Ramshorns OUT OF CONTROL!

Any spare pond/ramshorn snails that show up in my tanks get immediately evacuated to my victorian cichlid tanks...they really appreciate them.

I have a P. taeniatus in another tank that I've caught slurping pond snails right out of their shells, although he leaves the guppies alone...go figure.
 
i love ramshorns...my 10 gallon planted/jungle (guppy breeder) is full of them! but the guppies eat the babies as they hatch and i crush them to feed the adults..if i get over run i scoop out a large hand full ..in to a ziplock baggy and smash them in to a fine paste....than freeze if for future feeding or some homemade food iv been looking at making^_^. put a rock on a peace of lettuce before you turn the lights out, and in the morning the lettuce will be full of them..just lift it out^_^.

good luck
 
Adding stock to control a maintenance issue is never a good thing to do. I had a 30 gallon tank that was a spixi snail breeding ground, I added 4 assassins and a year later I now have a 30 gallon assassin breeding tank. From those 4 they completely wiped out a tank of about 200 spixis and I am now feeding them rams horn from another tank. They do reproduce they just take a little longer to get going than most.

Feed less and up your gravel cleaning and you will see a dramatic decrease in their numbers.
Assassin snails need a male and a female in order to breed, so a good idea is to try to find someone who can tell the difference between the genders or simply get only one assassin snail so that way they won't over populate the tank.
 
Destroying plants? Always thought Ramshorn and Pond Snails tended to be plant-safe. I know my wild Apple Snail will rip apart any plant/vegetable I put in the QT tank, but never had a problem with Ramshorn, Pond Snails, or MTS hurting plants. Sounds like overfeeding isn't a big problem if they are going after plants.


I am pretty sure they are ramshorns. from what I have looked up online, they look identical.

On the overfeeding note, I cut WAY back on feeding, to the point I was worrying about the fish, and they keep breeding. From the look of my plants, that's how they are surviving. I have even lost some shrimp, that I assume starved and were eaten.

I don't know much about shipping them, but if someone is willing to pay the shipping (not looking to make any money off of these, as I didn't even pay for them to begin with) I am willing to give it a go.

Thanks for all the input.
 
Send all surplus snails my way.....I have hungry turtles.
 
Ramshorns will NOT kill plants. They will feed on any dead and dying plant material. They may also feed on some types of algae growing on said plants.

The damage was probably done before you cut back on feeding - egg sacs already laid and there are a LOT of babies in each. I managed to kill off all of the ramshorns in my 2.5g because I started dosing with excel. Not a lot, but probably more than the minimum daily dosage. I wouldn't use it in tanks if you have inverts you want to keep healthy. Can be done, but risky.
 
@Stephybabe88: Just do an occasional RAOK in the Classifieds and ask for shipping only. You'll probably have people lining-up for them... especially if they are red/pink ones in the mix.

Oh yeah, post a pic and we'll make sure that they are ramshorns and not just bladder snails...
 
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