I just got back into fish keeping after about 10 years. im 31 now and can afford a 120 that I always wanted back in my 55 gal. days. so I get one set it up plant it stock it and its all good. first problem. my feeders bring me snails. a friend brings over a bottle of a product ( had a snail) I use it as recommended a few times. now its been years since i was into fish keeping and i didnt do my homework. the snails came back big time! but all my plants that used to be huge died off down to the shutes and now will only grow a few inches tall and none of my fish ever seem real happy other than the LMB who i think can live in sewer water anyway. I know the product was a copper base. and copper can cause problems but its been a few monthes since i used it. now i introduced a new fish (perch) and within a few days hes looking rough. what the heck is going on????
solve this riddle...
- Thread starter The_Nuge
- Start date
id do a complete teardown to get rid of the snails and clean the tank and replace the gravel/sand
thats just how id deal with it...
thats just how id deal with it...
and yeah i would just re-do it... without snails next time thats what I was thinking untill the guys at the local shop got all huffy and said OH NO dont do that! then sold me a 40 dollar clown loach and said it would take care of the snails.. so far i have not seen it eat anything in 3 days.. lota work to do scooping out 120 lbs of gravel n sand. and im stuck with a clown loach i dont want! thanks for backing up my original plan.. im sticking to it this time. sad thing is I only had the set up for 10 monthes 
i would wait to see what the loach does. me personally i would use tearing down the tank as last thing i try. ill give the loach a week and then if no improvement tear down. honestly you probably got the snails from the plants.
yeah I figured I did. thats another question.. when the time comes how do i get plants again and not! get snails? ill give the loach some time. im just wraping up a kitchen remodel so its down a few places on my to do list. im just worried about the health of the fish i have. Also back to the original post, why wont my plants grow back long and lush like before? why will they only come up off the shute about 2 or 3 inches and thats it!
If you decide to keep the Clown Loach, pick up about 4 more because they do much better in groups. I had a snail explosion years ago. They weren't necessarily a problem though. They were small and posed no problem to my fish. They were more of any eyesore. At one point I got rid of them in the tank only to find that many had set up shop in the sump. Try to stay away from the chemicals as long as you can. A tear down may work out better.
The snails or some of your fish could be eating your plants.....theyre are some plants that are very hardy and resistant to snails and others that are just snail food. If you have a native fish setup you should take the Loach back after a week if he dosent take care of the snail problem and buy a medium sized Pumpkinseed sunnie or a Redear.....they WILL eat your snails. PS do you do weekly water changes and test your water with a kit (ammonia, nitrates, PH)?The_Nuge;4851450;4851450 said:
I know the loaches like to be in groups (i have got the speach on a few forums now) unfortunately at 40 bucks a piece its not gona happen. I hope to sell it. sadly ill most likely end up keeping it and geting another tank and more loaches..lol
REALLY ??? sun fish will eat snails???? you have got to be kidding me! this is the answer i have been looking for!! thius is all good news because I for 1 was going to sell my obnoxious LMB them and there issues with everything are not worth my time anymore nor can i afford to feed them 6-8 dozzen minnows every week. here is what i would like right now. a very busy tank with alot of rock plants and drift wood with about 6-8 sun fish! If this is true my probelms might be solved! ill sell the bass find the sun fish they will eat the snails and ill be a happy fish keeper! Oh and sell the loach. 