Which is better for a fish tank, snails or sucker fish(cat fish)?

Question

I need to decide which I should buy, could you list the pros and cons. Could you also sugesst which type of snail/sucker fish I should get. Thanks

btw, tank is 15L and cold waters only please.

Answer 1

Apple snails, lot better then a sucking loach, loachs can upset other fish

Answer 2

I used to have a fish tank...I just got a plant at a pet store and a guess there was a snail or 2 on it cuz in a few weeks there was probably over 100 snails in the tank. Get a sucker fish my brother had one of them. There really easy to take care of and they don't take over your tank.

Answer 3

snails

pros: they are excellent algae cleaners.. after a few weeks there will be hardly any algae and it helps in your cleaning process cause you may not have to do as much

also, you dont have to feed them because they eat the algea

cons: they multiply like CRAZY.... when i had my first tank i got some snails and the next day there were 6 babies... this is BAD and is why i suggest you get sucker fish instead.. in a while you may not be able to see in your tank because of the amount of snails.. and once you get them and they start multiplying its VERY hard to get rid of them you can literally have hunderds of snails in your tank which will then start depriving food from your fish and use overall overpopulate your tank.. and dont be fooled snails reproduse asexually so you can start with one snail and have 30 by the end of the month


sucker fish:
pros:these fish are overall more entertaining to watch and many are pretty

these guys also suck off some algea... though not as much or may not at all

they are USUALLY peacefull and can be kept, for the most part, by themselves or with other fish so you dont have to get a whole school

cons: many of these fish get Very large as in 12 inches big.. you dont want that because itll take up too much room in your tank and may eat other inhabitants.


id go with sucker fish .. i dont know the names off the top of my head but before you buy them.. go to a petstore write down the names of the ones that you may be interested in buying, search them on the net to see if they get to big, what temp they can live in, if they are aggresive, ect.

Answer 4

Snails are amazing to watch and do clean up well - although they are known to carry and habour parasites which can be harmful to your fish, plus most - not all - are known to nibble on your plants - however equally suckers (i'm asuming you mean plecos and not catfish as catfish purley scavange debris, they do not actually 'clean' the tank) are equally as amazing, yet again they are extremly aggressive and terrorise the other members of the community and they grow quite large, i've never managed to go to a fish retailer that properly identifies thier fish, so you can never be 100% sure as to what you are buying, at the end of the day they are there to make pennies! plus 15litres is not that big a tank.
If you clean you tank (only 20%!!) every couple of weeks, limit the amount of time your lights are on then you might not even have a algee problem, plus there are chemicals that reduce the amount algee in the tank. but again introducing chemicals is not the best option, you add one chemical then you tend to need a load more to fix another problem, i find it to be a vicious cycle. There are pro's and con's to each solution, however if i was you i would up grade to a larger tank, then you could have both! Seriously though, to begin with your tank is going to go through lots of different stages with algee growth and what not, until it finally matures and you find the solution that best suits your tank, there is no simple answer as every tank is unique, its sort of trail and error, but thats the joys a fish keeping! :)

Answer 5

Cat fish every time snails take over and they eat the plants
I'm having a problem with them now they must have been on a new plant i put in my tank
They really are a pain

Answer 6

there are several different types of snails you can get, and hundreds of different types of "sucker" fish. you need to look at what you have in the tank, how big the tank is, and how much poop you can handle!

both snails and "sucker" fish are going to add to your bioload.

oh and freshwater nerite snails DON'T breed in freshwater. and snails won't eat your plants if you feed them! they breed in brackish water, but will tolerate freshwater.

avoid at all costs the "golden sucking loach" or "chinese algae eater", this little guy is a pain in the ***. grows bigger than shops tell you, and once he's over 4" will stop eating algae and start eating your fish!

Answer 7

I prefer sucker fish. I started with ONE snail and ended up with a tankful of them. Guess it depends on the type of snail? Good luck!

Answer 8

It depends on your tank. You never want a sucker fish in with goldfish or discus, but you don't want snails if you have soft water or fish who prefer a low ph. It also depends on tank size. Common plecos get 3 feet long, so you don't want one in less than 150 gallons. Ottos are small sucker fish and can be kept in 10 gallon tanks.

Answer 9

Vacuum Fish! Snails multiply very quickly and cause lots of waste.
But make sure you have a big enough tank because these things grow like monsters ;]

Answer 10

Sucker fish are far better, snails will just breed and you will never get rid of them. If your tank is tropical I would recommend a Plecostomus, but they do grow quite large so make sure your tank is big enough, if its cold water I would recommend a butterfly plecostomus, these don't get anywhere near as big but you cant acclimatise them into tropical water, they don't live very long in warm water.
I hope this helps and good luck

Answer 11

snails can quite easily take over your tank through breeding.A snail can breed on its own it doesn't need a partner.For a small tank a couple of sucking loaches will do but for a medium sized tank a Pakistani loach or a horse faced loach for a large tank (3 feet plus) a suckermouth catfish is best.I have 2 suckermouth catfish and they are peaceful harmless fish