I am trying to grow snails to feed my assassin snails so that they will reproduce. I am having trouble getting any snails to live long enough to breed so that they can be put into the assassin snails tank.Even the MTS is not growing in any tank except one ten gallon tank that has Endlers live bearers. and they are not numerous at that. I try to overfeed so that they will have plenty of food to eat but they just do not seem to want to live and reproduce. So if you have lots of snails to ship to me, I will gladly take them off of your hand. another animal that will eat them is crayfish but they are likely to eat your plants and fish unless you get the dwarf kinds.Most of the dwarf crayfish are alright in a planted tank as long as yo do not have fish large enough to eat them.
I have heard of some loaches eating holes in large leaved plants so you might wish to rethink about getting loaches especially the clown loaches which do best in groups of 3 or more and that can get to be 18 inches long.
--- In tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com, Larry Blanchard <labl@...> wrote:
>
> Dawn Moneyhan wrote:
> > Larry,
> > The first question I would have asked would be what species of snail was in question? There are various species of snails that people refer to as "pond snails", yet they make up a wide range of species, some of them herbivore, some of them omnivore, and some of them, like the trumpets, that are detrivore.. and yes there are carnivore snails, too.
>
> I don't know the species. Unlike the MTS, which were put in the tank
> deliberately, the "pond snails" were unwelcome hitchhikers on some
> plants I *thought* I had sterilized.
>
>
> >
> > Another consideration is the plant species mixed with a specific snail species... some snails tend to like certain plants more so than others and find them irresistible.
> >
>
> The tank in question has contortion val, a couple of apongetons, and a
> red melon sword. The snails like all of them, as well as a rock covered
> with algae.
>
> > There are also a number of species of snails that look a lot like each other, and can be confusing to properly identify, especially when they are young. Apple snails and mystery snails are often confused, especially in the pet stores, for example. I would suggest maybe asking Rhonda what species she was speaking of and then compare it to what you have or maybe even get some help properly identifying the species you have...
> >
>
> I get the magazine at the library so I don't have it available, but IIRC
> the terms she used were "small snails" and "pond snails". Pretty
> generic. I don't know the exact species in my tank, and, again IIRC,
> the article implied she didn't either.
>
>
> > Also remember that snails are not the only creatures in an aquarium that can eat plants, leaving holes behind. Some types of plant diseases can also leave holes, as can problems with environment for a given species... lighting that is even a little "off" can also cause issues. Some species of fish are also good plant eaters...
>
> True enough, but I've watched them graze. If I had the money and the
> talent, I'd set up one of those slow motion cameras and produce a video
> :-). And none of the fish in my tanks (currently only two) show any
> interest in plants and the tank without snails has no holes in the plants.
>
> I googled, FWIW, and most sites seemed to think that pond snails do eat
> plants. One that Even if the didn't was Rhonda's :-). Here's a
> quote from aquaticcommunity.com:
>
> > Yes, snails do eat plants, but most species actually leave healthy
> > plants alone and prefer to feed on dead and decaying plant matter that
> > would only end up fouling your water anyway. Healthy plants tend to
> > produce cyanides and other poisons and are therefore not appreciated
> > by most snails. There is however exceptions to this rule, e.g. the
> > Pond snail, which should never be introduced to the aquarium since
> > they can rapidly devour even healthy plants.
>
> Amen, brother! Even if the grammar is suspect :-).
>
>
> I'd be glad to send a few to someone with a planted tank if they don't
> believe me - on second thought, I don't want an irate plant lover coming
> after me :-).
>
> Larry B
>
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