Eating too many snails bad for fish?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

MultipleTankSyndrome

Giant Snakehead
MFK Member
Sep 25, 2021
1,937
2,014
149
Loachaholica
Some ramshorn snails (and possibly pond snails) have made their way into my 110 liter by hitch-hiking on the plants from my plant grower. I initially didn't have a problem with this, since they would provide a ready source of live food for the future dwarf chain loaches.
But now I'm having some second thoughts. Would it be possible for the loaches to overeat the snails and have their health suffer, or is that not something I need to worry about?
 
I have had a bad snail outbreak quite some years ago in a lightly planted tank, and added chain loaches.

Did not lose a single loach.
Did lose an awful lot of snails.

Of course, the snails did hang out in the trickle filter (as it was then). Sometimes I would scoop out a bunch and feed them to the loaches.

I cannot remember quite when, but one day I realised that I was completely snail free.
 
Shouldn’t be a problem.
My puffers and loaches always choose to stuff themselves.
Like Midwater Midwater said, you’ll eventually run out of snails in the tank.
 
So I don't need to worry about an excessive amount of snails in their diet. Good to hear.

Thanks both Midwater and Deadeye for addressing this concern.
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com