how about snails?

[little]

somewhere out of the blue i found a snail in my tank, can i breed them?
i need puffer food.
ok i found a post or 2 about snails, and kind of know what to do, does the tank need to have water heater. filter. and airstone??

[leafgirl115]

why do you wont to breed them? They over populate your tank very fast.

[wildtiger]

Leafgirl

Originally Posted by little

i need puffer food.

does the tank need to have water heater. filter. and airstone??

Do you know what type of snail it is? A filter is always good, snails are nasty little critters, but depending on type you may not need a heater and basically an airstone in the case of snails is nothing more than a decoration.

[little]

all i can say is it's very tiny, i thought it was a huge chunk of fish crap, hehe,, can i put it in a tank i am attempting to cycle with out fish? or would that mess up the tank? i am cycling it for a frog i want to get in 4-5 weekswhen the tank isdone,

[Sprite42]

If it is football shaped, it is a pond snail (physid) and you won't need but one to populate the earth. I do not think a cycling tank will phase them a bit. If you have one noticable tiny one, you probably have 100 you don't yet see yet. These will do okay with just an airstone.

If it is a round circle, it is a ramshorn. They can spontaneously change sex, but it usually takes two. I have never had them in a cycling tank, but they will do okay with just an airstone, too.

If you want to raise them for your puffer, just give them clean water (I do a water change on mine at least once a week) and an airstone. Mine are kept in a rubbermaid tub at room temp. Feed them algae wafers and shrimp pellets. You will have tons in no time.

[little]

ok so i am guessing there pond snails something tells me i should not be happy, more worried, there going ot be all over my community tank i take it, how in the heck did they get in there?? it had to come in on the live plants, now How will i get this under control before it gets out of hand. so far ther eis only the one i pulled out last night.

[Sprite42]

If you are looking for puffer food, you should be ecstatic. Make them happy, and your puffers will love you forever. LOL About the only way you can get pond snails anymore is through hitchhiking. Pet stores (the chains) won't sell them as they are considered pests.

Pond snails usually sneak in on live plants, yes. The only thing is, they multiply exponentially at a rapid pace. The egg clutches look like crescent moon gel. So, you can remove them when you find them if they overwhelm you. I never mind them because I have loaches who love nothing better than ridding the world of snails.

Ramshorn snails will multiply according to food source. Feed them alot, you get a lot of snails. Feed them a little...you get the idea. I happen to like my ramshorns and won't feed them to the loaches.