Gail Futoran wrote:


Check for Skunk botia or YoYo loaches. I
have both (separate tanks) and they do a good
job of keeping snails in check. Puffers can
be aggressive and some can get very large.
I bought what I thought were two "dwarf"
puffers, that turned out to be Green Spotted
Puffers and soon outgrew the original tank.
Many pet shops can't tell the difference
between different types of puffers when
young, but Skunk botia and YoYo loaches
are hard to misidentify.

Gail is quite right here.....yes there are some puffers that remain
small and can survive in freshwater....however the majority are brackish
at best and really do better in sal****er.....If you do want a puffer
then you really have to go out there and get your google finger working
and check that you are buying the right one and then some....you need to
make sure what you are being sold labelled as the one you want is indeed
the correct one.....

Most members of the botia family will eat snails....some are
better/quicker at it than others.....

When it comes to your choice of loaches you have a couple of things to
consider....firstly the size of your tank, which you haven't mentioned
yet.....Clown Loaches although way the best at demolishing snails do not
always do well in a small tank and have the potential to grow
big....(I'm talking 12" eventual size) - Yoyos can grow up to 4" in size
quite quickly - I know so because I have a number of them - along with
Clowns......and no botia loach is happy kept on its own...they are
social creatures and keeping any less than three and peferably more is
cruel....they need their own kind.....

If your tank is small then you can look at alternative methods of
controlling your snail population....one way to do it is to drop a bit
of lettuce, cucumber or courgette (zucchini) into the tank at lights out
and then pick it out in the morning - it will be covered in
snails....keep doing this until your population is under control....


Gill