Best snail breeding method

C

chaberkern

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Jun 15, 2006
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I currently have a 7 gallon with 2 dwarf puffers, and a 2.5 gallon with a betta. I need to get a seperate tank/container to breed pond and ram snails as food for the puffer, and was just wondering if anyone knew any good tricks/suggestions.


I can't put them in with the betta, because the bioload would be too much on the little guy, not to mention when I dropped one in just as a test, he attacked and ate it =)



I now just have them in a tupperware jar thingy with some moss, and it just gets way too funky in there, so I know they need some more space. I've been changing the water every other day....and there's maybe 6 snails in there.


Does anyone knows what works best? Lots of plants, air stones, sitting the containter on a window sill?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I want a population explosion!
 
i breed common ramshorn snails for my dwarf puffers and dojo loaches. i got a bunch free at the LFS because they're considered pests. i just put them in a 1 gal tupperware with a lid with holes poked in it (they don't crawl out, it's to prevent my cat from eating them). they don't need airstones because they can breathe air, you'll see them go to the surface. some people use filtration, but i don't find it necessasry because i change the water 5 times a week. another lady here also has her filter clogging up with their slime!

snails are real easy to feed. will eat anything, veggies, old flakes, algae wafers. heat may help because it will make them grow faster. mine breed crazy amounts. all they need is extra food and they start laying egg jellies.

they do need hard water (usually alkaline pH) to prevent their shells from dissolving. if you have problems with that, you can ask us, or do a search for "snail shells" to find the solution

the only problem i'm having is separating baby snails from poop. the babies are so tiny that they're smaller than their parents' poop. i started separating the parents from the egg jellies and babies to make cleaning easier.

hope that helps! let us know if you have anymore questions.
 
I haven't read through it completly so I don't know if it has anything to do with breeding but in the "ARTICLES" part of this forum Dave has an extensive article about snails, you may want to check it out...and I'm pretty sure he has in there if you have any questions to pm him, he seems to be the one I'd get a hold of if it were me.

Just a thought,

Gin
 
Mgamer20o0 said:
i would use a air pump just to keep the water moving. ... one thing about growing your own is you dont have to worry much about the sail having a disease or something.
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yeah, i'd grow all my own fish food (worms, brine shrimp, algae, etc.) if i had limitless space for tanks.

as for the air, i've heard some people complain that it actually SLOWS growth rate, probably because it decreases water temp by increasing circulation. but if it seems to help with odor, go for it! my boyfriend complains that all the snails do is breed and stink :p:

yeah, they will literally grow in anything. some people just use an old bucket, too, and the snails don't mind. as long as they have food and space to lay their eggs, they will pretty much breed like crazy.

some snails do give "live birth" like mysteries and apples, some trumpet snails.
those tend to be less fecund (produce less young) than the egg-layers. however, their babies are larger so probably get to dwarf puffer-feeding size sooner.

the only problem might be water chemistry, particulary hardness (related to calcium content) and pH. you might want to test those before you start. if you have problems, search the forums for "snail shells" because a lot of people have had problems with snail shells developing holes or eroding. several recent threads post solutions to that.
 
some snails do give "live birth" like mysteries and apples, some trumpet snails.
those tend to be less fecund (produce less young) than the egg-layers. however, their babies are larger so probably get to dwarf puffer-feeding size sooner.
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Mysteries and apples (usually Pomacea species) lay clutches like pond snails do, except they are above the water line. This makes population control LOTS easier!

As to a breeding set up for puffer food, why not use a rubbermaid tote? I use one for my Q tank, complete with filter and heater. Mine is pretty big, but for just snails you could use a shoebox sized one for portability.
 
From my experience the best snail breeding method is to absolutely despise snails and pray daily that you don't get them.

Next thing you know, your tank is covered in them.

;-D
 
I keep pond and ramshorn on my desk in a 2/3 full 2.5 gallon. I put some mature gravel from my 10 on the bottom (I tried bare, but the bacteria bloom after 24 hours without it was insane). I have it running on a Whisper 3i bubble filter which doesn't disturb the water surface (they walk underneath the surface all the time, pretty cool to watch). I have one fake plant that they crawl all over and some rocks. Algae grows on the rocks in my RES tank like mad because of the UVB flourescent bulb, so I switch them out so they can eat it all. They seem to be happy, but no babies yet. It has only been a couple weeks, but I haven't even seen eggs yet. I think the key is temperature. I'm going to add a spare heater (even though its a monster for that size tank). A filter and a heater aren't necessary for snails, but I think it will hurry up the breeding since they flourish in a regular tank but seem to get off to a slow start in the plastic containers as you are all saying. In any case, they do make for an interesting little addition on the desk. Tank looks nice, and the snails are constantly moving. Its a 2nd tank (the turtle is my girlfriend's) without really being a second tank since they don't need a lot of care.
 
twig said:
snails?

just add water.
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Haha.....isn't that the truth........





Another question:

For the skinky water: could I add a freshwater clam or something to the bottom for filtration? I heard they are good for cleaning water, so thought maybe that could help. I already had some plant clippings in there, so maybe they could help too. Thanks!
 
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