When it comes to feeding your aquarium fish or keeping two different kinds of aquatic species together, there are hundreds of questions that will follow your conscience. And trust me it is a good thing to ask questions beforehand rather than regretting it later. And when it comes to carnivores like killifish, it is undeniably important to ask questions when you are keeping them with other aquatic animals like a snail. So, here is the important question Do killifish eat snail when they are kept together?
Yes and No, killifish won’t actually eat snail however the feeding depends on the size of your snail. Killifish will anything fleshy that fits in their mouth. So, if you are dealing with small babies of the snail or their eggs, then it might not be safe.
I know this won’t actually solve your query, so I tried something else. Here is an article entirely dedicated to a killifish diet and if it eats snail or not.
Do Killifish Eat Snail?
Here is what you need to know before I answer this very question for you. Fish will eat anything that will fit in their mouth.
They might spit it after they figure out it isn’t food but they will let anything enter their mouth if it is small enough to fit.
And here we are talking about carnivorous fish. So, don’t act surprised when you see killifish munching in anything fleshy and meaty.
I have seen people arguing about whether or not killifish eat snail present in the tank. So, let’s end the debate here.
Yes and no. Yes, as in killifish will eat any snail that will fit in its mouth. Your adult snail will be fine as killifish don’t make the snail-eaters list.
They don’t deliberately feed on snails but are actually devouring food that fits in their mouth. So, small snails as well as the eggs of snails are not safe in the same tank as killifish.
I have heard many stories of owners complaining about how their killifish keeps on attacking and feeding baby snails.
I think you will like to read an article on Will My Killifish Eat Shrimp? | Complete Guide
Why Do Killifish Eat Snail Babies Or Eggs?
First of all, don’t blame your fish for eating your snail. And if you wanted your fish to eat the snail, then don’t depend on killifish to clear them for you.
Killifish eat snail or snail eggs because it fits in their mouth. The feeding of snails is a mistake not out of habit or not because they love eating snails.
Killifish are known for their meat-eating behavior. So, when you see them eating other aquatic beings from the aquarium, do not go on contemplating false truth.
They just feed on snails because of their availability around the mouth of killifish and their size. Do not depend on or keep killifish for the sake of cleaning and getting rid of snails from the aquarium.
Here is an article on Freshwater Aquarium Snail: Everything You Need To Know
Basic Overview Of Killifish Diet
You might confuse snails as the dietary need of killifish but trust me that is not the case. Munching on something because of its availability doesn’t actually make it enter the list of food one eats.
Let me give you a quick overview of what your killifish actually prefer to it. And you must not forget that killifish are carnivores so their diet includes meat and flesh.
In the wild or their natural habitat, you will find them eating crustaceans, insect larvae, and worms. In the aquarium, however, you have a window to find food for them in the shop rather than go on searching for insect larvae and worms.
You need to go for live foods though. Your killifish loves live food as well as frozen foods like brine shrimp, daphnia, and Mysis shrimp along with mosquito larvae, and bloodworms.
Here is an article on A Complete Beginner Guide to Killifish: Care, Breeding, Lifespan, Diet.
How To Manage Proper Feeding Your Killifish?
Well. Your killifish will eat snails only when you are lagging in feeding them properly. Sometimes your one stupid move can cause real hazards in the tank.
So, let me help you solve the problem and tell you what you need to do while feeding your killifish.
I have also written an article on Killifish Diseases and Treatments.
No Overfeeding
Like any other small fish, you will need to be careful with how much you feed your killifish. Overfeeding leads to obesity and health hazards that might seem impossible to get over.
Be careful with the food you feed them and the amount you give. Do not exceed the quantity of food ever and remove the leftover as soon as possible.
I know you don’t want to give your fish constipation or digestive tract infection. Neither do you want your fish to go on munching your snail nor the obesity?
So, separating the killifish from the potential food is the best thing you can do to avoid unnecessary munching.
Maintain Adequate Amount Of Food Only
Give an exact amount of food to your killifish that they can finish within 2 minutes. This will help you keep a check on the diet as well as the weight of your killifish in the tank.
Any less food will make your fish go crazy with hunger and search for food all over the aquarium. Starvation can make your killifish feed on the other small aquatic beings present in the tank.
Other Ways To Control Snail Population In The Aquarium Natural Ways
Well, I am sorry to disappoint you with the news of killifish not feeding on snails. Killifish might not help you get rid of the snails but I have few more tricks down my sleeves.
I had been through the nightmare of the snail population getting higher each day in the tank. Trust me one pair of snails can give you nearly a tankful of babies.
I still can’t believe how the snail population made my life along with the life of other aquarium beings miserable.
But hey, don’t worry. I will tell you how I got rid of them without taking support from killifish. Some of these might seem absurd but trust me these tricks work.
I have personally tried each of them and I have never been disappointed. Some things are just right before our eyes, we just need to know where to look.
Hand Picking
Okay, I know some people cringe and most probably throw up when it comes to touching snails with bare hands.
But hey what can you do when this can be one of the easiest ways to get rid of snails. But please make sure your hands are clean or wearing gloves before you dip your hand in the tank.
Just pick the snails and throw them into the bucket. Collect all of them one by one and make sure there is none left.
Believe me when I say this: One snail can bring back all the population you just got rid of. Be careful with other aquatic animals though.
Make sure other aquarium beings are left unharmed and well-nurtured while you are picking snails.
Keep Snail Eaters
While your killifish might not be one of the snail eaters, but there are few that will love to munch on the snails present in the tank.
I actually planned on doing this if the handpicking would not have succeeded. But again I thought about what’s harmful to keeping few more fish in the tank.
So, I went for snail eaters too. Here are a few of them that I found while rampaging the pages in google while I was going snail population trauma.
- Clown Loach
- Zebra Loach
- Yoyo Loach
- Pea puffer fish
- Skunk Loach
- Cichlids
- Spotted Raphael catfish
- Dwarf chain loach
I personally went for clown loach because I just love how adorable they are. You can go for any one of these. Let me know which one you chose?
Snail Traps
If you still hate picking snails with hands and don’t want to keep extra fish in your tank, I have one ultimate solution.
Do you have lettuce in your house? Well if you have then great and if you haven’t, it’s better to buy some.
Now. When you have lettuce, boil it for a while and place it in the tank near snails overnight. The next day you will find the lettuce lovers i.e., snails in the leaf.
Now carefully take out the leaf along with snails and toss them away. Do this for 3 or 4 days continuously and Voila!! Your tank is free from snails with one simple leaf.
How Can You Stop Killifish To Eat Snail?
Now. If you are actually planning to keep snails in the aquarium for decorative purposes along with the cleaning feature, then it is necessary to take proper steps to make sure your killifish doesn’t eat your snail.
Let me give you some steps or things you can do to protect your snail while having killifish in the tank. Remember your killifish won’t eat snails until and unless you starve them or they are smaller the size of the killifish mouth.
- Feed your killifish properly so they don’t graze searching for food.
- Keep bigger snails and avoid smaller ones.
- Separate snails and killifish in separate tanks as soon as you see snail eggs or babies in the tank.
- Give specific hiding spaces for snails too and make sure they are in the way of killifish.
- Lastly, keep snails with fish that are less likely to eat them. Trust me it is better this way.
You might be interested to read an article on Why is My Aquarium Snail Floating? Should I Be Worried?
Frequently Asked Questions
I know how mind-wrecking it can be when you have to find the solution for every problem in the tank. So, I tried answering a few FAQs people wonder about snails.
What Fish Will Eat Pest Snails?
I know the trauma you need to pass through when it comes to getting rid of pest snails. It is never easy to solve problems without acting cleverly when it comes to the home aquarium.
Last year, when my tank was filled with small baby snails, thanks to two snails in my aquarium, I had a real hard time getting rid of them. Trust me, I tried everything, literally every little thing that I could find in the suggestion section on the internet. After doing all that, I tried something clever and research the fish that would love to feed on snails.
Fishkeeping along with aquarium cleaning would be like killing two birds with one stone. And the idea couldn’t get any better when I find what type of fish I can keep in the tank.
It would be a different experience to keep fish that are entirely new to me and some of them were even compatible with the fish I already had.
Let me give you a few names that will come to you as a blessing in disguise:
- Clown Loach
- Zebra Loach
- Yoyo Loach
- Pea puffer fish
- Skunk Loach
- Cichlids
- Spotted Raphael catfish
- Dwarf chain loach
These fish are quite easy to keep and most of them are quite compatible in the community tank too.
What Fish Don’t Eat Snails?
Well, if you are dealing with carnivorous fish then this is a worthless question to ask. These fish will most definitely eat your snail. However, if you have algae eaters like Otos, then your snails and even your shrimps are safe with them.
And if you are really asking this question for Otos then please keep them in a group of 6. Also, herbivorous fish are less likely to eat up your snail and small omnivorous fish will avoid them mostly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you may not find it a good idea to keep a carnivore with a small fleshy organism. Although killifish will not be able to feed on your bigger snails, make sure they don’t get around small baby snails. If you are familiar with the phrase ‘fish will eat anything that fits in their mouth’ then you will get what I am saying.
It is never too late to take precautions. Prevention is better than cure any day. So, my friend, I don’t suggest you keep a carnivore with a defenseless animal. However, bigger snails are the same as long as reproduce small snails for killifish to devour.
If you still want to learn more about freshwater aquarium fish, then go through our articles. Also, if you still have confusion or questions, feel free to ask questions.
Good Luck!!!
Happy Fishkeeping!!
