# Snails



## Matt1988 (19 Oct 2012)

This may seem odd but I was wondering what the fastest to grow and easiest to breed type of snail is as a food source for a pair of amazon puffers I was thinking pond snails? but would their shells be sufficient to grind down the puffers teeth? Or is there an easier option to breeding snails? I'm planing to culture a few types of live food as the tanks main source of food 

Thanks for your time
Matt


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## jack-rythm (20 Oct 2012)

I'm not sure on strength of shell but I can truly vouch for the pond snails speed of breed! Jesus! I can't get rid of them. I think it's assassin snail time! I would send them your way but their just to small and too much hassle to pick out! 

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## tekopikin (20 Oct 2012)

My answer to your question would be Malaysian trumpet snails, I started out with just ONE and ended up with an infestation. I took a lot of wit & patience (NO CHEMICALS  ) to eventually get 'em under control. They'll reproduce if the conditions are just right - loads of left over food blah blah etc. My Assassin snails do keep their numbers in check ,they also double up as a clean up crew and make nice live food for my fish when I squash 'em. I raise some in a small container with some java moss & dirt outside of my tank and use these to top up when the assassins make short work of the tank inhabitants
You  just can't go wrong with a trumpet


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## jack-rythm (20 Oct 2012)

Is what you say true about assassin snails clean?? As I am led to believe that assassin snails are not very good at cleaning jobs, which is why its hard to decided whether or not to bu them.. they may eat your cleaning crew and then not clean themselves? lol that would be a nightmare!


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## OllieNZ (20 Oct 2012)

Ramshorns have hard shells and breed fairly quickly. Why not have a tank with different types of snail


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## Matt1988 (20 Oct 2012)

Ok I think I'll set up a small tank with trumpet snails and ramhorns soon to start building a population up for when I get the puffers 

Matt


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## tekopikin (21 Oct 2012)

*@jackrythm* I was referring to the Malaysian trumpets as the clean up crew, not the assassins.  My bad, I guess the way I composed my reply gave the impression that the assassins were the clean up crew.  
The assassins can't get at all the snails especially the juveniles which hang out and graze away on my java moss. As they get older & bigger they in turn get hunted & then get dispatched! That way their numbers are kept in check. Malaysians are good at aerating, turning over soil and eating algae off plants. I love them


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## jack-rythm (21 Oct 2012)

Sweet! Love their shells too! 

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## Matt1988 (21 Oct 2012)

I've got 25x of each watched on eBay ready, thinking of possibly doing an a small tank on the coffee table with peace Lilly's and stuff growing out top

Matt


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## Gill (21 Oct 2012)

MTS, Ramshorns, Pond all good for growing for puffers. 
I have tons of MTS, Can send you a large number of them to get you started.


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## Matt1988 (25 Oct 2012)

Thanks Gill thank would be great how much would you want for them 

Thanks,
Matt


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## Ziabis (26 Oct 2012)

It seems I have a tiny baby snail, I guess came with my live plant purchase.

Are snails 100% ok for a tank?

Will this "1" breed, are they hermaphrodites?


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## jack-rythm (26 Oct 2012)

Yea they breed like mad. I would imagine if you have one you have tonns.. there were probably eggs attached to your plants. Did you rinse them off before planting.? They will help clean the tank, but some like to eat leaves :-\  if you take a photo someone on here can identify it for you and give you more info

  

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## Ziabis (26 Oct 2012)

No I didnt DARN, never had real plants and no one told me at the store....
this one is way too tiny to take a pic of... 
I guess I can take them out if they start to eat my plants..


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## Ziabis (26 Oct 2012)

Ok I think one just plopped 1 out. 10 min ago I saw 1 then I just saw 2 now that I went to look. 
OMG its an epidemic.. LOL


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## jack-rythm (26 Oct 2012)

Yeah I mean I got loads in my tank but I keep it to a minimum because I purchased a couple of assassin snails

They assassinate all the other snails  

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## Ziabis (26 Oct 2012)

but when all the other snails are gone then you wont have any more and those 2 will take out each other.?


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## jack-rythm (26 Oct 2012)

No they only bother with ones that they are proportionally able to eat. So there is a nice balance, they don't clean your tank very well so u need some snails in there. Assassin snails are like snail police keeping the numbers to a healthy size   they won't attack each other. They breed on their own but are nowhere near as fast  as breeding as other popular snails.

 

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## Ziabis (26 Oct 2012)

when they get bigger I will send a pic and hopefully someone can tell me if this type will eat my plants...
Thanks


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## Ziabis (26 Oct 2012)

do they also eat particles of uneaten food?


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## jack-rythm (26 Oct 2012)

Yup, all scraps and algae.

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