Does anyone here keep spixi snails?

[ravensgate]

I have been looking for a long time for them and can't find any. But, I'm curious how many folks keep them in their shrimp tanks. I've heard they eat hydra and planaria so outside of being hard to find I'm curious why I don't hear more about them. If you have them, what do you think of them? Pros, cons?

Here's a link for those who might not know what I'm talking about

http://www.theshrimptank.com/aquatic...ixi-snail.html

[Kunsthure]

Some apple snail species are considered invasive and can't be shipped over state lines in a lot of places. Maybe this is one of them.

-Lisa

[ravensgate]

It is one of them or rather, it used to be, not sure if it's still on the list. But I'm curious who all keeps them and what they think of them. Cause one day I may be able to find them in my state

[mordalphus]

I had them for a while, if you're looking for spixis that eat Hydra, you're looking for spixi x marissa crosses, not pure spixi. They look the same, but one doesn't eat plants or Hydra and one eats both.

I got regular spixis first, and all they did was eat shrimp food and lay big nasty alien egg clusters everywhere. Talked to a guy at the LFS and he told me I needed to get the spixi x marissa cross, and he actually gave me one for free. I tossed the regular spixis in my pond, tossed the cross in my aquarium and bam, no more hydra after a week. But it also clipped all of the stem plants off at the base, so I took it out and put it in my pond. The Hydra all came back within 2 weeks, so I used Fenbendazole and haven't seen them since.

[ravensgate]

Liam are the crosses you're talking about the same as Asolene Spixi Snails?? That's the specific ones I've read that eat critters so wondering if it's the same or if there are two types. Of course, if it gobbles up plants might not be something I'd personally want. That's why I wanted experiences, so I could figure out if I kept needing to hunt them down or not. LOL! Thanks for the input Liam!