Assassin Snail Question

[Studman0143]

Basic question, do Assassin snails need a partner to reproduce or can they create babies all on their own?

Also, when they do start procreating how many can they have at a time?

[GeToChKn]

They need a M/F pair, with no real way of sexing them. Not sure on number babies. I started with about 4 or 5 and ended up with 40 or so total, but I'm not sure if it was 1M/4F, 4M/1F but a few of those tanks are low low pH tanks for crystal shrimp, so their rates may be a lot lower as snails usually like a higher pH tank, higher gH (calcium) tank.

[depech]

they need a partner

[bushynoseburton]

Yes the do need a partner, the better they are feed (snails/food) more often they produce. They lay one single egg at a time, it's hard to say how many the can they lay, but it is only one at time.. They look like diamonds covered with a gel layer.. I have breed them for 3 years now and still not able to figure out the sex of them...

[bushynoseburton]

Temps that I have been able to breed them in is a wide range from 70-90, ph I don't think bother them.. They will lay the eggs any where in the tank, if you have a sponge filter that is the number one spot.

[Studman0143]

so I know I have just 2 assassin snails in the tank so I obviously have 1M/1F. I haven't seen any eggs as described anywhere but there are so many plants that the egg could have been anywhere. Temperature is 74F and it's a tank with 3 species of tetras, if that matters.
They definitely have plenty to eat with so many spiral snails taking over so here's to more babies!

[Devonviolet]

Hi, wanted to bump this topic...
I had 2 assasin snails till a month ago when my flatmate looked after my tank-1 got trapped in the filter (very sad).
They were laying eggs before this.
I recently thought I had seen more eggs but dismissed it knowing I now only had 1.
However... This evening I came home to find an egg on my vallis plant. I only bought the vallis 2 weeks ago.... From a snail free tank and I am sure there was no egg on it yesterday.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

[garfieldnfish]

Could be the females can retain the sperm for some time. So a single female that had been with a male may still be able to lay eggs for some time. Just a guess. But mollies do this and mystery snails do too.

[dougolasjr]

Originally Posted by garfieldnfish

Could be the females can retain the sperm for some time. So a single female that had been with a male may still be able to lay eggs for some time. Just a guess. But mollies do this and mystery snails do too.

+ 1 Sounds reasonable.

[Lkittredge]

I bought a single assasin snail from a pet storge with many in the tank. The single snail laid eggs throughout the tank. I now have at least 1 confirmed assasin baby in the tank. Took a few months for me to be sure it was an assasin until it had enough size, but I am 100% certain they can reproduce by retaining sperm.

[sayurasem]

I have little luck on breeding assassin snails, the babies just can't survive in my tank.

[res34]

It's possible that you might have some young individuals in your tank that are just beginning to be able to breed. I hear that they tend to hide in the sand/gravel when they're little and only fully come out (to a degree) once fully mature.

I own two assassin snails, one of which has an almost completely blackish-brown shell and whom I rarely, if ever, see unless its under my rocky overhang. My other one has highly visible yellow stripes and is much more active (I've even seen it feed during the day), so I can attest to adult snails being able to hide.