Snail population in unfiltered tank

[mdineen]

I have inherited a tank that had a number of fish present - Platty, Tetra (cardinal, neon and Rummy) and guppies. I have added, after an explosion of snails, 3 pygmy chain loach, after reading they loved snails ..however I think my problem is bigger than they can deal with. I have, what I think is a healthy aquarium as my filter stopped working and I haven't had to go get a new one - at least 2 months later (maybe longer!)....but I do have a huge amount of snails...that may, from reading, be the reason the tank hasn't gone to sh#t!
I am thinking of just physically removing a vast number of snails, but I did like the idea that through fish introduction, nature would take over and solve the issue....just thinking I have underestimated (misunderstood) the capability of these little chain roach. They may actually be halting growth by eating eggs, but they don't seem to be targeting the snails themselves. I'd just like some advice/guidance on the fact, if I remove the vast majority of snails, will I then need a filter to deal with the tank....I'd actually really like an ecosystem that self sustains. I'd like to move towards that than have pumps/filters etc. I do like the natural plants within the tank, just as much as the fish themselves! Any advice/help/guidance is appreciated.

 

[LightingBamboozled]

Do you know which type of 'pest' snail you have? Ramshorn, Bladder, Malaysian Trumpet and Pond are common ones. Chain Loaches are great with bladder and pond snails but in my experience not huge fans of Malaysian trumpet snails if there's another food source about. In general a snail explosion is a result of a) Overfeeding or b) excess decaying plant matter in the tank.

The combination of fish you've said you have is a little odd. Platies and Guppies are hard water fish whereas tetra, neons especially, need soft water. And with you saying you're not running a filter would you mind posting diemensions of the tank, water parameters, numbers of each species and plant types. It may be that you need to change the animal residents in order to get the stable ecosystem you're after and it may not be possible at all depending on tank volume.