snail eating fish

Question
Having allways prefered to have real plants in our tank I have found the only downside is that I am now over-run with little snails. I do not wish to use a chemical solution so could you please suggest a "green" cure ? Possibly fish that like to eat them?! We have a 60 litre healthy tank with just a few little platys at the moment and would like to sort out this little problem before re-stocking. thankyou. Mike.

Answer
Hello Mike!

~You know I have the same problem with snails in many of my tanks. I don't really mind them that much though because they don't seem to do any harm to my live plants and actually they are excellent at cleaning some stubborn algae off plants and decorations, they will also consume any decaying plant leaves. In fact, I sort of consider my large popultion of little brown snails as my complete sort of eco-system...They are the little ones who eat up the decaying organic matter in the aquarium...I still clean my aquariums very often though. Anyway, enough of me.....
*It seems that the Yoyo loach is the best choice for controlling snails and should do fine in your aquarium. Yoyo's should suck the snails right out of their shells and really enjoy them as a tasty snack. I love yoyo's! Did you know they earned their name from the pattern on their sides where if a person with a wonderful imagination looked closely, they would find that their pattern spells out "Yoyo" It's really cool!

~Well I hope I helped! Let me know if Yoyo loaches work! Remember you can email me again if you have anymore questions! I am more than happy to help out! ;-)

~Thanks for being "green" Mike. I so dislike using chemicals of any sort. I don't even use chemicals outside even if the bugs are eating the vegetable garden!

Well, I am wishing you the best of luck with everything!

Take care and happy fishkeeping!
Karen~