Wanting Snails

Hello, might sound dumb but I really want something that breeds fast. For no reason at all but to watch it all happen. I heard snails breed like crazy and will take over your tank. That's fine by me but I read they so have a big bio load... I have a 75 gallon and the only thing in it is a red eared slider.

The other option is ghost shrimp. The only issue with them is the petshop doesn't carry them often. I'd have to get their on the day they arrive like my friend did without even trying lol.. otherwise they die in their tanks really fast for some reason..

I heard ghost shrimp can breed pretty quick also so that would be fine I'd just have to get them..

Do you think mystery snails or ghost shrimp would be better?

 

I say go for pond/bladder/ ramshorn snails. They reproduce faster than cats and rabbits combined...

 

I say go for pond/bladder/ ramshorn snails. They reproduce faster than cats and rabbits combined...

Do they have a bid bio load? Is a big bio load for a snail the same as they say for a turtle? Haha I have a huge filter but I don't want it to become a problem.

 

Do they have a bid bio load? Is a big bio load for a snail the same as they say for a turtle? Haha I have a huge filter but I don't want it to become a problem.

Mystery snails would have a bigger bioload than the shrimp or pond/ramshorn snails. Pond/bladder and ramshorn snails are much smaller than mystery snails

 

Ramshorns or Maylasian Trumpet Snails will reproduce fast and have no where near the bioload of a turtle. The turtle will probably eat them though. Ghost shrimp are actually difficult to raise. very few, if any, of their young survive. Cherry shrimp are much easier but again, the turtle will eat them.

You are very limited in what you can put in with a turtle. They will see anything, fish, snails, shrimp, crayfish, lizards, frogs, insects, etc. as a food source.

 

Buy plants at Petco. You will have bladder snails in no time.

 

Buy plants at Petco. You will have bladder snails in no time.

I did that already haha.. I bought like 12 plants and I don't believe I got any snails

 

Go back to Petco and ask for pest snails, they should be happy to give them to you for free.

 

I did that already haha.. I bought like 12 plants and I don't believe I got any snails

I stopped buying them from Petco because of the snails. I only have one aquarium now without them. I have many mystery snails but I like them and they breed nicely for me.

 

Go back to Petco and ask for pest snails, they should be happy to give them to you for free.

Yeah this might be an option. I haven't even looked to see if they sell them yet.

 

I stopped buying them from Petco because of the snails. I only have one aquarium now without them. I have many mystery snails but I like them and they breed nicely for me.

The packaged Top Fin plants at PetSmart have all done well for me. No hitchhikers of any kind and they grow well.

 

They don't sell them, they're pests and they want to get rid of them. They've always just given them to me whenever I've asked.

 

You won't get ghost shrimp to reproduce in a tank. You have to put in the effort of caring for the eggs after they drop them, as they will die in freshwater and need to be hatched in brackish water. Red Cherry Shrimp will reproduce all on their own, and they may survive if you have enough hiding places for them. Why not just do some kind of livebearer fish?

 

They don't sell them, they're pests and they want to get rid of them. They've always just given them to me whenever I've asked.

The turtle will love you but the snails may not last very long.

 

They will certainly hatch in freshwater, but it's true they are hard to reproduce. You won't get many that survive to adulthood even in a shrimp only tank with plenty of places to hide.

 

You won't get ghost shrimp to reproduce in a tank. You have to put in the effort of caring for the eggs after they drop them, as they will die in freshwater and need to be hatched in brackish water. Red Cherry Shrimp will reproduce all on their own, and they may survive if you have enough hiding places for them. Why not just do some kind of livebearer fish?

Ghost Shrimp do not need brackish water. The problem with them is they hatch as legless , defenseless, larvae that need a lot of microorganisms in the water that they can feed on. They are easy prey for anything, including the adult shrimp, and the ones that don't get eaten will probably starve. The eggs also hatch before they are dropped and not after. The mother shrimp releases the larvae into the water.

 

You won't get ghost shrimp to reproduce in a tank. You have to put in the effort of caring for the eggs after they drop them, as they will die in freshwater and need to be hatched in brackish water. Red Cherry Shrimp will reproduce all on their own, and they may survive if you have enough hiding places for them. Why not just do some kind of livebearer fish?

Because I'm very new to the fish scene... Idk what livebearer fish even is

 

Because I'm very new to the fish scene... Idk what livebearer fish even is

A livebearer is a fish that caries fertilized eggs internally until they hatch. Guppies, platties, swordtails, mollies, endlers are all livebearers There are others as well.

 

Buy plants at Petco. You will have bladder snails in no time.

Weird. Ive been buying plants from Petco for 20+ years and never gotten any snails from them. Tissue culture plants don't have snails, so the only way you could get snails from their plants is if they have them in a tank in store with snails.

 

Because I'm very new to the fish scene... Idk what livebearer fish even is

They're just fish that rapidly and easily reproduce, like guppies.

 

Because I'm very new to the fish scene... Idk what livebearer fish even is

Guppies, Mollys, Swordtails, Platys, Endlers, they all give birth to live young instead of laying eggs. They eat their own young though so again you need plenty of hiding spots. The turtle might eat the adults.

 

Because I'm very new to the fish scene... Idk what livebearer fish even is

Livebearer means a fish that gives birth to live fish and doesn't lay eggs.

 

Weird. Ive been buying plants from Petco for 20+ years and never gotten any snails from them. Tissue culture plants don't have snails, so the only way you could get snails from their plants is if they have them in a tank in store with snails.

The Petco stores around here have aquariums with plants in them for sale. The snails are thrown in at no extra charge..... Weather or not you want them.

 

From

This shrimp is not as easy to propagate in the aquarium as most smaller algae eating shrimp of the Caridina or Neocaridina genus, since the Freshwater Glass Shrimp produces free floating larvae that need to be fed micro-food items before they molt into post-larva and assume a benthic (= on the ground) lifestyle. In most aquaria the larvae will not find enough food to develop into their next stage and will starve to death. However, in some old, established tanks with a lot of detritus and decomposing plant leaves on the ground the larvae might survive since there will be microorganisms in the water column. This shrimp does not require brackish water for larvae development as some of their cousins that hail from brackish water and marine habitats (such as Palaemonetes pugio and Palaemonetes vulgaris).

Thinking about it though, a tank with a turtle in it could very well have the detritus and other decomposing waste that would provide the microorganisms. Again, though, the turtle would eat them sooner or later, As young or as adults.

 

The Petco stores around here have aquariums with plants in them for sale. The snails are thrown in at no extra charge..... Weather or not you want them.

Yeah, that's what I figured must have been happening. Like I said, tissue culture plants don't carry snails, so you can buy those all day without getting them.

Also, here in Maine we don't have to worry about getting snails from our local petshops as freshwater Gastropodas are banned here. You have to have a special license to get some, others have a total ban, so no worrys about hitchhikers.

 

Yeah, that's what I figured must have been happening. Like I said, tissue culture plants don't carry snails, so you can buy those all day without getting them.

Also, here in Maine we don't have to worry about getting snails from our local petshops as freshwater Gastropodas are banned here. You have to have a special license to get some, others have a total ban, so no worrys about hitchhikers.

You can't even have Nerites or Mystery snails?

 

You can't even have Nerites or Mystery snails?

Not unless something has recently changed that I'm unaware of.