The digestive system of catfish is quite amazing. Considering the number of aquatic animals and other things catfish can eat, we have to say these fish species have a remarkable system. The huge size of these catfish species makes it necessary to eat bigger meals. It will take hundreds of snails to get a Mekong catfish satisfied. From this perspective, we can narrow down the catfish species that eat snails and shrimps to the flatheads and other species that are about the same size as the flathead catfish at the adult stage.
The cherry shrimp is one of the smaller species that make an excellent meal for catfish. It is rich in protein and can improve the health and weight of catfish. However, the cherry shrimp also has a commercial value. Many fish farmers do not raise shrimp for the purpose of feeding them to catfish.
Shrimps can fetch significant profits when they are sold in the market. So a major percentage of the shrimp that fall victim of catfish as food is in the rivers and lakes. I hope you love the products I recommend! By the way, any links on this page that lead to products on Amazon are affiliate links and I earn a commission if you make a purchase. Thanks in advance for your support!
With that out of the way. And since most of them look stunning, they can be a permanent addition to your collection. Snails are the ultimate nemesis of aquarists. Their insane multiplication speed poses a major challenge that makes dealing with them exceptionally hard. However, if you entrust this mission to your fish, it might not be that difficult. Are snails good for your fish tank? Can too many snails kill my fish? Nevertheless, they differ considerably in the required care.
Some can be placed in large, community tanks. Others must be placed in schools of their own species, and so on. The first loach in my list is the Zebras. As the name implies, these fish come with attractively striped bodies of red, black, and yellow. Zebras excel in catching small pest snails, regardless of how big their population is. However, they tend to avoid bigger gastropods like mystery snails.
The best thing about Zebras is how easy their care is. Generally speaking, Zebras are peaceful around other fish. Make sure to provide enough hideouts in your tank to fit their shy nature. Their unique color pattern resembles the skin of giraffes, which would look amazing in the right lighting. Since they grow bigger than Zebras, they can eat a slightly wider range of snails.
Yoyos can show aggressive behavior against smaller, weaker fish. Just like Zebras, Yoyos tend to be quite shy, especially in their first days in your aquarium. Introducing pieces of driftwood should make them feel comfortable. Fun fact, aquarists believe that Yoyo Loaches were named after yoyos because they keep actively bouncing around all day long. Either way, this could be an extremely nice topic to brag about with your friends.
In the fish tank, a skunk botia will thus go crazy on snails and is an effective solution when battling an infestation. Even so, skunks are a feisty loach species, which is not suitable for community aquariums, and like most loaches, must be maintained in groups of at least six 6 individuals. They also require small amounts of food several times a day and readily accepting most brands of dry sinking catfish pellets. Moreover, offer your skunk a variety of frozen foods to supplement the diet.
Apart from botia loaches, the pea puffer fish also called dwarf pufferfish is another excellent snail eater. However, this puffer is quite aggressive and can only share a tank with a limited number of tropical fish if any. An advantage that a pea puffer has over botia loaches is its tank size requirement.
Like zebra, yoyo, skunk, and dwarf chain loaches, the dwarf pufferfish has a tiny body by home aquariums standard, growing up to an inch in length. But unlike the botias, this fish can be kept singly, a pea puffer does not need to be in a group, which means you can have it in a tank as small as 10 gallons. The ideal set up for the pea puffer fish is a planted tank with soft slightly acidic water that anywhere from 7. For a balanced diet and to keep your pea puffer well-fed, offer him crustacean foods such as brine shrimp, krill, mollusks, and earthworms.
Large cichlids and a few dwarf cichlids species are known to eat snails and can be effective at dealing with an infestation. However, cichlids need a big fish tank because of their overall body size that most of the time top 5 inches. The german blue ram is one of the smaller cichlid species that will fit in a medium-size aquarium and can eliminate pest snails, albeit less effective compared to botia loaches and pea puffers. The keyhole cichlid is another species that grows to a fairly small size 4 inches and known to munch on pest snails.
Please note that cichlids are not limited to killing or eating small snails, they will also kill large ornamental snails if they get the chance. The spotted Raphael catfish is another beautiful catfish that will devour pest snails without a doubt.
The fish has a dark brown to blackish body-color, decked with irregular patterns of small spots that can be any shade between brilliant-white and pale-yellow. Interestingly, the spotted Raphael is also referred to as spotted talking catfish because it can make audible sounds by rotating its pectoral spine. In the wild, the catfish occupy a variety of habitats but its most comfortable in slow to still moving water, with a lot of plants.
In captivity, the spotted Raphael catfish is quite adaptable to most aquarium environments, making it a great choice for new fish keepers. It also has a small body size and not a picky eater. Most of the time, your catfish will forage the bottom of your tank cleaning eating leftover food and tiny pest snails. This catfish maintenance need is also low, only requiring about 30 percent water change a month. When in a community the fish has a friendly attitude with medium to large tankmates.
However, avoid companions that have small bodies as they could be considered food. A gallon fish tank is the recommended minimum for a spotted Raphael catfish, but 45 gallons or more is better, especially for a large community.
A betta fish is not the most efficient snail-eater, but it will eliminate a- small-colony tiny pest snails if given a chance.
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