What I'm planning to put in my tank. Opinions?

[its_an_obsession]

yoyo loaches a zebra loaches will solve the large size problem. they only get about 6 and 4 inches respectively

 

[genEus]

how about one of the smaller spiny eels to control the snail problem i introduced a zebra spiny eel to a tank with a snail problem not intending to fix the problem but within a week the snails were gone.

eels? Sorry, not my thing..

 

[andyjs]

Well I DO want the loaches to eat the snails! I am afraid that they'll multiply like crazy. I do want to have 5-6 adults but I don't want the babies, that's why I was considering loaches. I'd LOVE to have some clowns but can't they reach 14" in size?? Yikes!

As long as you don't overfeed, you shouldn't have too much of a problem with the snails overpopulating. If you only have a handful of adults, it shouldn't take your loaches long to finish them off if you get snail eaters. They aren't really going to listen to your input on how many you'd like them to spare

 

[genEus]

As long as you don't overfeed, you shouldn't have too much of a problem with the snails overpopulating. If you only have a handful of adults, it shouldn't take your loaches long to finish them off if you get snail eaters. They aren't really going to listen to your input on how many you'd like them to spare

Oh really? I thought they only ate babies and eggs, not full grown adults!

 

[andyjs]

If it's a small botia like a dwarf chain, larger adults would probably be ok, but a 3-4" botia wouldn't have much trouble with an adult trumpet snail.

 

[Lupin]

I've kept MTS with dwarf chain loaches and kuhlis and they've been fine. Kuhlis would be some nice loaches to add (I'd probably have 5 or 6) and from my experience, they don't really mess with snails. When I added clowns to my 75, they have totally wiped out the rams horns, but there are still some MTS around.

Kuhlis really don't eat snails. As for the MTS not eaten, they actually have very few predators in comparison to the ramshorns and pond snails due to their shell structure and trapdoor thus enabling them to evade predation. Clowns have short snouts which makes them less versatile in comparison to yoyo loaches.

Well I DO want the loaches to eat the snails! I am afraid that they'll multiply like crazy. I do want to have 5-6 adults but I don't want the babies, that's why I was considering loaches. I'd LOVE to have some clowns but can't they reach 14" in size?? Yikes!

Clowns in the long run can reach that size if given proper accommodations so they're definitely not a wise choice.

how about one of the smaller spiny eels to control the snail problem i introduced a zebra spiny eel to a tank with a snail problem not intending to fix the problem but within a week the snails were gone.

Not with the neons tetras.

yoyo loaches a zebra loaches will solve the large size problem. they only get about 6 and 4 inches respectively

The problem is these loaches you mentioned can reach 6 and 4 inches respectively. These prefer to be kept in groups with plenty of space. Single specimens have been known to harass other tankmates to death.

As long as you don't overfeed, you shouldn't have too much of a problem with the snails overpopulating. If you only have a handful of adults, it shouldn't take your loaches long to finish them off if you get snail eaters. They aren't really going to listen to your input on how many you'd like them to spare

 

[genEus]

OK, well, I reconsidered on the tetras; decided to get someone with more "personality," so to speak.

So, for now I have a red dwarf gourami and two yo-yo loaches that I got yesterday...

How is my load so far? How much more can I get? I want at least another 3 or 4 loaches, I saw some zebras, peppered and yo-yo's still left at my LFS, and I probably want another few gouramis - maybe a couple dwarf gouramis and maybe a pearl guy. Is that pushing it already?

 

[Fishes33]

replace the neon tetra with cardinal tetra, they look sooo much BETTER!