I was reading a thread in which several AC members described their Ramshorn snails and posted photos to show off the many different colors of snails in their tanks.
I have some Ramshorns now, and so far they are all red ones, but I expect that I will begin to have an assortment of colors soon.
My Ramshorns were an unexpected bonus, recently, in a trade with an AC member. They hitchhiked in on some plants from snoopy65.
I have theorized, though it is unconfirmed by observation, that, based on the population explosion in my tank, :grinyes: , ramshorns start having sex and babies while they are even yet infants themselves.
Also, though they may be the size of the period at the end of this sentence, they are major poop machines, since I awaken each day to see what appears to be a new substrate that has miraculously appeared overnight in my bare bottomed 10 gallon tank.
Even-so, I love them.
I have learned how to humanely euthanize snails, however, something I never thought I'd be able to do.
I had read that some of the fishkeepers and invert specialists here just pick up a tiny snail and crush it, to feed the fish, or reduce population.
Now, I can do that if the snail is no bigger than this " O ". If larger, I find that I am too squeamish to do it. So I put them in a small amount of tank water in a baggy and put them in the freezer, since, based upon my research here and on various sites online, freezing is a humane method, but then smashing them after frozen insures death.
Now, I can't stand the idea of a snail or snails languishing in thawed water in a baggy in my trash, so I have managed to perform the coup de gras with a hammer. I don't like it, but I can't let it suffer.
As a fairly new fishkeeper, I forget sometimes how strange we seem to non fishkeepers, but I was reminded of this the other day when I heard my sister telling our mother on the phone, “Oh, she's beating a dead snail...” and after a short pause while our mother no doubt expressed her bewilderment.... I heard her say, “She wants to make sure he's dead.”
We are rather strange, aren't we.
I have some Ramshorns now, and so far they are all red ones, but I expect that I will begin to have an assortment of colors soon.
My Ramshorns were an unexpected bonus, recently, in a trade with an AC member. They hitchhiked in on some plants from snoopy65.
I have theorized, though it is unconfirmed by observation, that, based on the population explosion in my tank, :grinyes: , ramshorns start having sex and babies while they are even yet infants themselves.
Also, though they may be the size of the period at the end of this sentence, they are major poop machines, since I awaken each day to see what appears to be a new substrate that has miraculously appeared overnight in my bare bottomed 10 gallon tank.
Even-so, I love them.
I have learned how to humanely euthanize snails, however, something I never thought I'd be able to do.
I had read that some of the fishkeepers and invert specialists here just pick up a tiny snail and crush it, to feed the fish, or reduce population.
Now, I can do that if the snail is no bigger than this " O ". If larger, I find that I am too squeamish to do it. So I put them in a small amount of tank water in a baggy and put them in the freezer, since, based upon my research here and on various sites online, freezing is a humane method, but then smashing them after frozen insures death.
Now, I can't stand the idea of a snail or snails languishing in thawed water in a baggy in my trash, so I have managed to perform the coup de gras with a hammer. I don't like it, but I can't let it suffer.
As a fairly new fishkeeper, I forget sometimes how strange we seem to non fishkeepers, but I was reminded of this the other day when I heard my sister telling our mother on the phone, “Oh, she's beating a dead snail...” and after a short pause while our mother no doubt expressed her bewilderment.... I heard her say, “She wants to make sure he's dead.”
We are rather strange, aren't we.
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. I added some foam and turned the filter down since then. I couldnt think of killing them, I love the orange color in my tank now!
