Do Dwarf Gouramis eat snails?

[Gill Passman]

I was watching my male Dwarf Gourami in the 15 gall kitchen tank this
morning. The tank is suffering from a snail infestation at the moment.
He was picking the snails off of the glass, holding them for a few
seconds in his mouth and then throwing them down onto the substrate.

So I'm wondering if he is actually eating them or just playing a new
gourami game?

Any ideas?

TIA
Gill

[Koi-lo]

"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
.. .
>I was watching my male Dwarf Gourami in the 15 gall kitchen tank this
>morning. The tank is suffering from a snail infestation at the moment. He
>was picking the snails off of the glass, holding them for a few seconds in
>his mouth and then throwing them down onto the substrate.
>
> So I'm wondering if he is actually eating them or just playing a new
> gourami game?
===============================
Look close. Are the shells EMPTY when he spits them out?
--

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[Tynk]

Gill Passman wrote:
> I was watching my male Dwarf Gourami in the 15 gall kitchen tank this
> morning. The tank is suffering from a snail infestation at the moment.
> He was picking the snails off of the glass, holding them for a few
> seconds in his mouth and then throwing them down onto the substrate.
>
> So I'm wondering if he is actually eating them or just playing a new
> gourami game?
>
> Any ideas?
>
> TIA
> Gill
Hey ya Gill!
How ya been?
Do you still have any Clowns or did you lose them all?
That medicine I was on for my neck really killed my memory, but I
don't it anymore (YEA!!!) so now I'll remember stuff, lol...well,
better anyway. = )~
Ditto what Koi said...check the shells. I doubt he's able to suck out
the snail and spit out an intact shell. My Clowns do it with MTS
somehow, but they have a specialized mouth for it. What a noise they
make too when doing it. It's a loud click ...same as if a fish was
taking a piece of gravel and chucking at the glass.
Loud enough to hear clear across the room with the TV on, and noise of
a household.
Also....what type of snails are we talking? Some are easy to eat for
fish, others are not (MTS).

[NetMax]

"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
.. .
>I was watching my male Dwarf Gourami in the 15 gall kitchen tank this
>morning. The tank is suffering from a snail infestation at the moment.
>He was picking the snails off of the glass, holding them for a few
>seconds in his mouth and then throwing them down onto the substrate.
>
> So I'm wondering if he is actually eating them or just playing a new
> gourami game?
>
> Any ideas?
>
> TIA
> Gill

Gouramis are part of the Anabantidae family, which has good snailers (ie:
some Bettas), and are quite carnivorous. The Dwarf gourami has a small
mouth, so he is seeing if he can fit the snail in, and then crush the
shell to get the snail out. If the shell is too strong, then I guess he
would just spit it out and look for another one.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Gill Passman]

Tynk wrote:
> Gill Passman wrote:
>
>>I was watching my male Dwarf Gourami in the 15 gall kitchen tank this
>>morning. The tank is suffering from a snail infestation at the moment.
>>He was picking the snails off of the glass, holding them for a few
>>seconds in his mouth and then throwing them down onto the substrate.
>>
>>So I'm wondering if he is actually eating them or just playing a new
>>gourami game?
>>
>>Any ideas?
>>
>>TIA
>>Gill
>
> Hey ya Gill!
> How ya been?
> Do you still have any Clowns or did you lose them all?
> That medicine I was on for my neck really killed my memory, but I
> don't it anymore (YEA!!!) so now I'll remember stuff, lol...well,
> better anyway. = )~
> Ditto what Koi said...check the shells. I doubt he's able to suck out
> the snail and spit out an intact shell. My Clowns do it with MTS
> somehow, but they have a specialized mouth for it. What a noise they
> make too when doing it. It's a loud click ...same as if a fish was
> taking a piece of gravel and chucking at the glass.
> Loud enough to hear clear across the room with the TV on, and noise of
> a household.
> Also....what type of snails are we talking? Some are easy to eat for
> fish, others are not (MTS).
>
Hi Kelly

Nope, all the Clowns died :-( - my SIL has also been trying to establish
a troupe and has had the same problems...I spoke to one LFS and he said
they have been getting very bad quality stock and this is probably the
reason for the losses. I'm waiting now until he can assure me of the
health - they've not had any for over two weeks now so I guess there are
still problems. I've been through similar issues with Yoyos as well -
although we managed to pull two of them through...the same guy assures
me that the issues with the Yoyos are now resolved.

I know what you mean about the Clown clicking.....I'll check out the
shells when I do the tank maintenance later on today. The snails are
very small, light brown - the type I usually get coming in with
plants....the Clowns used to demolish them, the Yoyos manage to control
them....

If I could trust the health of Clown Loaches locally I'd be tempted to
put some in there temporarily until the new tank arrives....

It just amused me to see the DG picking them off the glass and chucking
them down onto the gravel...lol

Gill

[Justice]

Gill Passman wrote:
> Tynk wrote:
>
>> Gill Passman wrote:
>>
>>> I was watching my male Dwarf Gourami in the 15 gall kitchen tank this
>>> morning. The tank is suffering from a snail infestation at the moment.
>>> He was picking the snails off of the glass, holding them for a few
>>> seconds in his mouth and then throwing them down onto the substrate.
>>>
>>> So I'm wondering if he is actually eating them or just playing a new
>>> gourami game?
>>>
>>> Any ideas?
>>>
>>> TIA
>>> Gill
>>
>>
>> Hey ya Gill!
>> How ya been?
>> Do you still have any Clowns or did you lose them all?
>> That medicine I was on for my neck really killed my memory, but I
>> don't it anymore (YEA!!!) so now I'll remember stuff, lol...well,
>> better anyway. = )~
>> Ditto what Koi said...check the shells. I doubt he's able to suck out
>> the snail and spit out an intact shell. My Clowns do it with MTS
>> somehow, but they have a specialized mouth for it. What a noise they
>> make too when doing it. It's a loud click ...same as if a fish was
>> taking a piece of gravel and chucking at the glass.
>> Loud enough to hear clear across the room with the TV on, and noise of
>> a household.
>> Also....what type of snails are we talking? Some are easy to eat for
>> fish, others are not (MTS).
>>
> Hi Kelly
>
> Nope, all the Clowns died :-( - my SIL has also been trying to establish
> a troupe and has had the same problems...I spoke to one LFS and he said
> they have been getting very bad quality stock and this is probably the
> reason for the losses. I'm waiting now until he can assure me of the
> health - they've not had any for over two weeks now so I guess there are
> still problems. I've been through similar issues with Yoyos as well -
> although we managed to pull two of them through...the same guy assures
> me that the issues with the Yoyos are now resolved.
>
> I know what you mean about the Clown clicking.....I'll check out the
> shells when I do the tank maintenance later on today. The snails are
> very small, light brown - the type I usually get coming in with
> plants....the Clowns used to demolish them, the Yoyos manage to control
> them....
>
> If I could trust the health of Clown Loaches locally I'd be tempted to
> put some in there temporarily until the new tank arrives....
>
> It just amused me to see the DG picking them off the glass and chucking
> them down onto the gravel...lol
>
> Gill
>
>
>
I find that weird, That CL loaches will eradicate a snail population and
the yoyo's just kind of do population controll. I have 2 10 Gal tanks
both of witch had/have snails the one with the cl Loaches had thousands,
but now I can't see a one. In my yoyo tank The population was about a
hundred now its stedily at about 50. I wonder if it's the difrence in
there size fat/thin or they just don't like snils as much as flake food.
Althoug I'm not shur whitch makes the louder click though at feeding
time my living room sounds like little explosions are going off and
gravel just keps hitting glass, or a field of crickets on stairoids :)

sorry for the OT post

[Gill Passman]

Justice wrote:
> Gill Passman wrote:
>
>> Tynk wrote:
>>
>>> Gill Passman wrote:
>>>
>>>> I was watching my male Dwarf Gourami in the 15 gall kitchen tank this
>>>> morning. The tank is suffering from a snail infestation at the moment.
>>>> He was picking the snails off of the glass, holding them for a few
>>>> seconds in his mouth and then throwing them down onto the substrate.
>>>>
>>>> So I'm wondering if he is actually eating them or just playing a new
>>>> gourami game?
>>>>
>>>> Any ideas?
>>>>
>>>> TIA
>>>> Gill
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hey ya Gill!
>>> How ya been?
>>> Do you still have any Clowns or did you lose them all?
>>> That medicine I was on for my neck really killed my memory, but I
>>> don't it anymore (YEA!!!) so now I'll remember stuff, lol...well,
>>> better anyway. = )~
>>> Ditto what Koi said...check the shells. I doubt he's able to suck out
>>> the snail and spit out an intact shell. My Clowns do it with MTS
>>> somehow, but they have a specialized mouth for it. What a noise they
>>> make too when doing it. It's a loud click ...same as if a fish was
>>> taking a piece of gravel and chucking at the glass.
>>> Loud enough to hear clear across the room with the TV on, and noise of
>>> a household.
>>> Also....what type of snails are we talking? Some are easy to eat for
>>> fish, others are not (MTS).
>>>
>> Hi Kelly
>>
>> Nope, all the Clowns died :-( - my SIL has also been trying to
>> establish a troupe and has had the same problems...I spoke to one LFS
>> and he said they have been getting very bad quality stock and this is
>> probably the reason for the losses. I'm waiting now until he can
>> assure me of the health - they've not had any for over two weeks now
>> so I guess there are still problems. I've been through similar issues
>> with Yoyos as well - although we managed to pull two of them
>> through...the same guy assures me that the issues with the Yoyos are
>> now resolved.
>>
>> I know what you mean about the Clown clicking.....I'll check out the
>> shells when I do the tank maintenance later on today. The snails are
>> very small, light brown - the type I usually get coming in with
>> plants....the Clowns used to demolish them, the Yoyos manage to
>> control them....
>>
>> If I could trust the health of Clown Loaches locally I'd be tempted to
>> put some in there temporarily until the new tank arrives....
>>
>> It just amused me to see the DG picking them off the glass and
>> chucking them down onto the gravel...lol
>>
>> Gill
>>
>>
>>
> I find that weird, That CL loaches will eradicate a snail population and
> the yoyo's just kind of do population controll. I have 2 10 Gal tanks
> both of witch had/have snails the one with the cl Loaches had thousands,
> but now I can't see a one. In my yoyo tank The population was about a
> hundred now its stedily at about 50. I wonder if it's the difrence in
> there size fat/thin or they just don't like snils as much as flake food.
> Althoug I'm not shur whitch makes the louder click though at feeding
> time my living room sounds like little explosions are going off and
> gravel just keps hitting glass, or a field of crickets on stairoids :)
>
> sorry for the OT post

My two Yoyos are around 3" long so I don't think it is a size thing
necessarily. I think you are probably right on the preference for flake
food - or anything that is less work than scooping snails out of their
shells.... :-)

Gill

[Tynk]

Justice wrote:
> Gill Passman wrote:
> > Tynk wrote:
> >
> >> Gill Passman wrote:
> >>
> >>> I was watching my male Dwarf Gourami in the 15 gall kitchen tank this
> >>> morning. The tank is suffering from a snail infestation at the moment.
> >>> He was picking the snails off of the glass, holding them for a few
> >>> seconds in his mouth and then throwing them down onto the substrate.
> >>>
> >>> So I'm wondering if he is actually eating them or just playing a new
> >>> gourami game?
> >>>
> >>> Any ideas?
> >>>
> >>> TIA
> >>> Gill
> >>
That clicking the Clown Loaches do was cracking up my whole family just
before Christmas.
We were all in the living room (75G is in there) and after having fed
the fish their dry food for the evening (Tetra Crisps..love these
things for dry food!), and one of them was stuck on the glass..just
above the water's surface.
Now usually a female Betta would simply jump and snatch, or even an
Angel would do the same..but this time the Clowns were dead set on
getting that one piece of food....forgetting about the food in the tank
mind you (duh).
They made the most noise ever! Clicking so loud and add to that the
noise of the water while they were doing it....we were all cracking up.
They were crazy for this one piece of food....chasing all the other
fish away too, and would take turns clicking above the surface trying
to get it. They were so funny. = )
> >>
> >> Hey ya Gill!
> >> How ya been?
> >> Do you still have any Clowns or did you lose them all?
> >> That medicine I was on for my neck really killed my memory, but I
> >> don't it anymore (YEA!!!) so now I'll remember stuff, lol...well,
> >> better anyway. = )~
> >> Ditto what Koi said...check the shells. I doubt he's able to suck out
> >> the snail and spit out an intact shell. My Clowns do it with MTS
> >> somehow, but they have a specialized mouth for it. What a noise they
> >> make too when doing it. It's a loud click ...same as if a fish was
> >> taking a piece of gravel and chucking at the glass.
> >> Loud enough to hear clear across the room with the TV on, and noise of
> >> a household.
> >> Also....what type of snails are we talking? Some are easy to eat for
> >> fish, others are not (MTS).
> >>
> > Hi Kelly
> >
> > Nope, all the Clowns died :-( - my SIL has also been trying to establish
> > a troupe and has had the same problems...I spoke to one LFS and he said
> > they have been getting very bad quality stock and this is probably the
> > reason for the losses. I'm waiting now until he can assure me of the
> > health - they've not had any for over two weeks now so I guess there are
> > still problems. I've been through similar issues with Yoyos as well -
> > although we managed to pull two of them through...the same guy assures
> > me that the issues with the Yoyos are now resolved.
> >
> > I know what you mean about the Clown clicking.....I'll check out the
> > shells when I do the tank maintenance later on today. The snails are
> > very small, light brown - the type I usually get coming in with
> > plants....the Clowns used to demolish them, the Yoyos manage to control
> > them....
> >
> > If I could trust the health of Clown Loaches locally I'd be tempted to
> > put some in there temporarily until the new tank arrives....
> >
> > It just amused me to see the DG picking them off the glass and chucking
> > them down onto the gravel...lol
> >
> > Gill
> >
> >
> >
> I find that weird, That CL loaches will eradicate a snail population and
> the yoyo's just kind of do population controll. I have 2 10 Gal tanks
> both of witch had/have snails the one with the cl Loaches had thousands,
> but now I can't see a one. In my yoyo tank The population was about a
> hundred now its stedily at about 50. I wonder if it's the difrence in
> there size fat/thin or they just don't like snils as much as flake food.
> Althoug I'm not shur whitch makes the louder click though at feeding
> time my living room sounds like little explosions are going off and
> gravel just keps hitting glass, or a field of crickets on stairoids :)
>
> sorry for the OT post