hoplo armoured catfish

is anyone keeping or kept them,how big did they get and how long did it take,are they any good at eradicating snails like the loaches?

 

Hi there

I kept them a while back. Mine got to approx. 13-15cm, and that was in a year and a bit. And I don't recall them ever being good at removing snails... one tank with them had no snails whatsoever, and the other with them was plagued - this may have been entirely circumstantial.

Regards,

 

thats not a good sign then,15cm is a big big as well.looking for something south american to control my snail population,dont mind the snails so much as their eggs all over the front glass

 

All the South Americans I can think of all grow to roughly 15cm... and choosing them depends on your current stock. Raphael catfish (both spotted and striped) might work. A more unusual option is the South American freshwater puffer. They say they get to 15cm too, but I've never seen this personally.

Also, if they're the trumpet snails (the cone-shaped ones), not much will eat these. Their shells are too hard for most, except for maybe puffers.

Just sink some cucumber every night, and remove the snail-coated veggie slice in the morning. Repeat for a week. It should help your problem without having to add stock to your tank.

Regards,

 

Puffers also wont work in comunity tanks. They are agro little fishies. If its trumpet snails you wont get rid of the completely

 

No they're not trumpet snails,they have round little shellsand don't seem to get bigger than like 5mm.I don't mind addin something to the tank,the population is a bit sparse.would like something out of the ordinary if possible.

 

Bladder snails or ramshorn? Why do you want to get rid of them?

 

have to say the only way is to manually pull them out , just did that on my 30L tank
i heard somewhere but the saltwater thing tho??

 

The snails all of a sudden have exploded in number and they leave these egg sacs hanging all over.will take a pic.tank is big enough I think to safely feed all and sundry

 

watched a youtube with these above mentioned snails now , they look rather tiny and not so big

 

I know a lot of people are against it and consider it a taboo, but i use snail kill...

 

Mhmm... sounds like gyraulus chinensis (Chinese ram's-horn snail).
How about arranging a clown loach foreign exchange student program.

 

there's my problem

 

No,it doesnt look like a chinese ramshorn snail,any takers?

 

Looks like what I call a pond snail (Lymnaea sp but I'd hate to try and say which one!)

Its defo not a ramshorn.

 

google is a wonderful thing,looks like whats called a pond snail.and apparently the population explosion was due to over feeding which i probably was doing while the angels were raising their fry.

 

you beat me to it tracy

 

:laugh: I had a weird one the other day - I've had ramshorns which I found a biological control for (zebra loaches inside and outside, the goldies munch the snaillets) - then from somewhere, these pond snails... I haven't a clue what will eat these btw
and then found ANOTHER one in an outside barrel - which I think must be a malaysian trumpet... I hope its a singleton!!!!!

No idea where they're coming from - obviously hitch hiking but I haven't even gotten any new plants for ages... :wacko:

 

will find a fish to sort it out