ramshorn snail infestation

[daybreaks]

Currently havinga huge explosion of these little guys in my 60cm tank.Have tried adding 2 assassin snails into the tank and as a result had to remove my 4 horned nerites.
Is there a way of working around to get the perfect number of assassins,like an equal ratio so as to control the population of these pesky ramshorn.
Or should I add a mini puffer,knowing that I have some fire red and orange shrimps in the tank as well.
The ramshorn are destructing the plants,especially my almost gone Staurgyrone.Glad that they haven't gone to my crypts

[wongce]

Ramhorn snail infestation is mainly due to excessive leftover food; so first, reduce feeding. The more food you feed, the more they breed.

Secondly, remove the snails you can see manually

from my observation,ramhorns did not touch my plants? maybe i am the lucky one..haha. I find assassin snail very effective in controlling snail infestation but it takes time. I am not sure whether is there such a calculation/ratio for assassin snail per tank, for my case, is 1 assassin per 2 feet tank... my tank does not have much problem with snails though since i introduce assassin snail quite early... i like the pattern of the shell...

how many ramhorns you have? manual remove is the fastest way... some hobbyist actually keep this critters as pets...

I will not add puffer in a shrimp tank as puffer will go for your shrimps after the snails are gone....

[Draka]

From my experience so far, horned nerites safe from assassin snails, so you can try putting them back.

[daybreaks]

Thanks wongce!
Actually I doubt my I'd is wrong,but its those snails that you get along from water plants from the LFS,should be ramshorn ain't?

And yesterday I tried dropping 2 of my 4 horned nerites back into the tank but first thing the assassin does was to go for it. Lucky thing was that the nerites had these hard flap to cover their soft insides whenever they retract into their shells.

[SirBest]

Increase the number of assassin snails I feel would be the best idea. Dont worry about your assassin breeding as some of my friends were telling me that it is quite a challenge breeding the assassins.

[wongce]

The problem is having too many assassin snail is counter productive once ran out of snails for them to eat. I manage to breed them, but the tiny guys did not manage to survive...sigh...

[SirBest]

Well I have to agree that it becomes counter productive eventually but then again, once all the ramshorn has been assasinated, then it is time to get rid of the assassins. I think extracting them out of the tank is easy.

[wongce]

Well I have to agree that it becomes counter productive eventually but then again, once all the ramshorn has been assasinated, then it is time to get rid of the assassins. I think extracting them out of the tank is easy.

Btw,additional assassin snail can be sold off at aq market section...haha...

[SirBest]

Btw,additional assassin snail can be sold off at aq market section...haha...

I don't know about selling them but I always make it a point to quarantine my newly bought plants, be it on driftwood or bundle form, in a tank full of assassins for about 2 weeks before I introduce them into the main tank. So the excess snails do come in very handy in terms of speeding the process of assassination.

[stormhawk]

Bought 6 assassin snails in the past, and they wiped out a tank full of brown ramshorn in roughly 2 weeks. These predatory snails are not safe with any other snail species, including Nerites, as some will specifically go for a type of prey snail and ignore the rest. The brown ramshorn is quite a devastating little critter. A bunch of them reduced my Vallisneria to bits. They especially love young leaves. In comparison, the Red Ramshorn is pretty neat to have around.

[daybreaks]

Thanks guys,it seems that I'm gonna get a few more assassins over this weekend to try.Anyone knows where can I find it? Bought mine from a LFS in tiong bahru market.So far, only seen them at C328 only.

Yeah,those pesky brown ramshorn are a pain in the eyes and I just cannot take it whenever my almost botak Staugyrone tries to grow new leaves and always ends up being botak again. Hahaha

[SirBest]

Thanks guys,it seems that I'm gonna get a few more assassins over this weekend to try.Anyone knows where can I find it? Bought mine from a LFS in tiong bahru market.So far, only seen them at C328 only.

Yeah,those pesky brown ramshorn are a pain in the eyes and I just cannot take it whenever my almost botak Staugyrone tries to grow new leaves and always ends up being botak again. Hahaha

You can swing over to Green Chapter which is like about less than 10 minutes walk from clementi block 328.

[wongce]

I don't know about selling them but I always make it a point to quarantine my newly bought plants, be it on driftwood or bundle form, in a tank full of assassins for about 2 weeks before I introduce them into the main tank. So the excess snails do come in very handy in terms of speeding the process of assassination.

Good idea!!!,but have to feed them if you dont have stuff to qurantine though...

I am using those anti snail solution, works well but there bound to be some which manage to stay alive though... So quarantine is a must...

TS: if you venture to north,y618 or aquastar have the assassin snail you wanted...

[SirBest]

Good idea!!!,but have to feed them if you dont have stuff to qurantine though...

I am using those anti snail solution, works well but there bound to be some which manage to stay alive though... So quarantine is a must...

TS: if you venture to north,y618 or aquastar have the assassin snail you wanted...

For those null periods where my quarantine tank is empty and my assassin snails are hungry, I would pop in one garden snail for them to feast upon. But please at your pwn discretion since the large garden snail would sure spike your ammonia levels in your tank but since my quarantine tank is as functional as pail holding purely water, I couldn't care much.

[oasis]

Hi SirBest , Which mean you just place the assassin snail in the pail with age water and plants you quarantine?

[SirBest]

Hi SirBest , Which mean you just place the assassin snail in the pail with age water and plants you quarantine?

I am using a spare tank actually but a pail would work just as fine.

[daybreaks]

Thanks all,

@wongce up north is rather far,cause I am staying in the central area.Probably pop by GC or C328 this weekends for these guys.
@sirbest its really a good idea to quarantine them new plants with assassins.Gonna try that the next time.However,the garden snail issue is rather disturbing,bet your water would fizzle with all that sludge after it is dissolved:S

[SirBest]

@daybreaks, I dont want to witness such mess while my assassins are at it. Doing what they do best.

[Mark941]

Hi if you're still having problems with your ramshorn snails I would willingly take some off your hands I'm rearing some puffers and I'm looking into breeding theses snails.