I like My Pest Snails

In my first tank, I got some pest snails and quickly got some Assassin Snails to get rid of them. Now I feel I may have acted too hastily. In another tank, I have some pest snails. Two kinds, I think. Ramshorn and maybe bladder. Not sure. Anyway, when I watch that tank I find myself more fascinated by the snails that the fish. So I think I am going to let that population grow. I figure if it gets too out of hand, I can transfer some to the tank with the Assassins. And if it gets too out of control, I can transfer some of my Assassins to this tank. For now, I am enjoying watching the snail population grow.

 

It's so good to know other people like their pests. I personally love ramshorns so much I actually ordered more online. I got some blue ramshorns and have now made it my mission to have one of every colour.

 

My snail population is growing. I have found a few tiny snails in another tank. Going to let those go too.

I am wondering about putting one of my Assassin snails in the tank with a lot of "pest" snails. Would on Assassin live alone? Would he wipe out the existing population? How much of a base population of pest snails would be required to maintain in the presence of an Assassin? Or would he eventually kill them all?

Wondering about getting a population of "pest" snails established in all the tanks and introducing one Assassin and try to achieve balance. Possible? Good idea or bad idea? Better to harvest snails from the other tanks and put them in the Assassin snail tank from time to time?

 

Set up a 5-10 gallon get it established with pest snails then add an assassin and a single pea puffer and I bet the balance would be perfect... I like my snails too

 

What are the snails that dig in the gravel? MTS? I need those...lol Also won't your gravel vac suck them up?

 

What are the snails that dig in the gravel? MTS? I need those...lol Also won't your gravel vac suck them up?

Yes they are mts... I have a lot of them and ramshorns in all my tanks... lately I’ve noticed a small explosion of mts in my 5.5.... might b time for another pea puffer if they can handle those snails... here is how fast they grow this is about a two minute time lapse

 

I wish I knew what mine are. They are tiny and keep multiplying.

 

Yeah I have a pest snail tank now haha I felt bad murdering 1 and then found his children, and that just snowballed into them getting their own 3 gallon tank.

 

I wish I knew what mine are. They are tiny and keep multiplying.

Probably bladder snails.

 

When I first found snails in my main tank and then saw how many there were in there I just wanted them gone. I did everything suggested to get rid of them. I even removed the gravel and replaced it with sand. I finally got enough assassin snails to eat all of them. Once the assassins had done their job I got concerned about feeding them. Along about this time I actually discovered that they really aren't pests in controllable numbers and do have their place in our hobby.

I found a few of what I considered pests at the time in one of my filters and moved them to their own home (a 2.5 gallon jar) so I could feed my assassins some of their favorite food from time to time. Along about that time I started thinking about what a good job a few of them can do to help keep algae under control. I never though I would learn to like snails. I happen to have ramshorns and in manageable numbers they are welcome in my tanks now. I am not as pleased with the bladder snails I somehow managed to get but I can learn to even deal with them.

I now also have rabbit and nerite snails in a tank with no assassins. These thing have grown on me I tried mystery snails but sadly both of the ones I bought died within days of getting them

 

No luck with Mysetrys either. They were entertaining though. I'm 4-0 on Nerites though! Tough little buggers. No "pest snails".

 

I hated pest snails. After getting puffers, I miss the days I had tons of pest snails I couldn't control.

I have to buy snails every couple weeks and breed them to keep my puffers fed...

 

My snails are growing rapidly in my male guppy tank. The Assassins are in the female guppy tank. I have a lot of algae in the female tank. Thinking maybe exploding snails in that tank would not be so bad. But have to do something with the Assassins. Maybe spread them around and try to achieve balance in each tank. Maybe keep on tank Assassin free so I always have a stable growing population.

Do I need to handle them in any special way to move them from tank to tank?

 

My tank is also exploding with snails. Started with a couple now I have alot. I know I over feed. I am trying to learn what proper amount of food means. I like the snails but will have atleast 60 in a few weeks and I am learning the amount to feed so it will be a struggle. Thought about 1 assassin snail and hope that one doesn't multiply and slowly kills snails to keep it manageable.

 

I like mts snails. Other pests I can do without. Unfortunately I got bladder snails in my shrimp tanks. Food or no food they just reproduce. So I got 6 assassins. Well the assassins completely decimated my mts population. Mts are much slower that bladder snails. Than the assassins got after the bladders. Both are gone now. But I still have 2 other tanks with mts so I use them to feed the assassins. I don’t think assassins eat anything but snails. That's why your tank has algae. I’m betting that the assassins are also eating shrimplets too. Also now have baby assassins in that tank too. So I’m guessing they will soon be pests .

 

Ghost shrimp. Mine nonstop eat my snails lol



That said, I like my pest snails too.

 

My snails are growing rapidly in my male guppy tank. The Assassins are in the female guppy tank. I have a lot of algae in the female tank. Thinking maybe exploding snails in that tank would not be so bad. But have to do something with the Assassins. Maybe spread them around and try to achieve balance in each tank. Maybe keep on tank Assassin free so I always have a stable growing population.

Do I need to handle them in any special way to move them from tank to tank?

Since the perimeters are close to the same in all my tanks I just take them from one tank and drop then in whichever tank I need them in. I would think just one or two assassins could keep the other snail population down to manageable levels without eating all of them.

My tank is also exploding with snails. Started with a couple now I have alot. I know I over feed. I am trying to learn what proper amount of food means. I like the snails but will have atleast 60 in a few weeks and I am learning the amount to feed so it will be a struggle. Thought about 1 assassin snail and hope that one doesn't multiply and slowly kills snails to keep it manageable.

When it comes to assassin snails it takes 2 to tango. If you happen to get a male assassin there will be no babies. Should you get a female that has been with a male you may end up with more though. Some folks have reported getting over run with them but that hasn't been my experience. The thing is, if you have way more than you need you should be able to sell the extras. I do that about once a year and that keeps my numbers very manageable.

I don’t think assassins eat anything but snails. That's why your tank has algae. I’m betting that the assassins are also eating shrimplets too. Also now have baby assassins in that tank too. So I’m guessing they will soon be pests .

Fortunately my assassins will also eat shrimp pellets so they probably would eat shrimplets but first they would have to catch them. That might not be very easy.

 

I feed my Assassins sinking carnivore pellets. But the guppies like them too.

 

Ghost shrimp. Mine nonstop eat my snails lol
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That said, I like my pest snails too.

Wait shrimp eat snails?

I am popping tiny snails against the glass every day in my tank with RCS and Dwarf rasbora. If there are shrimp I can add that will eat snails that would be awesome. Can’t get assassin snails here: they’re illegal

 

Wait shrimp eat snails?

I am popping tiny snails against the glass every day in my tank with RCS and Dwarf rasbora. If there are shrimp I can add that will eat snails that would be awesome. Can’t get assassin snails here: they’re illegal

Mine like snails and there are other reports of it with ghost shrimp apparently too...

However ghost shrimp will also prey upon your cherry shrimplets.

 

Mine like snails and there are other reports of it with ghost shrimp apparently too...

However ghost shrimp will also prey upon your cherry shrimplets.

Ah bugger. Back to the drawing board and daily popping

 

Ah bugger. Back to the drawing board and daily popping

I bought this yesterday online. Dennerle Snail Catcher Let's hope it works. Mine haven't gotten to out of control but want to be ready.

 

I've got an over abundance of pink ramshorn snail and a few pond snails in a 3.5 gallon. They just keep multiplying, if I had to guess.. I'd say there is close to 200 now and a lot of the egg sacs I had are now appearing to be empty, so that's more babies that I can't see LOL

I found 2 pond snails from a plant shipment in one of my betta tanks, and all 6 betta have a nerite buddy.

 

I have transferred ramshorn to Betta and Guppy fry tanks. I am transferring bladder snails to female guppy tank for the Assassins.

 

I love my snails as well. The tadpoles seem to be the most dedicated gardeners, the ramshorns clean algae well. The mystery snails are really the only snail I have found to be useless, but they are cool looking lol. Side note on the mystery snails: my ramshorns keep the mystery snails sparkly clean so I guess they work quite well together:

 

I'm thinking about sticking a mystery in with the bettas, I never see the nerites that are there. They hide and come out at night. That may be why they are working with every betta I own lol Snails are fun.

 

Yeah I have a pest snail tank now haha I felt bad murdering 1 and then found his children, and that just snowballed into them getting their own 3 gallon tank.

I‘ve never kept snails by themselves, so this could be a silly question. . .

Do you feed them or do they feed off stuff found naturally in the tank (algae)? And have they kept multiplying?

 

I've never done it but you can feed them with algae wafers etc

 

I‘ve never kept snails by themselves, so this could be a silly question. . .

Do you feed them or do they feed off stuff found naturally in the tank (algae)? And have they kept multiplying?

I made snello. They also like veggies and I keep this tank by a window. They have absolutely kept duplicating. I am shocked at how fast too. I did just recently put a dwarf crayfish in there. He's a baby so I'm growing him out in there for a bit and I add lots of things for him now too.

 

I‘ve never kept snails by themselves, so this could be a silly question. . .

Do you feed them or do they feed off stuff found naturally in the tank (algae)? And have they kept multiplying?

I know this was directed to MissPanda but I will answer it too. I have a 2.5 gallon jar for my ramshorns and some bladder snails. The jar sits right in front of a north facing window. I never see a drop of algae in this jar. I feed them iceberg lettuce and zucchinI along with a variety of the many different foods I feed my fish. I want them to continue breeding so I keep them well fed and breed they do. I keep their numbers down by pulling some out to feed to my assassin snails about once a week. The assassin numbers aren't exploding because I kinda control to amount of food available to them.

In my humble opinion snails in controllable numbers do have their place in our hobby 'specially in a planted tank. I never would have though that until I accidentally introduced them to my big tank. Once I got them under control I discovered what a good job they do at helping to keep a tank clean.

 

I know this was directed to MissPanda but I will answer it too. I have a 2.5 gallon jar for my ramshorns and some bladder snails. The jar sits right in front of a north facing window. I never see a drop of algae in this jar. I feed them iceberg lettuce and zucchinI along with a variety of the many different foods I feed my fish. I want them to continue breeding so I keep them well fed and breed they do. I keep their numbers down by pulling some out to feed to my assassin snails about once a week. The assassin numbers aren't exploding because I kinda control to amount of food available to them.

In my humble opinion snails in controllable numbers do have their place in our hobby 'specially in a planted tank. I never would have though that until I accidentally introduced them to my big tank. Once I got them under control I discovered what a good job they do at helping to keep a tank clean.

Yep, I agree. I have 7 Nerites in my 75 gallon tank. They do a great job helping me keep it clean.

I’ve just never tried keeping snails by themselves, but maybe that’s a reason to set up yet another tank. I’ll blame this one on MissPanda!

 

I‘ve never kept snails by themselves, so this could be a silly question. . .

Do you feed them or do they feed off stuff found naturally in the tank (algae)? And have they kept multiplying?

I have a greenwater bucket/container with pond snails, they have bred on their own without feeding them or even interfering in any way. But if I wanted more snails, I would feed them more.

I wish I knew what mine are. They are tiny and keep multiplying.

Maybe they are minI ramshorns? I have them in my 120g, they are the adult size of a sesame seed. I used to hate pest snails but now I keep snails on their own lol. The minI ramshorns do well in my water, but pond snails and ramshorn snails just etch away and don't multiply in my tanks unless I purposely add calcium.

 

My assassin population is exploding and my pests are dwindling. I may have to create a separate pest snail tank like mattgirl . Also considering donating some of my excess assassins to my LFS.

I have between 30 and 35 in my 40 gallon. Three in on 10 gal. Seven in another 10 gal. And 10 or so in a 20 gal. I found a tiny baby in the 20 gal so it seems that population is breeding now as well. I think I have more than 50 in total. And growing. I think that is too many so I think the time has come to give some away.

My assassins go nuts for sinking algae wafers. The pests do too. It is interesting to see the pests and assassins feeding on the wafers at the same time. Kind of like seeing a lion and wildebeest at the water hole together.

 

I now have one tank without assassins. I am trying to get a ramshorn snail population growing. My assassins are decimating the pest snails in my other tanks. I plan to cull some assassins to my LFS at some point. But have not gotten around to it.

In the meantime, I am wondering if you should create an assassin tank rather than or perhaps in addition to the ramshorn tank.

 

I’ve grown rather fond of my pest snails also. I don’t go out of my way to feed them and It seems like their population has stabilized around 20-25 in my 20
Gallon. Will assassin snails eat other assassins if there is no other food source?

 

Gallon. Will assassin snails eat other assassins if there is no other food source?

I do not know if assassin snails will eat each other. I suspect the answer is no. Or maybe only in extreme circumstances.

My assassins like algae wafers. I was surprised by this. I thought they were carnivores. The seem to prefer the algae wafers to carnivore pellets. They even seem to eat algae wafers when there are pest snails available. I have seen my assassins feed on algae wafers right next to ramshorn snails.

 

Assassins are pest snails. Only thing there good for is killing snails. If fed regularly they will multiply like any other pest snail and take over the tank. Than you will have to either break down the tank to get rid of them or find something that eats them.

 

86 ssinit your comment is consistent with my experience. My initial five from November or December last year has grown to over 60 spread among four tanks. I have two tanks that are assassin free at the moment. I am going to keep it that way for now. One of the assassin free tanks is my quarantine tank.

I plan to take a pile of the assassins to my LFS and give them to them. I guess I should call to see if they want them.

I guess the definition of a "pest" is in the eye of the beholder. I like both my ramshorn and assassins. I consider neither to be a "pest". But my assassins have definitely grown to more than I want. So I suppose that makes them a pest. I guess since I have fewer ramshorn that I want and more assassins than I want, I could define assassins as pests but not ramshorns in my tank.

But I guess either will get out of control and be difficult to get rid of in the right circumstances. Perhaps that is the definition of a pest.

 

Sorg67 that seems to be the problem. Once they start multiplying they don’t stop. I won’t add them to any other tanks. My tank was overwhelmed with bladder snails. That’s why I got them. But after they went through the mts snails I lost interest in them. Funny thing is they still haven’t done in the bladder snails.

 

Sorg67 that seems to be the problem. Once they start multiplying they don’t stop. I won’t add them to any other tanks. My tank was overwhelmed with bladder snails. That’s why I got them. But after they went through the mts snails I lost interest in them. Funny thing is they still haven’t done in the bladder snails.

I had visions of keeping a reasonable balance of both. That may be easier said than done. But maybe I can pick out a few dozen and donate to my LFS. They sell them. I think $3 each or so.

My wife likes them. I kind of think they are cool too. But in modest quantities. I had been hesitant to start giving them away since I did not want to give a way my breeders. Seems like that will not be an issue...