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Is this messed up to do?

2K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  NickAu 
#1 ·
Larger snails in my tank seem to like to go to my filter intake to die. They crawl onto the intake and get sucked out of their shells. Last night one was in the middle of this and I brushed it off the intake only to watch it fall out of the shell and the fish went crazy eating it right up (German blue rams and tetra). Would it be wrong of me to feed the snails to the fish? In general the answer is no of course but the process of doing it seems kind of messed up. Breaking the shell with my fingers and all. Better way to do it if it's done at all?


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#2 ·
I think this boils down to how comfortable you are feeding your fish live food and if you see snails as just another food source for your fish. Live snails are commonly fed to dwarf puffers, and I've had a betta that would suck snails right out of their shells. I didn't think of it as wrong to let my betta eat them. As for how best to "prepare" the snails for your fish if they can't get the snail directly out of the shell, I'm not sure. Breaking the shell with your finger does sound a bit messy.
 
#3 ·
I'm totally fine feeding live foods. I don't much care about the mess part as I would prob do it once or twice a week at the most. None of my fish pay attention to snails as I'm sure they are not a part of their natural diet. The idea of crushing the shell just seems messed but I guess no more messed than them just being eaten by a fish naturally.


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#4 ·
Whenever I see a pond snail/ bladder snails, I reach in and squish 'em and let fish and shrimp snack on them. I used to pick them out, but sometimes I'd drop one. I realized I was wasting a food source and losing efficiency removing them so I just crush 'em. It kinda gives me an uneasy feeling when they break, but my hatred for them allows me to get over it. I hate them. I couldn't do it to a nerite though. I like them despite their damn eggs.
 
#6 ·
its ok, you are the master. I left dead fishes in the tank for the shrimps and fishes to eat. They were fighting for the floating fish head like a game of rugby .

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its ok, you are the master. I left dead fishes in the tank for the shrimps and fishes to eat. They were fighting for the floating fish head like a game of rugby .
 
#8 ·
@Willcooper AKA Dexter of the snail society, AKA king of the assassin snail kingdom a serial killer in the making lol. All kidding aside you could probably use a p[air of tweezers to pull them out of the shell but like others have stated crushing them up is what I have heard of in the past. One thing to consider with crushing them is their digestive system so unless they are a fish that naturally does this I would find an alternate method such as tweezers. Just my 2 cents
 
#9 ·
Bahahaha. These comments have been freaking hilarious. I was thinking of pulling them out of the tank and cracking/crushing the shell and then dropping the meat in. Maybe if I consistently do this it will give the other snails the opportunity to fill the gap of the larger ones diet so the smaller ones grow faster and end up being better/quicker scavengers.


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#12 ·
I would also advise caution with the fingers. I have found the snail shell can make a nasty cut on the finger and it is not an easy one to cure. Far worse than a metal or glass cut as the snail shell injects the gunk into the hole.
I find a soda bottle cap makes a pretty nice "thimble" for the finger smash.
 
#14 ·
Pond/bladder snails I squish and let the fishes eat them. I used to cull malaysian trumpet snails out of the tank, crush with the back of a spoon, and feed the fish. One of my female cherry barbs would get excited and go after live mts after every time I fed smashed ones, she'd try persistently for over an hour, but never figured out yet how to eat them on her own.
 
#20 ·
So funny thing.. my female ram has been trying to eat snails now. I saw her flipping one upside down and nibbling at it. Not successfully but she is trying. My rams are always hungry it seems. Crazy because they get fed once or twice a day.


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