Assassin's snails

[markie]

Hi again masters.

I just want to know if do you have experience to breed assassin's snails? And what water parameters do they need? And do you have a recipe for the minerals for them using ro water?

Thanks in advance 🙏

[sdlTBfanUK]

I have had aassassin snails in all my tanks for maybe as long as 10 years. They just breed on there own in any 'tropical' setup with no special requirements. They aren't as prolific at breeding as most other snails!

They do best in my oldest tank, ph7, tds 225, GH 5, KH 1-2, ish (last time I checked that tanks parameters), but they survive in all my tanks which have differet parameters, they just don't breed quite so fast in the others.

If you have an aquarium with tropical fish or shrimps you can just put them in that, though they can't be kept with other snails (hence the name) or puffer fish as they will eat them. 

[markie]

What substrate is the best for the assassin's snails? 

[sdlTBfanUK]

Mine are in tanks with plants and soil substrate but I imagine its not too important for the snails as long as they get enough food. Plants and soil obviously has the advantage of looking better and more interesting to look at, but will cost more to set up. I guess it depends on your purpose, ie are you breeding them to sell on, or is it more of a setup to keep snails (as snails go they are quite attractive in their own right), and will you be adding anything to the aquarium with the snails, fish or shrimp? 

If you are only wanting to keep snails you may not need to go the RO route, mine are in Uk tap water (dechloinated), though you probably have better water in the Phillipines to start with? Was the RO setup you posted about elsewhere on here for this purpose, or some other aquariums? 

[markie]

Because before i have assassin's snail like 20pcs and then suddenly they are dying every month? And i didn't saw there babys growing up. I dont know if my water have a problem or the water parameter of my tank but i saw there eggs lying on my filter but i didn't saw if its hatch or what the eggs just there for how many months? 

So that im asking if theres a minineral for them or what water do they need because i read an article that they need a hard water. So if i put the assassin's snail in my neocaridina tank with ro water and minerals is that ok to them?  Because our tap water here is around 78 tds and ph like 7ph i think.

Edited October 2, 2022 by markie

[sdlTBfanUK]

Assuming the cherry shrimp are not beng kept in tds water of 78, I would put the snails in with them, I have assassin snails with all my shrimps! The snails will probably eat the shrimp poo and other detritus so everyones a winner? They will eat shrimp food so the 2 will be competing so ensure you are feeding enough for both species!

I checked my book and PH 7 + is best so you are fine with that.

Assassins are scavengers so will eat pretty much anything, including dead shrimp so don't panic if you see a snail eating a dead shrimp, the snail almost certainly didn't kill the shrimp! The shrimp may also eat the snail eggs so you do need to think about that. If the snails are hungry enough they may even eat each other so if you aren't feeding them enough then that is possibly why you are seeing dead ones?

For both you ideally want to aim for PH7 (+), TDS 200 (ish), GH 6-8, KH 2-4. Any shrimp mineral product (GH/KH+ ones, not just GH+) should be fine with RO, or to top up tap water to the required parameters. Or you can use a home maid remineraliser as per your other post of coarse.

As before though, they don't breed as prolifically as most snails and I don't often see young ones unless I am routing around in the tank, but even then there aren't many small ones - great to see them though.

[markie]

Thank you so much masters 🙏🙏