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I have started up a 20-gallon tank and will need to start paring the snail population down soon . I was leaning towards loches (Botia) that were 3-4 inches in total length. But I am hopeful that there is a similar type of species of catfish that would remove the vermin as well as the Botia do .
Does anyone know what type of catfish I am looking for? I am hopeful that the experience on the Forum will give me:
1) Suggested Species
2) Issues with Suggested Species
3) and most importantly Suggested Sources (internet/books) that would assist me in this endeavor.
I don't think that there are any catfish suitable for a tank your size. Smaller doradids might do it, but there is no guarantee that they will eat the snails. See this post.
Silurus wrote:I don't think that there are any catfish suitable for a tank your size. Smaller doradids might do it, but there is no guarantee that they will eat the snails. See this post.
Can you be more specific about the doradids species? I'll check the list here. If there are other sources that may assist me please let me know.
To cut to the chase, no small catfish will do this job reliably for you. Stick to Botia such as Botia striata. Or try Carinotetraodon travancoricus, if you can find it.
My L-07 Leprocanthus galaxiasand L-264 plecos do and excellent job on eliminating snails. I drop handfulls of them that I pull out of other tanks in with these fish, all the snails are gone in a week.
They max out at about 6-8" so I guess it depends on what you call small!? Takes quite a while to get there though.
Regarding removing snails "AS WELL AS BOTIA DO" they do better. In two plus years my Leprocanthicus haven't outgrown their taste for mollusk, while the Botia nigrolineata I have quit feeding on snails within a year.
for a 20 gallon, though it wold be doable with juvenile fish. And not all Botias do equally well with snails.
Here is an excerpt from a recent thread:
JohnnyOscar wrote:Other than puffers, are there any snail-eating (or snail egg-eating) fish that might help to control those pesky little red snails skyetone described?
Dinyar wrote:Yeah, lots. Just speaking of the ones I have in my tanks,
may (or may not) have something to do with keeping them down in my South American tank and Botia striata has performed yeoman's service in one of my Asian tanks.
One of my favorite snail eaters is Carinotetraodon travancoricus (a puffer, but a tiny one the size of a pea). A very cool fish.
I have another issue that you might be able to assist me with. Will the pH in my tank drop (become more acidic) when the Botia eat the snails? I need to ask this question because the acid levels have increased in my tank and I have not changed anything other than the power filter (From Tetratec to Fluval cannister type). Any help would be appreciated.
u can always take a Tetraodon biocellatus... its not a cat but it is small and will eat snails like no other. only problem is when all the snails are gone...
Will the pH in my tank drop (become more acidic) when the Botia eat the snails?
No.
Silurus,
The decomposition of the empty shells does not create more acid in the tank?
You have it backwards. To build their shells, snails remove calcium from the water, potentially making it more acidic; when they die, the calcium is gradually released back into the water, serving as a buffer.
try adding some coral grit to your tank it will help with ph i use it and its fine it never goes up or down stays at a constant level unless you do a part water change then it goes up slightly you only need a couple hand fulls and thats it i hope this helps
there is another solution have you ever thought of snail eating snails i found these at my local aqurists they are only a couple of pound or in dollars about 3 dollars so its not to bad but in my opinion i never thought botias would raise ph levels eating snails but try and find them snail eating snails they are black and white shelled snails hope this helps
Its has now turned into a daily job that i have to wipe the walls of my tank to clear off the tiny white dots that are the baby snails, adults are removed on sight. I have found them clogging up my filter which brought on a full scale clean and scrub down of my tank, plants and ornaments but still they appear! I was told that gouramis would eat the baby snails of the glass so i moved my gourami into the tank, they have been in there for 4 months now and not once have i seen them peck at anything on the glass. I bought a yoyo loach but he wasn't interested either. My next step will be to get an assassin snail but my only worry is that they to will breed exponentially and il end up with a plague of them instead. Can anyone help
Assassin snails will breed based on the food available. Once the good source begins to reduce, they will also stop reproducing. I found that once there were no snails to eat, the assassins began to die off slowly. Assassins are definitely the best choice.
The yoyo loach I had was a snail killing machine but only if tastier food wasn't on offer he was also a complete git once he got 1/2 way to full size and decided other fish were food.
Clown loaches can have an impact, dwarf chain loach is not effective but does slow them down a little.
You could try a dora some eat snails along with a handful of others but here is a far better idea.
This applies to me mainly but suspect many others and it cut down my snail problem by about 1/2 in 2 weeks.
Step 1 - Look at how much you are feeding.
Step 2 - Switch to less messy foods and reduce feeding slowly.
Step 3 - Watch your fishes bellies check they don't start getting slim
Step 4 - Clean the gravel to make sure no food is in it
step 5 -Snails come up on mass as they are hungry remove by hand.
Step 6 repeat constantly this is a war you will never win without resorting to masses of loaches or chemical warfare.
They sell snail traps but I found the main driving force behind my problem was excess food in the tanks. I still have to many MTS for my liking but I am not willing to buy 4-5 clown loaches and play the game of every 6 months - 1yr swapping them over at a lfs for credit to buy smaller ones.
and will need to start paring the snail population down soon 
. I was leaning towards loches (Botia) that were 3-4 inches in total length. But I am hopeful that there is a similar type of species of catfish that would remove the vermin as well as the Botia do 
on the Forum will give me:
