Reticulated Hillstream Loach and chemicals

[Fishfinder]

I imagine this may have been asked before, and I probably know the answer. I have a reticulated hillstream loach who is very happy in the 5 gallon tank he is in along with 3 dwarf spotted rasbora and one head and tail light tetra who has stayed under one inch. The tank is heavily planted with low light plants, one of which is a marimo ball which my hillstream loach munches on occasionally along with the 'First Bites' I feed the rest of the fish. I am using a sponge filter and heater in the tank. He also browses on the sponge filter and tank wall. He is not into algae wafers at all.

But there are also pond snails and ramshorns, babies for now. I am not to the infestation stage yet. I have tried reducing my feeding, all the fish are happy and healthy. But those snails! I have trapped them, smushed them against the tank wall, and even turned off the lights for weeks to reduce algae growth and thought they were gone. (All the fish survived the lights out happy and healthy, as did my plants by the way).

Can I use a snail killing medication with my loach? The tank has just the right amount of fish and is too small for one of the snail eating loaches.

And yes, I know its recommended to set up a larger river tank for a hillstream loach instead of a natural type set up, but he is happy where he is for the last year. I'm just not happy with the snails.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[hx]

Why not try assassin snails, Anentome helena.

They should do the trick pretty fast in a tank that small...

[Fishfinder]

I tried finding assasin snails last year. However, our state has strict snail import restrictions, and none of the retailers were willing to import them. One had just had all his snails confiscated, even though they were supposedly 'legal'.

[Fishfinder]

I found some assassin snails today and bought two. They said they only eat 2 - 3 snails per week. I hope these do the trick eventually. I'd hate to get overrun by those pond snails and ramshorns. Thank you for the suggestion. There were none available last year in our area.