Assassin Snails

Hey Y'all, I set up my tank in October(2016) and ordered some plants I wanted to attach to the drift wood. I bought Java Fern, Java Moss, and Anubias Nana Petite. The plants where fine, however, by the end of March the tank was black with pond snails. I was picking out a dozen every day, putting in lettuce leaves and I even made a trap. The sump was also loaded with them. It didn't seem to dent their population. So I sent out an SOS on SD. Ryan925 suggested I try Assassin snails. Sounded interesting so I bought 5. Within 3 weeks there was a drastic decrease in the snail population. Those Assassin snails went trough the pond snails like Sherman went through Georgia.( For those of you who did not pay attention to Civil War history, you are going to have to look up this reference). Now the Assassin snails are breeding like crazy. I like them and think they add to the interest of the tank. Thanks Ryan, great suggestion. pmk

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Originally Posted by pmkappy

Hey Y'all, I set up my tank in October(2016) and ordered some plants I wanted to attach to the drift wood. I bought Java Fern, Java Moss, and Anubias Nana Petite. The plants where fine, however, by the end of March the tank was black with pond snails. I was picking out a dozen every day, putting in lettuce leaves and I even made a trap. The sump was also loaded with them. It didn't seem to dent their population. So I sent out an SOS on SD. Ryan925 suggested I try Assassin snails. Sounded interesting so I bought 5. Within 3 weeks there was a drastic decrease in the snail population. Those Assassin snails went trough the pond snails like Sherman went through Georgia.( For those of you who did not pay attention to Civil War history, you are going to have to look up this reference). Now the Assassin snails are breeding like crazy. I like them and think they add to the interest of the tank. Thanks Ryan, great suggestion. pmk

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Mine did the same. I bought 3 assassins and they wiped out the nuisance snails real quick. From what I read assassins are not asexual like other snails so just so happened I ended up with at least one male and one female out of the 3. The do breed really fast. I actually like them since the burrow in the sand and eat leftover food.

If I drop hikari pellets for the corys the assassins will come out of the woodworks and swarm the pellets

Hey,
I noticed I have trumpet snails... They seem to be multiplying needless to say. My planted discus tank is 75 gallons should i be worried? Should I start removing them to keep them under control? I don't like to kill them... I read they live a year, but if they multiply that doesn't give me much to work with

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Originally Posted by kimberly

Hey,
I noticed I have trumpet snails... They seem to be multiplying needless to say. My planted discus tank is 75 gallons should i be worried? Should I start removing them to keep them under control? I don't like to kill them... I read they live a year, but if they multiply that doesn't give me much to work with

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Yes those nuisance snails will multiply faster than you can manage and be damaging tour plants in the meantime

MTS are REALLY annoying if you have power filters. Their shells are really hard and can jam propellers.

Assassins looks really cool and do a good job, but even they can become problematic eventually if there is ample food.

If you want to avoid snails altogether, quarantine your plants with copper for a month (Seachem Cupramine works well). Nothing will reliably kill snail eggs, so you need the month to make sure they hatch. I use a shallow Sterilite bin with a couple gallons of water and 4-5 drops of Cupramine. Just change the water when the top gets scummy and rinse really well after treating.

An interesting way to deal with a rampant snail population is to setup a second tank with an amazon pufferfish. The mini puffers don't grow very large and they love to feast on snails. They're also really neat little fish.

I came up with this old thread through a search. My assassins have multiplied, and I'm looking for good homes. Not much interest locally. I see a couple listings on Aquabid. I've never listed there, but I could consider it I guess. If there's any interest here on the forum, I'd make a great deal and I think shipping could be cheap. Post or PM me if you're interested. I can post in "for sale" if necessary, but just sort of fishing to see if its worthwhile. :)

They always go quick at my monthly, local aquarium society meeting/auction.
Might try to locate one to take them to if cannot find anyone on here to send to.

I sold some from this post for not much more than shipping, and probably have a dozen more I'd let go. They ship pretty cheaply USPS. Let me know f you're interested. I did a brief search, but I've never heard of any aquarium clubs nearby. I could do craigslist, but I'd almost rather give someone a deal here.

Couple questions.
My snails are in a 20 gal with my shrimp and some young BN. When not being fed, they all congregate in one corner of the tank. The heater is nearby. I have to throw in some food for them, usually some FDBW fines, and then they go hunting. Any explanation for the grouping?
Second. I'm thinking of putting the snails in other tanks, even though there aren't snails for them to feed on. I'll feed them as necessary. Will they interfere with ram or discus breeding? Other issues?

I have pest snails ATM in with my discus and their fry ?
They were there in force when the pair was raising the eggs on the cone .
I won't say the snails are safe but mine seem to find enough food to stay away from the eggs ..
Keeping them away from the FDBW stuck to the glass is another thing ..