This fish blog will answer the major question, “What fish eat snails?” we will also discuss the major fish species that can eat snails, how you can choose the right fish for your tank, and why it is important to have snails-eating fish in your tank.
What fish eat snails?
Following are the fishes that eat snails:
- Yoyo catfish
- Striped Raphael catfish
- Clown loach
- Gourami
- Dwarf chain loach
These are the major fish species that eat snails but there are also others that are not the primary eaters of the snails.
What are the major snail eater fish in your aquarium?
Following are the major snail-eater fish in your aquarium:
Yoyo catfish is snail-eating fish
The first type of fish is the Yoyo catfish which is a snail-eating fish. It uses its barbels to dig down and find snails and consume them. Moreover, these fishes are peace-loving bottom feeders so your pet fish will not be disturbed by them.
These fishes have teeth in their throat so you can hear their sound when they are chewing on snails. It is the best fish for your small to medium tanks as it will remove unwanted snails and will significantly reduce the population of snails in the aquarium.
Striped Raphael catfish is snail eater fish
The next type of fish is the striped Raphael catfish. It is named a stripped fish because of the alternate striped appearance of its body. They use their barbels to take snails and consume them. It is most important that you have strong aquariums because these fish species have spines on their body.
They consume uneaten food from the pet fish you are having in your aquarium.
Clown loach is also a snail eater fish
They are beautiful snail eaters. They will patrol the water for suspected snails and will also dwell down in the substrate if the snail is hiding there.
This type of fish needs a neutral pH and moderate hardness of water to survive. They need a temperature of 78 degrees to survive. They are peace-loving non-aggressive fish and have beautiful color patterns on their body.
Gourami is also a snail-eating fish
The next type of snail-eating fish is the gourami. These fish species have lung-like organs in their body which enable them to breathe the air so they can survive at low oxygen in the environment.
They are strong and sturdy fishes and are non-aggressive in the community tank. They love peace and are capable of aggression when the tank is overcrowded.
They are also aggressive towards the snails and can hunt down snails in the fish tanks.
Dwarf chain loach is also a snail-eating fish
The last type of snail-eating fish is the dwarf chain loach. This fish is given a chain loach name because of the metal chain appearance on their body. They are bottom dwellers and like to consume snails in the substrate. They will hunt down the snails and by using their barbels they will consume them.
How can you choose the right snail-eating fish for your tank?
Following are the two factors you should evaluate before choosing a snail-eating fish for your tank:
- The first factor is the behavior of the snail-eating fish. You need a bottom dweller fish that is non-aggressive towards the pet fish. It is better to choose a small-sized fish so that you can easily keep it in the small fish tank you have.
- The next factor is the temperature, pH, and hardness of the water you should be looking at. You should first check whether the conditions of your fish tank are suitable for the fish you want to keep in the fish tank. After careful evaluation, you should choose your snail-eating fish.
Why is it important to keep a snail-eating fish in your tank?
It is an important question you should be asking. Snails are annoying creatures when you don’t need them. They have an excellent sense of smell so they can hunt down food in the tank.
The problem is the snails can multiply in no time increasing the biological load on the fish tank. This will increase the waste of the fish tank and if you do not have a filtration system then you must know that it is very hard to maintain your fish in your fish tank.
The snails will also consume the fish food which will increase the competition in the food chain which will affect your pet fish.
Conclusion
In this fish blog, we answered the major question, “What fish eat snails?” we also discussed the major fish species that can eat snails, how you can choose the right fish for your tank, and why it is important to have snail-eating fish in your tank.
