Do Cichlids Eat Snails? (7 Interesting Cichlid Facts)

Many people ask the question: do cichlids eat snails. If you want to keep both of them in the same place, then you should know whether cichlids eat snails or not. It is because some species of cichlids are there that can eat snails.

Do cichlids eat snails? Generally, they cannot eat snails. Some species of cichlids are there that can eat snails that are of small size, but this is very rare. This may happen when cichlids are hungry. They are not able to eat snails by hunting.

In this article, we will discuss do cichlids eat snails, how we can stop cichlids from eating snails, which type of species can live together with snails, and which of these cannot live with snails, and many other things related to these. Let’s dive into the details of do cichlids eat snails.

What Cichlids You Cannot Keep With Snails?

If you want to keep cichlids with snails, you should know the species of cichlids that can eat snails. It is because many species of cichlids are there that can eat snails. Following are species that can eat snails

• Jaguar cichlids
• Peacock bass
• Red Devil Cichlids
• Chocolate Cichlid
• Malawi Cichlids
• African Cichlids

May pet parents who know complete details about cichlids say that if you want to keep cichlids of large size, you should not keep snails with them because they can eat cichlids? The size of snails is small compared to cichlids, which is why they may eat snails.

What Snails You Can Keep With Cichlids?

Many people want to know whether they keep snails with cichlids or not. Some species of cichlids are there that are of small size. They cannot eat snails. Below is the list of species that cannot be kept with snails

• Malaysian Trumpet
• Ramshorn
• Black Devil
• Tiger Nerite
• Large Mystery
• Zebra Nerite

If the size of the snail is small and it is young, you must keep them in a separate tank until the snail is fully grown. At a young age, the size is small, and cichlids easily eat it. When there is a shortage of food for fish in captivity, it may result in snail-eating by fishes.

How Does Cichlid Eat Snails?

Cichlid is resourceful fish, and they are of different strength and sizes. There are different ways of harassing and eating snails like

• Crushing their shells in jaws is mostly seen in stronger and larger cichlid species.
• Sucking snails out happens when the snail shell is very hard and cichlids are of small size.
• Others may harass until the snail dies. In some cases, they are not showing interest in eating snails. They start pushing snails to the corner of the tank. In this way, they crush snails against hard objects and bite snails.

Do Cichlids Eat Assassin Snails?

Do cichlids eat snails?  Yes, cichlids can eat snails. You can breed assassin snails in tanks and aquariums, but they need proper care. They are not harmful to other pets in the aquarium, but large fish can eat them. Cichlids may also eat them when there is no food source near them.

They are not fish, but many people keep them as pets in the aquarium. If you keep assassin snails in the tank, you will see fewer pest snails. They are known as natural cleaners. They may eat debris like algae from the aquarium.

Do Freshwater Cichlids Eat Snails?

No, freshwater cichlids don’t eat snails. Do cichlids eat snails? Cichlid’s family doesn’t like to eat snails, but some of them can eat when there is no food supply. Cichlids’ staple food is flakes and sinking pellets. You can also give them green food. You can also give them frozen animal food like bloodworms and shrimps.

They are not the best snail eaters. They are mainly used in the aquarium for cleanliness because they can eat algae grown inside the tank. But they may sometimes seem like snails if they are small.

Do Convict Cichlids Eat Snails?

Do cichlids eat snails?  Yes, they can eat snails. That is why you cannot keep cichlids with snails. Otherwise, they may eat snails by harassing them. Many ways that they adopt while eating or killing snails. If you keep your fish full of food, then there is less chance of snails eating them.

Do Peacock Cichlids Eat Snails?

They are omnivorous; it means that they can eat vegetables, fruits, plants, and meat. Cichlids are bottom dwellers; it means that they sift in the sandy substrate for food. It can be crustaceans, zooplankton, larvae, and insects.

Do dwarf cichlids eat snails? Yes, dwarf cichlids do eat snails; a few dwarf cichlids are there called snail eaters. It means that both of them cannot live in the same place.

Do Ram Cichlids Eat Snails?

Yes, ram cichlids eat snails. They are omnivores. They can eat anything that you give to them. So, there are chances that they can eat snails. They prefer to eat live foods, pellets, flakes. Fish can easily eat snails that have small sizes.

Snails ate not bad for the tank. They are known as algae eaters. They can eat the dead animals and food particles present in the tank. When they are in the wild, they may eat small dead animals.

Do Keyhole Cichlids Eat Snails?

Yes, keyhole snails do eat snails. The size of the keyhole is four inches, and they can eat pest snails. They not only kill or eat small snails, but they can also eat large ornamental snails if they have any chance to kill them. Do parrot cichlids eat snails? Parrot cichlids are the species of cichlids that eat snails even if they are large. When snails dig out of the shell, then they can eat snails.

Do African Cichlids Eat Snails?

They may eat snails, but African cichlids are not known eaters of snails. Before keeping snails and cichlids in the same aquarium, you must know whether species of cichlids can live with snails or not.  African cichlids are not active snails.

They are aggressive species of cichlids because they don’t eat them. Because of the small size, they may eat snails. So, if you want to keep young cichlids with snails, then it is not good practice.

Does Convict Cichlid Eat Snails?

Convict cichlid is not aggressive, but they can eat snails when there is non-availability. If snails easily fit in the mouth of Convict cichlids, then they may eat snails. It can be the perfect snack for Convict cichlids when there is no other item to eat.

What Are Tips To Prevent Snail Getting Eaten?

How to stop cichlids from eating snails? A few points are very important for you to make snails safe from cichlids.

• You should buy large snails when there is a large size snail, and then fish feel difficult to eat or kill. Large snails cannot be attacked by cichlids easily.
• Hiding places can also save cichlids from getting eaten. You should give them places where snails can hide when fish attack them.
• Don’t make your fish hungry otherwise, and they will eat snails. You should feed cichlids regularly, which minimizes the issues, i.e., eating snails by them.

Final Verdict On Do Cichlids Eat Snails

Many species of cichlids are there that you can keep with snails, but some of them can eat snails. That is why you should keep only that species with snails that don’t eat snails. 

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet fish a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️