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Thread: Comments on bettas as snail eaters

  1. #1
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    Hi guys, I need a snail eater but am afraid of puffers for the obvious reasons. Most sources on the web recommend loaches such as the clown,skunk and yoyo. clowns get too big, I've read that skunks can get aggresive sometimes. Some also suggest bettas.

    Any experience on these fish?

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    Hi Bryan, I started a new thread for your query. Bettas? Do you mean the common fighting fish? If so, their snail eating 'capabilities' are purely based on their temperaments and curiosity, in my experience... The other bettas (especially the wild ones) might have a better inclinity to eating snails...

    But what are the other fauna you are keeping now? Also, your tank size? With more information, we can help you suggest other snail eaters (if necessasry).
    Read me! :bigsmile: http://justikanz.blogspot.com/

    I'm crypt collecting... Starting cheap, now have Cryptocoryne beckettii, C.beckettii var petchii, C.crispatula var.balansae, C.griffithii(Melted! ), C.nurii, C.parva, C.pygmaea(Melted! ), C.tonkinensis(Melted! ), C.walkeri, C.wendtii 'Brown', C.wendtii 'Green', C.wendtii 'Green Gecko', C.wendtii 'Tropica' and Cryptocoryne x willisii

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    Thanks for the advice. I am running a 4FT planted with rummy nose & pandas and as usual over run with snails. I did some searches on loaches but most seem very agressive and I am worried for my corys. Dwarf loaches are hard to find,expensive and will probably make their way into my filter. I thought bettas might work.

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    Given the setup of your planted tank, I think a lone puffer would do no damage. But do remember to supplement it's diet with some frozen blood worms now and then.

    Loaches will be too pricey and also difficult to remove later.

    Cheers,
    I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?

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    Try Khuli Loaches. They are effective in controlling my Malayan Trumpet Snails (MTS) problem. I have them in one tank and I found that the snail population is very much under control compared to another tank with MTS problem too.

    Another is Ghost Shrimp you can try. They also control snails.

    Good luck!
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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    eh...I've tried feeding baby snails to betta...unless u crushed the snail(shells), there's no way even the adult betta can consume the snail.

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    When you crush the shells of the snail, any fish in the tank will also help you solve the problem... Don't need a betta... The problem is, you still need to be in the loop to crush the shells...
    ~ Vincent ~ Fishes calm your mind...
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/valice/





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    some of the nemochelius are good at getting rid of snails, i had a small group of pallidus, and even though you don't see them attacking the snails, over a short period i couldn't find a single snail, my tank is a 6x2x1.5 ft .
    mick

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    Mick, can throw in some pictures or common names (or the full scientific names, for that matter)? Some of our members would appreciate them more... Thanks...
    Read me! :bigsmile: http://justikanz.blogspot.com/

    I'm crypt collecting... Starting cheap, now have Cryptocoryne beckettii, C.beckettii var petchii, C.crispatula var.balansae, C.griffithii(Melted! ), C.nurii, C.parva, C.pygmaea(Melted! ), C.tonkinensis(Melted! ), C.walkeri, C.wendtii 'Brown', C.wendtii 'Green', C.wendtii 'Green Gecko', C.wendtii 'Tropica' and Cryptocoryne x willisii

    Oh, juggling is hard work, man!...

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    Ok I did a search on Nemachelius, Its a sub group of loaches. In fact spotted some at the neighbourhood LFS last night but they looked shrunken and dodgy. The shop labelled them as 'Zodiac Loaches'. Will make a run for C328 this evening.

    Quote Originally Posted by juggler
    Try Khuli Loaches. They are effective in controlling my Malayan Trumpet Snails (MTS) problem. I have them in one tank and I found that the snail population is very much under control compared to another tank with MTS problem too.

    Another is Ghost Shrimp you can try. They also control snails.

    Good luck!
    Hi Koah,

    I don't have MTS problem. In fact I have a 2ft with 10 Kuhlis. Love those buggers. Which is why they are in the small tank. I'd like to see them once in a while. Also I'm sure they will go into the filter.

    Ghost shrimps? Is it the same as those feeder shrimps?
    Last edited by Justikanz; 6th Jul 2006 at 13:42.

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    bryan

    don't get zodiacs, they are pretty agressive little buggers,
    i read a lot of what the local lads over there see in your waters and one loach seems to be everywhere, and that is the fish i mentioned, pallidus.
    if you look on loaches on line they have a picture of it.
    try , loaches.com

    mick

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryan
    I don't have MTS problem. In fact I have a 2ft with 10 Kuhlis. Love those buggers. Which is why they are in the small tank. I'd like to see them once in a while. Also I'm sure they will go into the filter.

    Ghost shrimps? Is it the same as those feeder shrimps?
    Bryan: What problem snails do you have? If Ramshorn, can try these feeder [ghost] shrimps. They eat the snails and scavenge the substrate for leftover food. So less leftover food means smaller snail population.
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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    Hi all,

    I'm back. Went to that famous Fish shop in the west looking for the pallidus. Nothing. Feeder shrimps? Not selling. They are selling all kinds of feeders imaginable but not shrimps?!! Then I got distracted by a whiptail... Now, I've not solved my problem and I've got an extra fish.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryan
    Then I got distracted by a whiptail... Now, I've not solved my problem and I've got an extra fish.
    You are not the only one with that story.

    CHeers,
    I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?

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    bryan why not try your streams local to you, and if he'll go get XnSdVd with you, he seems to know the local waters well then maybe you can catch your own pallidus.
    mick

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    The snails have found a new nemesis. I was meddling with the tank yesterday and was squishing a ramshorn for a pair of bosemanis waiting below when my wife happened to walk past and saw that.

    "Eww, that's disgusting".

    I went out for a couple of hours, came back and caught her enthusiatically hunting for snails with my plant pincers.

    Go figure.

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    i had success with khuli loaches in controlling my Malayan trumpet snail (MTS) problem. Even the badis badis to a certain extent, but with the badis badis you would have to supplement their diet with other foods too
    Last edited by Justikanz; 20th Nov 2006 at 11:30.

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