# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cyprinids >  Horse Face Loach not eating snails?

## tormentz

Have purchased a horse face loach to help control the snail population in my tank as my other loaches in the tank does not seems to be interested in snails. However, after 2-3 weeks, the snail population seems to be ever increasing. Have i got myself the correct horse face loach? Pictures as attached.

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## hwchoy

its the right fish, but I have no idea why it is not eating your snails. how big is the loach? it eats by filtering gravel through its gills and presumably retaining the snails and larvae.

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## wks

You should get a puffer fish. Its a well known snail killer, my friend once got a small puffer fish and it cleared his tank of malayan trumpet snails less than a week.

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## tormentz

The fish is about 6-7cm long... it does filter through the gravel but i guess most of my snails are on higher ground. 

Do not wish to get a puffer as they are pretty destructive once the snails run out... Hate to go through the trouble of re-homing them once they eradicate the snails.

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## hwchoy

you may wish to help by squishing those snails you see. I think the loach mainly eradicates the larvae so as long as there is not enough adults to lay enough eggs fast enough, they will get eradicated.

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## tormentz

Thanks! Will see if the conditions improve over the next few weeks.

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## Jungle-mania

I concur with wks, if you want, I am more than happy to donate my puffer to you.

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## tormentz

Though i personally feel that puffers are rather cute... but i worry for the rest of the fishes in my tank! Thanks for the offer~  :Razz:

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## chubbchubb

I suppose if you have faster fishes than the puffer, they are pretty much safe. I just threw in a cheap betta to see if the puffer is able to take a good piece out of that guy. From the looks of it, puffer is still a very much slow swimmer

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## Puffer

Don't underestimate the puffer (err..pardon the pun on my nick :Laughing:  )..Mine has ripped off parts of all my cherry barbs' tails. Now i'm faithfully catching snails from my other tanks just to feed this little fella - a real snail-eater!

Tormentz, yours is a horse-faced loach (choy can testify it and he swears by it). It is a real digger and likes to bury itself save its face on the substrate. The extermination of snails will not be obvious in the short term.

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## Quixotic

> I suppose if you have faster fishes than the puffer, they are pretty much safe. I just threw in a cheap betta to see if the puffer is able to take a good piece out of that guy. From the looks of it, puffer is still a very much slow swimmer


Have you noticed the behaviour of the puffers especially during meal time? They are slow, but they exhibit ambush behaviour, swimming up on their targets secretly, examining them quietly and then take sudden lunges and bites.

This element of surprise will catch other fishes off guards, even for a faster fish and Betta isn't exactly a fast fish either. Definitely not a good mix.

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## chubbchubb

Yup, I notice my cherry barbs have shorter tails already. I caught it in action when it nipped one of the barbs. Just took the puffer out and will be putting in some hillstream loaches.

Does hillstream loach eat the snail eggs?

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## Quixotic

Hillstream loaches are primarily algae eaters, and won't rid of your snail/eggs problem.

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