My Keyholes are psycho!!

[MandyL]

Ok so recently I told the story of my 4 little 1" keyholes completely devouring a 3/4" ghost shrimp within about 10 minutes... Well now this one takes the cake. I look over and one of the little guys is swimming around with something in his mouth, I figure it's a chunk of a sinking pellet. So I get closer and what is it? A snail! He's got his nose and mouth jammed into the snail shell, swimming around and eating it as fast as he can. Is this normal?? I guess I don't have to worry about the pest snails, I was wondering why they weren't exploding!

[Lady Hobbs]

I didn't know keyholes were such brats. I was thinking of getting some. How do you like them other than them killing everything? LOL

[MandyL]

Absolutely love them. They are so adorable, and a good mix of graceful and playful. They were shy for just the first few days and now they all line up on the glass to check me out when I come look at the tank. So far all 4 are sticking pretty close to each other, so maybe that will change once they mature, but they are never far from the others now. They mostly stick to the bottom of the tank, they'll eat from the surface but love the sinking pellets too.

[MandyL]

Well- who knew?? They are listed as a snail-eating fish here: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4742/snail_faq.html

[Lady Hobbs]

Well, who would have thunk it. Good info to know, Mandy.

[fins_n_fur]

LOL This quite possibly explains the reason why I'm finding empty snail shells and not seeing as many snails in my tank - I was getting tired of picking them out one by one. They are indeed lovely fish and warm up to everyone in the tank once they feel at home. I thought they were shy fish, but come feeding time, they battle with the angels over the food, so quiet, but not shy.

[Lady Hobbs]

Gotta get me some!

[cichlid guy]

Me too!They sound fun to have.