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i have a 4ft tank with my zebs and corys in, but i also have a large number of snails in their that i want to get rid of, does anyone know if its ok to put a couple of clown loachs in there to get rid or is there anything else i can do to get rid. the zebs come 1st so i want to make sure they are goin to be happy with what ever i put in the tank.

any replys welcome, thanks.

What type of snail do you have I have a big community tank infested with rams horn snails, i put four Clown Loach in + four Dwarf Chain Loach in. That was one year ago, and the tank is still infested. On my weekly water change i suck out 300 + of the little beggars every week. I have five Zebra Plecs in the tank + two L134s + one L066 + one L177 thay all get on ok.

to be honest im not sure what snails they are, im not a big fan of snails so i dont take any interest in them, all i know is that they multiply like mad and there are too many in my tank. they have a white shell and are very small.
how big are your zebras that get on ok with the clown loach in your tank?

The five Zebra Plecos are three to three and a half inches in size, and two to three years old.

If the snails you have are flat and coiled about this big O, there rams horn snails. They are to small for the loaches to pull them out of there shells. I wish i could help you but i`m still looking for a fish frindly way of getting rid of them my self. CAN SOME ONE HELP US

If you are over run with snails you could strip your tank down fully & wash your sand in hot water to kill the snails & replace with new sand.

I have Malaysian Trumpet snails in my tanks witch I net up through the sand frequently & sieve them through the net & discard.

You could also try pieces of cucumber or courgette placed in a tub at night & picked out in the morning hopefully with snails attached!

Snails are abundant through over feeding so maybe cut your feeding down a little.

I admit to over feeding but also do lots of water changes.

BTW how are your fish doing Ben? Hope all well.

I personally would avoid Clown Loaches in your zeb tank as your zebs will not compete for food as well.

Hope this helps Guys.

thanks for everyones input,

think i will avoid loaches then,

looks like i will have to do it the hard way like everyone else and net them out by hand,

zebs are doing great thanks steve, what about yours, have you bought any more or had any more spawns since we spoke last?

cheers, ben

Not bought any since then, but always looking for wild caught if anyone has any spares.

I've had a few spawns but either failed or they had very small batch size!
But will keep on trying.

Take care Steve.

If any of you are still trying to get rid of snails, I have been using algae wafers well before I feed my zebs, just placing 1 or 2 in the tank & leave for an hour or so & then net the little buggers out.