Hello people, I need a fish that eats snails and can live in cold water that doesnt get huge either.
Please advice on what I could get.

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How cold is your tank? I was reading that getting a fish just for snail eating purposes isn't a great idea, cause once he eats them all, he's going to starve.

Have you thought about an Assassin snail? They can live in tanks that are 72 degrees Farenheight and they won't multiply like mad. (It's hard to breed them because they breed so slowly. I know people who have had them for years and haven't seen any babies). Even if you did get 1 or 2 babies, you could sell them because they are sometimes hard to find, and people love them because they're good at what they do. It will eat the other snails in your tank. What size is your tank? If it's not huge you can go with 2 or 3 of them. They only get to be about an inch big. Once all the pest snails are gone, the assassins will eat left over meaty/protein food that your fish miss.

They sometimes burrow into the substrate, and people think they've dissapeared, so if you do get them and can't find them, they could just be buried, looking for left over food. (They will "leave" the tank if there are any openings, so be sure to cover them). Once the snail eats another snail or two, it goes dormant for about a day or two, then eats again, so don't worry - it's not dead, it's just digesting.

So, instead of having a million ugly pest snails, you end up with 2 or 3 pretty looking small snails. (They have kind of tiger stripes). I used to have one - they really work! I never saw a pest snail while he was in the tank! Once I took him out, a few stragglers came out of hiding, but it was easy to pick them out, and I haven't had a problem since. The only reason I traded him in is because I wanted Zebra snails and didn't want them to get eaten.

Here's a site: Assassin Snails in the Aquarium

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Great! thanks for the information. I've never even heard of them and I looked them up on google images and they look really cool so I'm gona buy a couple.
Nice one

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Good luck! (Keep us posted and let us know if they do their job!) :D

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The easiest answer to your question is your local Crayfish, availabe at any local pond or creek. They will eat any thing they can get in their claws. They need good water quality and cool water to thrive. Crayfish can get as long as six inches.

Won't the cray fish eat his other fish though? (And getting one from a pond or creek might bring parasites or other illness into the tank). If it wasn't for the fact that they eat everything, I'd get some of the fancy blue, white and orange ones from the pet store!

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