bn.

One of my favorite loaches for snail control when you cant do anything that gets any size are Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki. They are a dwarf loach that will stay at 2 inches or so. They are extremely active at all levels of a tank and will eat the small snails voraciously. If you manually remove the bigger snails and leave the newborns to them, you can almost empty a tank of snails. The one downside may be the fact that sids are almost hyperactive and live to poke into every nook and cranny of a tank. Because they are a small loach they are going to be able to fit into a lot of the same places smaller zebras can. I don't know whether they would be threat to zeb fry but I would bet the loaches could wreck havoc on potential spawning by zebs. The other downside is that sids wont like temps much above about 82F while the zebs do. Clowns will tolerate a tad more heat but not much.

Just an update, the clown loach have been in the zeb tank for nearly two weeks and there's not a snail in sight!

Good news and how did your zebs respond to the loaches, any fighting or squabbles?