Wild Theodoxus fluviatilis acclimation attempt

Today I went to catch Theodoxus fluviatilis - river nerite - snails. I planned it a long time ago, but summer has been chilly so far, and it was hard to find the day when it's both warm and I'm not busy. I chose a site based on article written by local zoologists (my ex-coworkers) who caught them there. At first I failed to find any. I was checking plants, detritus, bottom, but there were only ramshorns, pond snails, trapdoor snails etc. Turns out that's not the kind of stuff they like to hang out on. Eventually I found a spot that had lots of small rock, I started lifting them and there were tons of Theodoxus under them. I got maybe several dozens - it's hard to say how they adapt, so I wanted to have a spare. I took half a bucket of lake water with me, since IDK its chemistry, it could be way different from tap water. Then during the evening I gradually added tap water to it, so now the snails are in 50/50 lake and tap water.

They will be quarantined in 10 L (2.64 gal) bucket, because my bigger bucket is occupied by a sick pleco. I took out the spare internal filter from my 30 gallon (it also has an external filter - the internal one is mainly for bamboo and vampire shrimp convenience). Its output 50 times bucket's volume per hour, but considering the snail has "river" in its name, I don't think they'll mind . Anyway, should be more than enough to take care of the nitrogen cycle. I also took out some algae infested rocks out of the tank. I've read that it can be hard for river nerites to get used to fish food, so the algae should feed them for a while. And also considering how much they like to hang out under the rocks, they will double as hiding spots. In the photos you can already see them using these rocks. They're pretty active and took no time to start exploring their surroundings, such as they are.

Not sure how long I will quarantine them, since that bucket is actually needed for water changes (did them this morning before the trip, to maximize the time I won't need it ). I plan to perform small daily water changes, to further adapt them to tap water.

 

Wow that is really cool catching your own wild snails. I dont think there is anywhere around here for us to do that.

 

Wow that is really cool catching your own wild snails. I dont think there is anywhere around here for us to do that.

Well it's a long shot. Even though I find that people indeed keep this species in tanks, these are wild snails that are cold water acclimated, so they might find the transition too harsh. Fortunately for this experiment, this summer has been cool, so my home isn't crazy warm. If it stays like that for a while, they might manage to acclimate until the heat hits. I think if it was like the last summer, they wouldn't stand a chance.

They are not much to look at at the moment, since most of them have algae on their shells, but when they're clean they should be pretty cute

 

So far so good. They seem to have settled, not climbing the bucket walls so much, and sitting on rocks and filter, where all the tasty algae is. They look cleaner today, actually showing their patterns quite nicely. The photos look like they've been taken with a potato, because it's dark in the bucket.


(Yeah, there's also a random trapdoor snail with them, because why not)

 

I have plants from the wild V1K.
Are you ever going to have the snails in a tank with fish? Because it’s possible the snails are carrying flukes ? Are you aware of the live cycle of flukes that use the stomach of birds as a host by way of snails? I guess you are with a zoologist as a ex coworker?

 

I have plants from the wild V1K.
Are you ever going to have the snails in a tank with fish? Because it’s possible the snails are carrying flukes ? Are you aware of the live cycle of flukes that use the stomach of birds as a host by way of snails? I guess you are with a zoologist as a ex coworker?

Yes, I'm planning to put them into my 30 gallon rosy barb tank. Yes, I know about the flukes, but since I'm not keeping any birds and my cat doesn't drink from that tank, and as far as I know there are no snail-fish life cycle flukes (correct me if I'm wrong), it should be fine, right?
I just googled cat flukes and apparently those need a second terrestrial intermediate host before infecting cats, so that also should be safe even now, that the snails are in an open bucket he can drink from.

 

The photos look like they've been taken with a potato

What kind of potatoes do you have in Lithuania?

They look like they are going to be pretty cool if they make it!

 

What kind of potatoes do you have in Lithuania?

They look like they are going to be pretty cool if they make it!

All sorts, it's our staple food, but they all have to be starchy enough to make cepelinai, our most popular national meal

Yeah, they are cute little things . Lots of natural variation in their patterns and shades, makes them interesting to watch.

 

Oh that’s good news V1K , you seem to have given the life cycle flukes a bit more though than my initial reaction?

I brought a few cups of lake water home hoping to isolate some daphnia. After 48 hours and then again at 72 hours in a 2 gallon tank under strong lighting I could see dozens of tiny things swimming that had grown in size or I had not seen earlier . Tiny leaches etc eventually persuaded me to give up on trying to start a colony of daphnia from my local pond. Even using a turkey baster to move the few daphnia from container to container meant I was moving unwanted organisms / bugs.

All I am saying is be careful. And use a strong torch.

 

Oh that’s good news V1K , you seem to have given the life cycle flukes a bit more though than my initial reaction?

I brought a few cups of lake water home hoping to isolate some daphnia. After 48 hours and then again at 72 hours in a 2 gallon tank under strong lighting I could see dozens of tiny things swimming that had grown in size or I had not seen earlier . Tiny leaches etc eventually persuaded me to give up on trying to start a colony of daphnia from my local pond. Even using a turkey baster to move the few daphnia from container to container meant I was moving unwanted organisms / bugs.

All I am saying is be careful. And use a strong torch.

Yeah, I can imagine that with daphnia it gets really tricky, as picking them out one by one without any water is not an option. With daphnia, I've heard it's safer to get them from temporary puddles, as they have no fish and therefore no fish diseases or parasites. There can still be some unintentional critters, but nothing fish wouldn't eat too.

With snails it's a bit easier, since they can be fully drained. Also, as long as it's not fish parasites, I think my barbs would get rid of any accidental hitchhiker.

 

Attention #6

I found this old screenshot in my photo album of a parasite that does go snail to fish.

I knew I had seen this somewhere. Sorry I have no idea if it’s applicable for you in your country with those snails?

 

Sorry I have no idea if it’s applicable for you in your country with those snails?

Nor do I. I think I'm just going to take the risk and see...

 

The snails are already in the fish tank. Seem to be doing well so far, didn't find any dead ones when moving them. They already laid some eggs on the stones they were quarantined with. And a couple on the glass too. I've read that in my tank temperature they should hatch in a month.




They are serious algae eaters! The stones that I used in quarantine are fully cleaned, although I'm not 100% sure it wasn't the lack of light that helped to kill them. However, these stones below are 100% their doing. They were never removed from the tank and they were fully covered in algae less than 2 days ago. The photo above is yesterday and the photo below is today, already visible difference.


I've never had an algae eater that would make an actual dent in the algae. That garra in the photo has nothing on these little guys .

 

When you said quarantine, I was expecting a 6 -8 week period that way any life cycle could be interrupted outside of a normal tank set up.

I'm hoping for the best for you , but please be safe and careful.

I constantly have planar issues and have to deworm ( 3x so far ) different equipment & tanks overtime, so it's my water source ( local lake).

Flukes freak me out because people can get so ill from them. TV show 'Monsters Inside me' has several episodes about them however usually it's under cooked food.

 

When you said quarantine, I was expecting a 6 -8 week period that way any life cycle could be interrupted outside of a normal tank set up.

Yeah, it would be good, but as I've mentioned in my first post, the bucket I quarantined them in is the one I use for water changes, and I didn't want to buy another bucket just for this, so it couldn't lasted long. My sick pleco kind of ruined the plans by getting sick just an evening before and taking up my ACTUAL quarantine bucket. Although honestly I may be too impatient to quarantine them that long anyway .

 

The little guys survived the test of a short (less than 2 weeks) heat wave and temperature in the tank going up to 30 C / 86 F. They maintained normal activity, and didn't go to the surface for more oxygen or anything. So it seems they are indeed suitable for a regular tropical fishtank.

 

So far so good. The snails are alive, and the fish look healthy so far. There was a short period where barb males looked a bit pale, but they're back to their normal colours now.

Snail eggs seem to have hatched. I'm not seeing any babies, but that is to be expected - the care guide I read says they tend to burry in the substrate for the first two months, so I might expect them to emerge some time in September.

For a time being the egg laying seems to have slowed down a lot - I believe the reason for that is that they cleaned up most of the algae in the tank and there's just not enough food to keep up the pace. I might try feeding more algae wafers and see what that does.

 

I have some baby snails . So far only seen 2, but there's probably more, they're pretty small and easy to miss.
In the photo you can see one at bottom right, a bit right from the baby MTS.

 

So lately all or almost all the adults died off for some reason. Cannot tell when exactly that happened, as I've been busy lately and the tanks only got fleeting attention, so I don't know if it was gradual or some sudden swing that didn't affect anything else. I'm seeing at least 3 babies still alive, so hopefully being aclimated to the tank conditions they will grow up and, given they're not all the same sex, breed.

 

The tank born babies are growing up nicely, the bigger ones are nearly adult size. I've even seen a couple of eggs, so maybe they'll breed.