Loaches Online Forum

Hello, i have a 75 gallon with some lake tang cichlids (3 black calvus, 2 eret. cyano gobies) and some platies. The issue is the recent explosion of Malaysian trumpet snails. I started with maybe 5 (im not sure what i was thinking) and now bam! hundreds! they are everywhere! i dont want to catch them to kill them, but i was thinking of getting some loaches. Besides the snails the tank is pretty understocked, and over filtered. I was just wondering if loaches would be ok with these cichlids?
thanks! Jaimemuffin

IMO, it would not be good for the loaches. Use bait to catch the snails to get rid of them.

it could work, but i wouldn't take the chance. use snail bait (make sure its a brand meant for water snails)

My clown loaches don't eat mylasian trumpet snails...

They eat every other kind but I have had one random MTS in my tank now forever... Never gets eaten... luckily I think he's the only onw though

Get some 6+cm clown loaches for sure. The larger the little loaches are the better. Ie, don't get the tiny small ones. Try and find a shop that has some small to medium size loaches, 8-10cm size.

My loaches (of all varieties) each the Malaysian trumpet snails. I didn't even know what they were called until I read your post and googled "malaysian trumpet snails"... I just called them "cone snails". I get them in all my tanks that don't have loaches, and every couple of weeks I purposefully don't feed for a few days and on the 3rd or 4th day I put some zucchini in one or two spots and wait for the snails to come out of hiding. They get just as hungry as the fish, except I use a hose and then suck out the snails one by one as they emerge from the gravel. They get sucked into buckets, just as with a water change. Then I catch them up in a net and drop them into my loach tanks. The loaches love them, and if any snails escape the loach stampede then they'll be eaten the next time they decide to appear near the surface of the gravel. My loaches grab the snails in their mouths and race off somewhere safe in the tank before another fish can steal it from them. The loaches then juggle the snail into various positions as (i assume) they then suck out the tasty snail meat.

Short Reply due to time constraint.

My 8" Clown Loaches have cleared the aquarium of trumpet snails - I haven't seen one.

They do not get on so well with cichlids, especially territorial ones as the Clown Loaches all muck in and don't respect territory.

redshark1 wrote:Short Reply due to time constraint.

My 8" Clown Loaches have cleared the aquarium of trumpet snails - I haven't seen one.

They do not get on so well with cichlids, especially territorial ones as the Clown Loaches all muck in and don't respect territory.

Yea my oldest clown use to get between my angelfish. Looked like a bouncer going "ok boys break it up"

I thought it was halarious.

mattyd wrote:Get some 6+cm clown loaches for sure. The larger the little loaches are the better. Ie, don't get the tiny small ones. Try and find a shop that has some small to medium size loaches, 8-10cm size.

My loaches (of all varieties) each the Malaysian trumpet snails. I didn't even know what they were called until I read your post and googled "malaysian trumpet snails"... I just called them "cone snails". I get them in all my tanks that don't have loaches, and every couple of weeks I purposefully don't feed for a few days and on the 3rd or 4th day I put some zucchini in one or two spots and wait for the snails to come out of hiding. They get just as hungry as the fish, except I use a hose and then suck out the snails one by one as they emerge from the gravel. They get sucked into buckets, just as with a water change. Then I catch them up in a net and drop them into my loach tanks. The loaches love them, and if any snails escape the loach stampede then they'll be eaten the next time they decide to appear near the surface of the gravel. My loaches grab the snails in their mouths and race off somewhere safe in the tank before another fish can steal it from them. The loaches then juggle the snail into various positions as (i assume) they then suck out the tasty snail meat.

I get all variety of snails for them and I was suprised that one managed to get by so long. He'd dissapear for a bit and I'd think they ate him... then some random day he'd show up again. I don't know how he's getting around being eaten.