Loaches Online Forum

Has anyone else noticed that khuli and horsefaced loaches go nuts over snails? I dropped a handful of mts into the clown tank for the Clowns and all 5 khulis and all 4 horsies went on a screaming rampage! The snails had barely hit the substrate when they all arrowed in on the pile and went at them! didn't see any actually get a snail out...but they kept at it. the khulis are writhing in determined contortions while the horsies are pushing them around, rolling them, lifting them with their noses.

meanwhile, the clowns sat back in their corner looking intimidated. Guess they were as facinated as I was to see the wild snail orgy.

Interesting.

I doubt that kuhlis can do much, but do your horses actually kill snails or just play with them?
My zippers (which are somewhat in the same class as horses) cleaned up the tank from snails while the yoyo's were useless.

As I said I didn't actually see any of them get TO the snail inside the shell, but they clearly thought they were edible.

Maybe next time I'll crack a few shells before I drop them in and sit there with my camera...but they move so fast it will likely be a blur.

Here's couple that horsies happened to zip into the areal I had focused on (sorta )

On the subject of snails- I had the idea of putting a food dish- literally a bowl with vertical sides made of ceramic I could bury in the gravel and put some snails in, like a dinner plate, so I could monitor and make sure they stayed in there- let the loaches such the meat out, then I could remove the snailshells and bowl...

It works in my head but I'm sure there would be other logistics involved in a realworld application

shari2 wrote: Maybe next time I'll crack a few shells before I drop them in and sit there with my camera...but they move so fast it will likely be a blur.

Hey, that's cheating.

You have to place a snail on the tank wall, and let them do the entire job.

I spent an hour today trying to catch it on camera, could not get any good shots.

I saw what they were doing: probing & pushing it until it falls down, then -- if the opening is visible, they will start putting their mouths in, one after another. At the end of the process, the snail is empty.

Interesting indeed. I have a small infestation of snails in one of my Pangio tanks and i've never seen any Pangio's attempt to eat them. Perhaps they are Bored with them or eat some on the sly.

Put a couple ravenous clowns in there for one feeding...maybe they're just copykuhlis.

shari2 wrote:Has anyone else noticed that khuli and horsefaced loaches go nuts over snails?

Kuhlis certainly eat MTS. They pounce on 'em when the fleshy head and foot is extended , bite, and extract them. Some say they suck em out, but I doubt this.

angelfish83 wrote:On the subject of snails- I had the idea of putting a food dish- literally a bowl with vertical sides made of ceramic I could bury in the gravel and put some snails in, like a dinner plate, so I could monitor and make sure they stayed in there- let the loaches such the meat out, then I could remove the snailshells and bowl...

It works in my head but I'm sure there would be other logistics involved in a realworld application

Yeah, snails like to move around, that probably kills that one at birth

The Kapenta Kid wrote:

angelfish83 wrote:On the subject of snails- I had the idea of putting a food dish- literally a bowl with vertical sides made of ceramic I could bury in the gravel and put some snails in, like a dinner plate, so I could monitor and make sure they stayed in there- let the loaches such the meat out, then I could remove the snailshells and bowl...

It works in my head but I'm sure there would be other logistics involved in a realworld application

Yeah, snails like to move around, that probably kills that one at birth

Thats what I was thinking, too. They would climb up the edges of the bowl and out. They're faster than you'd think, too.