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Assassin Snails!!!

2K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Dave in the basement 
#1 ·
Just wanted to say I LOVE these guys! :icon_mrgr

Had an explosive and seemingly unmanageable outbreak of pond & ramshorn snails (as it tends to happen sometimes) and these guys got right to work. The population's at a reasonable level now. I was hesitant about getting a loach and definitely didn't want to do anything chemical...the assassins were the perfect answer. I'd write these guys a glowing referral for the job any time.
 
#3 ·
I bought two of these guys when I noticed some small pest snails in my 75. They have kept the pest snail pop manageable. Now I have assassin snail eggs everywhere! Here is hoping I start having a nice population of these suckers to supplement my hobby!

Gotta love em. Haven't found a downside to them yet!
 
#4 ·
I have a tank that I thought had a few trumpet snails but little did I know there were several hundreds of them. Its a sand tank which had a pleco. Didn't see many snails until the pleco died. I think the pleco caused them to hide all the time. I introduced5 assassin snails and an hour later, you couldn't tell there were any trumpet snails. They all went under the sand. This behavior makes me think they have some sort of chemical communication. After a few days they started coming back up but not in full numbers like before.
 
#6 ·
You may have a few babies running around and not know it. The babies tend to stay buried for a time until they are bigger. Have you noticed any eggs? Clear looking squares with a yellow dot in the center. Usually on the stems of plants or on driftwood. If there's live food and they're attached together, more than likely you've got lil ones :)
 
#7 ·
I've got two also to control my tadpole snail population (it boomed somewhat because they were stealing zucchini/algae wafer pieces my otos and shrimp are eating), but I haven't got any babies yet and the two seem to ignore one another, so I'm assuming I got either two males or two females.

Does shell coloration indicate species? I ask cause one of them has a shell that is nearly completely brown save for a yellow splotch near the front while the other has a shell with clearly defined yellow and black stripes.
 
#8 ·
Will these assassins breed like crazy and potentially become troublesome in your tank? Just curious, as some pond snails hitched a ride on some plants I got awhile back, and now they are everywhere...
 
#11 ·
It is very easy to control assassin snail population. They only breed with live food, and only lay 1 egg at a time. I started out with 6, and have around 60 now. That isn't very many compared to the "pest" snail population some people have. If you do get too many, you could always catch a few and raok some here or sell them for a buck.
 
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