How to breed snails??

[Dangerdoll]

Originally posted by isaac newton
When puffers eat the snail they spit out the shell dont they? Arnt rotting shells bad for your aquarium?

the snails are important mostly for their shells, the puffers crack them with their teeth, thus keeping their teeth (beaks) trimmed and in good shape. Without the snails (or something with a shell, such as ghost shrimp), the puffers teeth would continue to grow. If they are not provided with something to keep their teeth trimmed, they risk losing the ability to feed at all and shortly thereafter succumb to starvation.
I'm not sure about shells rotting badly in the tank, though I'm sure I've got plenty in the tank as my puffers have a nice continuous supply of their own snails to pick at. My parameters never seem to be off going haywired in one direction or the next.

 

[ChilDawg]

If the shells aren't completely cleaned by the predator, though, that material will rot. It depends on how proficient your puffer is at cleaning the shells...take a sample shell every so often to see if the proficiency has improved, gotten lower, or stayed the same.

 

[isaac newton]

U Take out the shells that the puffer spits out or do u leave it in there?

 

[ChilDawg]

Okay, I do not personally have a puffer, but I would take out sample shell pieces every now and again to make sure that rotting flesh is not left on them. If it is, I would take them out, but, if not, I would leave them in.

 

[PCDawg]

I believe just vacuuming ur tank will remove those broken shells .......???

 

[Dangerdoll]

judging from ChilDawg's response, I'd think you should do a weekly check of empty shells either floating or on the floor of the tank, checking for debris that might be left within the shell. It is the debris (the left behind snail flesh) that would cause the "potential rot problem".

With my tank, the gravel is natural so it is a bit difficult to decipher between the gravel and shell but like I said earlier, I've never had any problems with them messing with my tank' chemistry........ unless by chance it's keeping things pristine......

 

[ChilDawg]

Originally posted by PCDawg
I believe just vacuuming ur tank will remove those broken shells .......???

Depends on how small they are. If they are still larger than the gravel, gravel vacs obviously won't work so well.

Dangerdoll, that was a good clarification of my earlier posts. You hit it right on the head. Thanks!

 

[Dangerdoll]

Originally posted by ChilDawg
Dangerdoll, that was a good clarification of my earlier posts. You hit it right on the head. Thanks!

 

[RTR]

The real qustion is how finely the puffer grinds the shell. Sometimes chunks are left behind, sometimes the shell is finely crushed. When I vacumm the puffer tanks that have been in use many years, the gravel vac sorts the gravel and shell debris (gravel on bottom, shell fragments on top) while it is in the vacuum cylinder. It mixes back together as it drops back into the substrate. Looks very strange while vacuuming, but it has never presented any problem. You would be amazed at the mass of crushed shells after 10-15 years.

 

[finfreak]

I was trying to get rid of my snails so I ran hot hot water over my rocks until my hot water tank went cold and those stupid thing were still there. We also scurbbed the tank. Eventually I went and bought new everything for that tank. THAT took care of'em. They breed like crazy. Just get a separate tank and stick one in it and in a very short time you'll have a ton. Just throw some foor in there every so often.

You need no luck with'em so have fun!