Need to breed snails to feed my puffer fish

[JAG8472]

In a separate tank, I have a Green Spotted Puffer that I've been feeding 2-4 snails a week from my larger freshwater tank. I'm quickly realizing that the Puffer is going to need more snails than what is getting produced in my larger tank. I have a spare tank and I'm thinking about setting it up just for the snails to breed.

What is the best course of action to get the snails to reproduce quickly?

Do I just transplant some from my large tank and let the magic happen?

I've attached a picture of what type of snail is mostly in my larger tank.

Thanks for any help!

 

[hpiguy]

I would get a ten gallon tank move a bunch of the snails in there and feed heavily with algae tabs and other vegetable matter, cheap fish flakes, etc. Lots of flat rocks for egg laying. You may not even need any kind of substrate, just the bare tank.

Lots of food should encourage them to start making offspring.

I'd filter it with a cheap sponge filter and air pump if necessary, though with a ten gallon set up with only snails, you can probably just do water changes on occasion for "filtration".

 

[JAG8472]

Would gravel deter them from breeding? I might add a new Betta or the 3 Silvertipped Tetras from my main tank. They keep chasing some of my other fish. Hence why I asking about the gravel.

Wal-mart had a 10G kit on for really cheap so I grabbed that. It comes with the Aqua-Tech 5-15 power filter. No harm in hooking that up too, is there?

 

[Talvari]

I bred my snails for a few friends by getting a large glass bottle, like one used In canning, and filling it up with tank water. I put a bunch of adult snails in it, put a fake plant in, and dropped in an food (an algae wafer or a slice of fresh veggie) and covered it with plastic wrap. I punched a few holes in it to allow for aeration. The plastic wrap kept them from escaping and kept it from evaporating. It also helped hold heat. I put the whole set up in a window, and left it alone for the most part.

When I noticed the food was gone, usually every other day, I would use a turkey baster to pull out all of the waste from the bottom of the bottle and do about a 25% water change. Add fresh water, add fresh food. Took about ten minutes.

Over the course of two weeks, I had more than 200 snails.

 

[Alyxx]

Would gravel deter them from breeding? I might add a new Betta or the 3 Silvertipped Tetras from my main tank. They keep chasing some of my other fish. Hence why I asking about the gravel.

Wal-mart had a 10G kit on for really cheap so I grabbed that. It comes with the Aqua-Tech 5-15 power filter. No harm in hooking that up too, is there?

Fish don't need gravel, either. It's mostly all for looks. However, adding fish to a snail breeding tank isn't the best idea. Lots of fish like to snack on snail eggs! I could never get a really good crop of snails when I had any fish with them, even just guppies. Bettas sometimes pick on full grown snails as well, but that depends greatly on the personality of the betta.

 

[hpiguy]

It won't hurt a thing to add a filter or gravel. I just recommended no substrate since it's easier to collect them, see the eggs to track reproduction, and doesn't trap waste and food, etc.

If you wanted to just breed snails, I wouldn't add any other animals to the tank, but that's up to you. Maybe some basic floating plants, real cheap stuff like cabomba and anacharis to grow and help filter, plus give the snails extra places to lay eggs, feed and all that.

When you fill the 10, I'd drain water from the existing tank into a bucket and dump it right into the 10 to get everything started along with some filter floss from the current filter.

 

[JAG8472]

It won't hurt a thing to add a filter or gravel. I just recommended no substrate since it's easier to collect them, see the eggs to track reproduction, and doesn't trap waste and food, etc.

If you wanted to just breed snails, I wouldn't add any other animals to the tank, but that's up to you. Maybe some basic floating plants, real cheap stuff like cabomba and anacharis to grow and help filter, plus give the snails extra places to lay eggs, feed and all that.

When you fill the 10, I'd drain water from the existing tank into a bucket and dump it right into the 10 to get everything started along with some filter floss from the current filter.

Will plants grow in gravel? I thought they would only grow in sand...

Really Newbie question, what's Filter Floss?

 

[hpiguy]

Will plants grow in gravel? I thought they would only grow in sand...

Really Newbie question, what's Filter Floss?

The basic plants I recommended for that tank would just be placed in the water and float on top. They can be planted, but in your case, they don't have to be.

Plants will grow in many different types of substrate.

Filter floss is the cotton-like material that your filter cartridge is made of if you use the common type of filter that hangs on the back of the tank.

 

[Alyxx]

Plants will grow just fine in gravel. Filter floss is the cottony material used in filters. If you use cartridge filters, just tear a little of the cottony material off of the one you are using. If you do that, be sure to empty the carbon out of it before you put it back into the filter or it will spill into the tank.

 

[JAG8472]

Excellent !

This is all great advice. It sounds like I can set up the 10G with water and the extra filter cartridge from my main tank. Pop a nice few snails in there, over feed them, and wait...

I have an Aqua-Tech 5-15 on my main tank too. I'll just switch that with the new one

If that doesn't get my numbers up snail wise, I can always try the snails in a bottle mentioned too. Although something might get said if I leave a bottle of snails in the window lol.

 

[JAG8472]

My last big question, can anyone tell me what type f snails these are?

 

[Alyxx]

They look like pond snails to me.

 

[JAG8472]

Perfect, thanks again for all the help!

One semi-major change. Would this work in a 1 G small tank with an air stone instead of the 10G tank? If we don't need to used the 10G we're thinking we should return it and save for a large corner tank for our Puffer.

 

[jlk]

Yep! I grew them in a 1g tupperware container. Just feed them alot & change their water.They love fresh baby spinach leaves & would go through a handful in day in addition to fish food.

 

[JAG8472]

So I put about 7 snails in a 1G container and put a pile of fish food in there. The water got extremely cloudy by the next day. I took out about 20% of the water with a turkey baser and replace with water from the tank.

My question is, how do I make sure I don't "suck up" snail eggs when taking out the old water?

 

[Alyxx]

So I put about 7 snails in a 1G container and put a pile of fish food in there. The water got extremely cloudy by the next day. I took out about 20% of the water with a turkey baser and replace with water from the tank.

My question is, how do I make sure I don't "suck up" snail eggs when taking out the old water?

Snail eggs are laid in a thick jelly on surfaces in the tank. They won't be removed with water changes. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[JAG8472]

So of the 7 snails I put in the container on Friday Sept 7, 4 have died.... What did I do wrong.....

Bought a 1 Gallon container. Filled it with water from the 35 Gallon tank. Added 7 snails. Added food. The water was cloudy on day 3 and the snails were staying towards the top of the water. Now 4 are dead, the 3 live ones I moved back to the main tank.

 

[Alyxx]

So of the 7 snails I put in the container on Friday Sept 7, 4 have died.... What did I do wrong.....

Bought a 1 Gallon container. Filled it with water from the 35 Gallon tank. Added 7 snails. Added food. The water was cloudy on day 3 and the snails were staying towards the top of the water. Now 4 are dead, the 3 live ones I moved back to the main tank.

Have you changed their water? Uneaten food will foul their water quickly in a 1 gallon tank. I'm guessing they died from the water quality.

 

[JAG8472]

It's been about a month since I set up the 10 G for breeding snails. The majority of them died but there was a lot of eggs and now a lot of very small "baby" snails. What died was the medium small snails that laid those eggs. Mostly empty white shells on the bottom of the tank now.

What are some of the things I could of done wrong?