# Does the Rosy Loach Eat Snails?



## Tim Harrison (16 May 2014)

I've heard it said that, like many loaches, this diminutive member of the family eats snails. Does anyone have first hand experience of this or know it to be fact? Even molluscicide isn't working on the little blighters now...I hate snails


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## MirandaB (16 May 2014)

No I'm afraid they don't eat snails  I have 15 of them and I've never seen them look at a snail.


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## James O (16 May 2014)

Get a little baby yoyo loach then return it when the deed is done

I returned two both over 4inch long.  The shop now use them as tank busters, moving from tank to tank to deal with snail infestations.


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## Tim Harrison (16 May 2014)

MirandaB said:


> No I'm afraid they don't eat snails  I have 15 of them and I've never seen them look at a snail.


Thanks...I thought that might be the case



James O said:


> Get a little baby yoyo loach then return it when the deed is done
> 
> I returned two both over 4inch long.  The shop now use them as tank busters, moving from tank to tank to deal with snail infestations.


That's a good idea...I wouldn't mind returning them since I know the staff at my local Maidenhead Aquatics are pretty awesome dooods...the best kept livestock and pretty much everything else for miles.


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## tim (16 May 2014)

Pygmy puffers will eat them, you'll need plenty of water changes to mop up their cr4p though.


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## Tim Harrison (16 May 2014)

Haha...thanks Tim, just like raising a family...


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## sciencefiction (16 May 2014)

Yep, clown loaches will clean the place of every snail besides the ones in the external filters and are very friendly with other fish but beware of skinny sickly ones as they can bring itch and have skinny disease the least so not really that much of an option unless you quarantine for a while and be prepared to treat with meds if they turn out sick.   Having said that, I put mine straight in the tank 3-4 years ago and never had a problem but they at least looked healthy when I bought them and around here most look underfed the least.  They really should be in groups though, one of the most social fish out there. If you have to get the minimum, get at least 3. They don't grow fast.

How about assassin snails?


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## Andy Thurston (16 May 2014)

If clown loach are happy and active they will make a right mess of your plants when they get to about 4-5", there are other better suited loaches
if you do keep clowns a group of 6-8 should be minimum and dont buy them if you think you'll take them back when they start doing damage
I'd love to have a nice planted home for my clowns


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## Tim Harrison (17 May 2014)

Thanks for the replies guys. I think I may have to transfer some assassins from my low-energy. I was trying to avoid doing that since they've become almost as numerous as the pest snails, they have now eradicated. But I suppose they are slightly more appealing.


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## sparkyweasel (17 May 2014)

At least you can sell any excess Assassin Snails.


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## ourmanflint (18 May 2014)

I have been just been watching my mini chocolate gourami's (Parasphaerichthys ocellatus) demolish two sacks of snail eggs. Great fish if you can find them.


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## sciencefiction (18 May 2014)

Big clown said:


> If clown loach are happy and active they will make a right mess of your plants when they get to about 4-5", there are other better suited loaches
> if you do keep clowns a group of 6-8 should be minimum and dont buy them if you think you'll take them back when they start doing damage
> I'd love to have a nice planted home for my clowns



I'd have to disagree, at least for my clown loaches.  Mine are now neither too small now nor unhappy or quiet(they race the glass all day long it get annoying and they don't pay any attention to plants except for swimming through them for cover.
From what I've figured my clown loaches need vegetable based food too in their diet and love algae pellets in addition to their daily meaty diet.  And they'd click they heads off on algae pellets too, especially new era plec pellets or hikari algae pellets.  Plus of course they love cucumber, melon, etc..
There's a video below of my 5 from a year ago but they've grown since, one is passing 5" and I bought a 6th clown @ 6"  last year who's now nearly 7".
If anything, the only fish that ever ate plants in my tanks is a small bristle nose pleco who ate 3 large swords in no time.  Even my common plec hasn't touched plants yet and he's 11" now.
Goes to say people have different experience with exactly the same fish.

If I was getting small clowns for a snail infested tank, I'd feed them just algae pellets as a supplement until the snails are gone which could be quite fast then add meaty food to balance the diet to 50-50% ratio with the vegetable based food.   It takes years for them to reach 5-6" so I wouldn't worry about that for a good while.


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## Andy Thurston (18 May 2014)

I've watched mine pull stems to get snails. Mine don't eat them but pull them up because there in the way. That and swimming straight through the plants leaves during pecking order disputes 
They do take a while to grow my smallest one is 4 1/2" and was about 11/4" 2 years ago but you shouldn't buy wild caught fish unless your going to give them a a home for life, which at some point will need a 6x2x2 tank minimum


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