blue ram cichlid = snail destroyer?

[koimes]

Hello everybody!

About 2 weeks ago I bought a female blue ram cichlid, In it's first week of settling in the tank it gave birth to many eggs. I saw very aggressive behaviour, even towards my pair of scissors I use to trim my plants with which is possibly 5 times the size of her :O Unfortunately she ate her eggs. Not too dissapointed tho, I wasn't intending to breed them.

Anyways, before I introduced her to my tank, I had a small snail infestation. Not on dramatic proportions, they weren't destroying my plants, but there were quite a few all over the tank (on the glass, driftwood etc.) that if left alone wouldve demolished everything. I'm talking about very small pond snails, which were prob introduced to my tank because of my less than average LFS. Everyday I had to remove them from my tank so It was annoying.

Ever since I introduced the blue ram cichlid there have been absolutely no signs of any snails. Hell I'm even having trouble finding the shells

My question is - Do blue ram cichlids eat snails?
And a bonus question (and sorry if this is a nub question) - Will my female blue ram cichlid spawn any more eggs? She is the only one in my tank.

Thanks!

 

[cacichlids]

Yes, snails are part of the natural diet of most cichlids. But clown loaches are the #1 snail exterminator... they will even eat large apple snails.

Female cichlids can lay eggs even if they're alone... but they will eat them every single time cuz obviously they aren't fertilized.

 

[Cybercyde]

I tossed a batch of albino convict fry into a heavily planted tank teeming with pond snails. 2 months later and I seldom see a snail anymore. Happy fish, less snails.

 

[Cybercyde]

Near 4 months later... The only snails I have are stuck in the canister filter on a different tank.