Clown Loach Questions

[rmarrandino1]

In the past month or two I've suddenly seen an explosion in trumpet snails in my aquarium. I have removed quite a bit by hand, but it seems like an endless task. After doing some research it seemed like the best option was to get either a Yoyo or Clown loach.

While my wife was at the pet store I asked her to pick up a couple of Yoyo. I wanted the Yoyo loach because of the smaller size. They didn't have any Yoyo so I had her purchase 2 Clown Loaches.

I currently have a 55-gallon with:

• 2 Silver Dollars
• 2 Pearl Gourami
• 4 Krib
• 1 Rubber Lip Pleco
• 1 Sailfin Pleco
• 5 Phantom Tetras
• 5 Albino Cory
• 2 Swordtails
• 5 Neon Tetra

As is, I feel that the tank is adequately stocked. I do 25-40% water changes every week and have two filters on the tank. Water quality is good and stable.

I know that once these loaches start to grow that they will quickly run out of space and the tank will definitely be overstocked.

My questions are:

• Should I get at least one more loach? I read that 3 or more is best.
• Can a new 55-Gallon tank hold 3 loaches or do I need bigger.

Any other advice would be appreciated. Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

They don't grow all that quickly, so I think they'd be a good short term solution for you. Alot of small clown loaches don't survive long after they're taken home form the fish store though. They aren't a particularly strong fish and often the stress from being caught and shipped is enough to kill them off after the steroids wear off. You'll notice that when stressed this fish's colors dull quite a bit. They will grow to about 5 inches pretty quickly but it slows markedly after that. I'd recommend a 75 gal if you plan on keeping these until they get to their 15+ inch potential.

 

[Dino]

Another method of snail removal I have found that works well for me is using cabbage leaves.
Place one in the tank before lights out, remove it and the snails on it about an hour later.

 

[rmarrandino1]

It's strange. When I had an influx of 'regular' snails I would place lettuce in the tank and the next morning there would be a handfull attached to the lettuce. After a couple of days the tank was fine.

These guys don't seem to come out of the gravel much. I take a lot out every week when I'm cleaning the tank, but they don't attach themselves to any lettuce, cucumbers, or zucchini that I put in the tank.

 

[MemnochsKat]

I also find that trumpet snails don't go for food items like most of the other "pest" snails do. I also find that when there is an outbreak of algae in my tank the trumpets come out of the gravel more often. I guess because they don't need to dig around to find enough food.

You could get a snail killing product, but I would recommend that you remove all the other fauna and any of the plants you want to save. Dose the tank and then let the filter run for at least 24 hours before putting your fish and plants back in. If you have an extra filter, you could house your fish in a large plastic storage container and run the filter in it. They should be okay for that short amount of time. The only problem with this, is that you'll have alot of dead snails to remove from the water to avoid them fouling up the tank. Also, if you have any other inverts: shrimp, clams ext. the product to kill the snails will kill them off too.

Have you changed anything in the tank recently? Changed or added a food? I added a new flake to my mixture once that NONE of the fish seemed to like, so it all went to the bottom for the snails to get at... talk about boom in population.

 

[Dan Steveo]

ok. so i have noticed snails all over the place in my tank before. but recently i have only seen about 10. i have no idea how but there are never any snails on the glass. they are never on my other plants but always on my java moss. a few months ago i noticed about 100 snails on my java moss. it was at the top of the tank. perhaps my snail predator couldnt reach them there. but when i moved it to the bottom of the tank i havent seen many at all since then.

what im saying is. perhaps a fish of mine likes eating snails. perhaps i should watch to see what one likes them. the kribs were added after the snails dropped in number so what other fish would it be.

or..... i have been tearing out a huge amount of dead plants recently. maybe they have no food they like. but why arent they on the java moss? im sure i have a snail eating fish.... he he. ill try and find out which one.

 

[bauta]

I got the same snails problems about a month ago, i purchased one clown loach and up to today it is going fine. i was concerned about the 3 school recomendations, but so far my lonely loach is going OK, it eats well, shows frecuently and it is nice to see it removing the sustrate. It school some times with my tigers. Snails? GONE.

 

[MissFishy]

I have lots of trumpet snails and I love them. I think they're really pretty, but they do breed rather quickly, so I've devised a solution to removing large amounts at a time. I pour flake food in the top of the tank, then turn out the lights or cover the tank. MTS come out mostly at night. Leave the tank for an hour or so, then come back and there will be MTS stuck to the glass sides of the aquarium. Simply remove and dispose.

 

[Bruckm]

My Clown loaches AND YoYo loaches will eat the largest trumpet snails, but it is not really enough. The loaches, which did eradicate pond snails from my tank entirely can not or will not eliminate the trumpet snails. I've tried not feeding my loaches for 2 weeks and there are plenty of empty snail shells, but it cannot keep up with the snail procreation. It's easy for others to say that if you control fish load that snails are not a problem, but that never really helps with your situation. Seriously, you need a product to kill the snails, pure and simple...if you want them gone. That will leave a LOT of decaying matter in the tank to foul it. Or you could just live with the snails. I've tried several of the cute tricks to catch them and they all work to some degree. My favorite is the 20oz coke bottle upside down with a zucchini inside left overnight. I did lose 2 cories once as they got caught inside and ran out of oxygen, I guess.

I would bet that those who are most successful at MTS control are the ones who don't allow them to be introduced in the first place.

 

[nealio]

My questions are:

* Should I get at least one more loach? I read that 3 or more is best.
* Can a new 55-Gallon tank hold 3 loaches or do I need bigger.

Sure, I would suggest getting one more to keep them in a school if they are small. They do grow slow, but three clown loaches in a 55G is way too much, There is always a trade in option when they get big enough to your LFS. *thumbsups

The problem with those snails is they can bury really deep into the sand bed/ substrate and its hard for the clown loaches to get to them until they surface, so it could be a problem you will have for quite some time. At least they help with cleaning the substrate!


cheers!

 

[Davethegrouch]

My clown loaches never ate the MTS, just the pond snails. I once had a population explosion and I tried taking them out evey day, some days 15, 30 or even more but it didn't seem to put a dent in them so I cut way back on my feedings and they slowed down. I still have a nice population of them now and don't try to get rid of them because they're good for turning over the sand and stuff.