What eats pest snails?

Best bet will be to set up a tank, verify it to be pest-snail free--ie, no plants. Then put the apples in there. Add plants only if you can treat them first, or that are easily checked for eggs.

Anything that you put in that might eat the pest snails is going to go after the apples as well. The critters that like crunchy foods don't distinguish pest v desirable. Adult apples are usually safe, but babies would be chomped.
 
Loaches will eat ALL kinds of snails not just pests. Maybe a complete tank teardown & alum tx...except some tiny ones or eggs may be on the apples' shells. Might be enough to get things more under control
 
Now there are so many snails that the fish can not eat their fill before the food is COVERED with snails...they can not get to it...Have a 55 that I want to place a snail eating individual in so that I can round up pests and have something that eats them instead of tossing them out....
OrionGirl said:
If the snails are finding enough to eat to support a huge population, then yes, there is more food than the fish can/will consume. I'm not saying the tanks aren't clean or have high nitrates, just that there has to be more food than the fish need in order to support an overload of snails.
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THANKs! I figure the one 55 is ruined...just pests in there. So that is where I can house a snail eater and just throw the pests in there as I find them. I have already started to tear down most of my tens...Have tubs of apple snails on the porch.
fishorama said:
Loaches will eat ALL kinds of snails not just pests. Maybe a complete tank teardown & alum tx...except some tiny ones or eggs may be on the apples' shells. Might be enough to get things more under control
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Thanks...I am working on tearing down a few...I am about over plants altogether...lol.I should have been clearer as far as where I want to put the snail eater...a 55 that is just Platies and pest snails now.

OrionGirl said:
Best bet will be to set up a tank, verify it to be pest-snail free--ie, no plants. Then put the apples in there. Add plants only if you can treat them first, or that are easily checked for eggs.

Anything that you put in that might eat the pest snails is going to go after the apples as well. The critters that like crunchy foods don't distinguish pest v desirable. Adult apples are usually safe, but babies would be chomped.
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Thank you...good reading I appreciate it. Am doing my homework before I choose anything. I really have always liked the little puffers but after reading they seem like a poor choice for my tank. Loaches seem like a better route. Still reading up..
blue2fyre said:

Here's a Good article

As was mentioned before snail eating fish will eat all snails as will assassin snails. Cutting back on feeding has always helped me keep snail populations under control. I also have planted tanks and baby plecos.
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Go to supermarket. Buy a cucumber. Slice cucumber. Stick cucumber slices on forks. Drop forks into tanks. Wait till snails swarm on cucumber slices. Remove forks.
Optional : Shake snails off into a container. Smash snails into a slimy paste. Drop paste back into take as a treat for the fish (and a warning to the other snails of what happens when their population gets out of hand).


Also, to clear up something that gets tossed around way too much. Not all loaches will eat snails. Even the snail eaters won't get all types of snails (only specialized fish can take out trumpet snails). Physa snails are usually a target for all snail-eating loaches. Adult Ramshorn can be too big, but the younger ones will be targets.

Another thing to clear up, overfeeding isn't necessary for a snail explosion. Their food sources are algae, dead/dying plants, veggies, artificial food. If any of those are available in enough quantity to support the population then the population will grow. While overfeeding of fish is a common reason, cutting back feeding doesn't always work since they'll just shift to the next available food source. All food sources must be kept in check to control the population. Once the snail population hits a certain size the aquarium owner may not even realize they have a algae food source.
 
One more thing about most snail eating loaches, they are very social and need to be kept in groups of 3+ and clown loaches do grow pretty big for many tanks eventually.
I had a 75G tank overrun with garden snails, got 3 clown loaches. first 2 weeks they did not seem to touch snails, but later i started to find empty shells, i was still finding some snails up to a few month later, but now my tank snail free for a few years, and loaches are my favorite fish now (~6"), I added 6 more YOYO loaches in there for more company.
 
 
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