Some questions about snail breeding....

[azadehm1]

I set up a two gallon tank for snail breeding for my loaches to eat. I have been growing algea in there for a week.The tank has gravel and java moss and some mondo grass(yes i know it's not aquatic...and I hope it dies..**** petsmart people) Today I just got my new snails the red ramshorn kind. Anyhow...I have read that they like other stuff (other than algea) and I just wanted to ask if this is the same assortment of vegetables as say a pleco or can I give them fish food? Do I need to blanch it the same way as with a pleco?

Any advice or stuff they like to eat so they can grow huge at the speed of light?

wow I must really love my loaches...

 

[H3D]

Wouldn't it just be easier to feed them frozen shrimp?

 

[plah831]

hi, I breed common ramshorns as feeders too, for my loaches and puffers. They (like all snails) appreciate veggies as well as things like algae wafers and other sinking foods. I give them any vegetables that I have in my fridge. They looove the nearly rotten dark-leafed veggies like spinach, various lettuces.

I do blanch it for about 1-2 minutes in the microwave so that it softens. Ramshorns don't eat live plants, so the softening helps them realize it's food. And I think they lack the power to rasp fresh, firm vegetation. As long as they get plenty of food, they breed almost endlessly.

Also I've found that heat helps speed up their growth rate. Their metabolisms are temperature dependent, so heat is good. I do some without heaters, and they grow about half as fast as the ones where water is 75-80 degrees.

They don't require an airstone or filtration. Their slime would just gunk up the filter, anyway. They breathe air by going to the surface.

anything else I left out?

 

[plah831]

Wouldn't it just be easier to feed them frozen shrimp?

i guess, but i believe most snails are mostly herbivorous. they do appreciate some meaty foods once in awhile, but algae wafers and other fish foods already contain fish and shrimp-based proteins.

i usually give my old fish food to the snails. flakes don't sink very well, but if you waterlog them (soak first) they usually will. old algae wafers and other bottom feeder food definitely goes to them

 

[H3D]

i guess, but i believe most snails are mostly herbivorous. they do appreciate some meaty foods once in awhile, but algae wafers and other fish foods already contain fish and shrimp-based proteins.

i usually give my old fish food to the snails. flakes don't sink very well, but if you waterlog them (soak first) they usually will. old algae wafers and other bottom feeder food definitely goes to them

ROFLMAO! I meant feed the loaches frozen shrimp.

 

[azadehm1]

Thanks plah831. Especially the info on the increased temperature that's good to know.

As for why not just buy them frozen whatever....I have some plans on an Amano style cherry shrimp tank so I thought this would be a start. Also, my loaches(2) have some serious competition for food even at night from several of their tank mates...I'm just making sure that I get fat huge loaches.

 

[plah831]

ROFLMAO! I meant feed the loaches frozen shrimp.

ohhhh! Gotcha

azadehm1, you're welcome. as I said, I breed snails for the purpose of feeding to my fish, too. It's good to give fish a variety of foods, anyway. And you're right, if you have other bottom feeders, the loaches will have the advantage in the case of eating snails.

 

[Mr SnailZ]

Snails will eat anything a pleco will. I have fed my snails anything from dog and cat food to left over trout. The more you feed them the faster they will grow and reproduce. Raising the water temperature is also a excellent advice. I completely disagree with not adding an airstone or a filter. That is the worst advice I have ever heard. Snails need clean aerated water just like fish. They have both a gill and a lung. Toxins in the water will kill snails quickly. You do not want to feed unhealthy snails to your fish. Dirty stagnant water is a horrible way to try to breed snails. At the minimum use an airstone but I would recommend a filter of some sort.

 

[plah831]

i agree that cleaner water for snails means cleaner feeders for your fish. I change water often enough (100% 4-5 times a week) that I don't find a need for filtration. In my experience, the young ones crawl into the filter through the intake and live in there. Also snail slime has been reported to clog the filter mechanism by a breeder of canas snails on this forum.

Wow, I got commended with "excellent advice" and derided with "the worst advice I have ever heard" all in one post. You are a person of extremes, huh?

Mr. Snailz brings up a great point about pH. I wasn't going to mention it because I thought for feeders, you might actually want softer shells But he's right, if the water gets too acidic, the snails' shells will erode, and can lead to their deaths. I have fairly hard, alkaline water already (GH = 245 ppm, pH = 8.0), so I don't really think about it much. You might want to test your water and get these parameters. If you find your water is soft or acidic, there are methods you can use to remedy this. But I'll leave that discussion for when and if you need it.

 

[Mr SnailZ]

lol plah. I pictured your snails living in a bucket of sludge. Yes, as long as you change the water on a regular basis a filter wouldn't be needed. Every once in a while I will find snails in the filter but I just remove them when I clean the filters. I don't know what this supposed "snail slime" is. I breed all types of snails including canas and have not seen any signs of slime. Freshwater snails do not produce slime like conventional land snails.

Wow you are lucky to have water with such a high pH, I'm jealous. Ramshorns already have fairly fragile shells compared to most snails. If your breeding them just as food then your pH should not really matter one way or another because they probably won't live long enough to develop bad enough shell erosion to kill them.