Assassin Snails

[sarahandjo]

My son (9) and I have been keeping tropical fish for about two years and developed a snail problem in one of our two tanks - 75 and 50l respectively. ON the advice of the local retailer we purchased and housed three assassin snails. In the tank with only one snail it seems to have disappeared within a month - population one catfish and six tetras and a shrimp. In the other tank - population four glass catfish two tetras and four shrimps (recently removed a pleco that is too big) the larger two snails also seems to have disappeared but I now have dozens of assassins - probably nearly as many as the problem variety. So what I would like to know is whether I have just replaced one problem with another?

My other observation is that the bigger tank was, until I stripped it down much the dirtier of the two which I put down to the pleco but perhaps it has been the snails?

Any advice appreciated!

PS both tanks have live plants

 

[DrRob]

You could sell the assassin snails? Either back to retailers or on classifieds.

You're unlikely to get cash from an LFS, but they may give store credit.

Assuming you're definitely sure that they're assassins.

 

[bigfish-smallpond]

Plenty if people selling these on eBay.... Mine were posted in plastic test tubes with a bit of water in... With a stopper in of course! All arrived safely n munching on my pretty pond snails in my 90 litre tank

 

[phishyphil]

How lon have you had the Assasin's? They dont usually breed That quick, and even then, they do not tend to have LOADS of offspring, Usually around 1 Egg per month, and this is then usually eaten by fish, shrimp or fails to hatch. Assasins tend to be Slow Breeders, Hence there popularity as a Pest snail cure, eliminating fast growing snails, and keeping numbers down by there lack of reproductive power.
Can you upload a photo of them for clarification of them? They should look like this

You can always sell them in the CLASSIFIED section here on the forum, or failing that on a well known E-buying sight

Usually between £1.50 to £2 a snail so you could have a little money maker there

 

[CrazyAirborne]

def try selling them if they are assassins, you could make some money! (everyone buys em)

 

[sarahandjo]

HI We have had them for only a few weeks and yes they do look like the pic you posted. I cannot get a good photo with my camera but they are identical in colouring. I am happy to give some away if necessary and if they continue to multiply at such a rate. It is only occuring in one tank...?

 

[This Old Spouse]

I can't imagine assassin snails reproducing at such a rate! I've had mine for more than a year now. I originally got 9 of them. And now I have ... 10.

 

[sarahandjo]

I'm getting a bad feeling about all this - are there any other very similar snails - similar in appearance that is!

 

[This Old Spouse]

Do they look like this?

Or this?

 

[colleen0309]

Assassin Snails are similar in size and shape to Malaysian Trumpet Snails, I believe. Malaysian Trumpet Snails reproduce like rabbits if they are provided with enough food.

 

[fluttermoth]

Assasins definitely can reproduce at quite a fast rate; I bought one for my son's Edge three or four months ago and he has loads in there now; at least a dozen, although it's hard to tell.

 

[phishyphil]

I Bought 4 Assasin Snails 8 Months ago and now I have 9-10, Never had any problems with Assasin Snail Population Booms, Very possible they are Assasin's, or possibly Malaysians, Wont know unless we can see a picture, but the two are Very Similar

 

[sarahandjo]

HI
They look like bottom picture.

 

[colleen0309]

Or do they look like these?

 

[sarahandjo]

Or do they look like these?

Hallo Colleen, They are definitely the yellow and brown snails pictured further up rather than the paler one in your picture. My only concern is that we are going from one type of snail infestation to another! I think they probably are assassins as I am seeing increasing numbers of empty shells for the other sort. The other puzzling thing is that this should be occurring in only one of our tanks!