Pond snails for puffers... question

[SiameseCat]

I read several places that breeding pond snails was very easy low maint. and it is. I started with a bag of snails from petsmart, put a small plastic plant in a disposable quart container full of room temp tap water and voila... eggs growing everywhere. Until the eggs start developing I add snails as needed (because puffers love them) from petsmart again. I drop in an algae tab once a week for food. NOW THE QUESTION.... is anyone else doing this in an unfiltered container, and what to do about the rancid stench this creates? There's got to be a better way. I assume people will tell me to use my old 5gal tank with a filter etc. But I already got 2 aquariums sucking electricity from the wall all day, Im not doing that for pond roaches. Any suggestions? I do have a lid with air slits cut into it, but when you take it off... holy stink.

 

[Bubbles0oO]

You could put it in a garage ( if your in a house) or you can put it on the poorch, but then you'll need to watc the temp a lot.

 

[alLexX]

well there's this thing called water changes...


(not meant to sound rude)

 

[Jess1ca]

Water changes and maybe an air stone? The movement from the oxygen might keep the water from becoming stagnant.

 

[Terrance]

Pond snails does produce a lot of waste. Treat them like any other fish you own.

 

[SiameseCat]

Thank you everyone. I know it seems silly but I need these snails. The "water changes" OBVIOUSLY. I do change most of the water a couple times a week. Terrance much appreciated, I knew that would be your answer, makes sense to me. Would it be advisable to raise these pond snails in my 20 gallon community (fully stocked) or would that be begging for endless infestation and water problems?

 

[emerald76]

Thank you everyone. I know it seems silly but I need these snails. The "water changes" OBVIOUSLY. I do change most of the water a couple times a week. Terrance much appreciated, I knew that would be your answer, makes sense to me. Would it be advisable to raise these pond snails in my 20 gallon community (fully stocked) or would that be begging for endless infestation and water problems?

ENDLESS INFESTATION!I fully cleaned my tank and there are STILL snails

 

[Bubbles0oO]

Snails aren't a bad thing. I have all sorts of snails in my tanks an they actually make it look natural

 

[SiameseCat]

Thank you Emerald. That's the only answer I needed. Im all set with having to boil everything and bleach an empty tank in the future.

 

[SiameseCat]

I also agree with you bubbles. I have a yellow mystery snail that is very nice, but I dont think I want hundreds of these little guys though. If they would breed in lnside my dwarf puffer tank I would do that, but my dp's would eat themselves to death.

 

[jetajockey]

If you want it to be as low maintenance as possible I suggest putting it in an area with indirect sunlight, like a windowsill. Add some fast growing plants like anacharis, duckweed, etc, and it will keep the water oxygenated enough to keep the snails alive plus it'll give them something else to pick at. The algae alone is a great food source for them.

 

[SiameseCat]

Thanks Jeta, I have some decisions to make. Maybe I will do that, it sounds healthier then what i have going now.

 

[aaronjohn20]

Not sure what tank u have ur dp's in. Also, never had snails but would a divider work in ur dp's tank? Wouldn't need to take a lot of space from the puffers. Or could the snails get around or over the divider? Maybe someone else could answer that. Whatever u decide I hope it works for u

 

[SiameseCat]

Thanks Aaronjohn but Ive learned from other puffer keepers here when I started my puffer quest that the key to happy puffers is space. I have 2 dwarfs in a 10 gallon which is good. I have thought about using a floating breeder and drilling a small hole in the bottom. This way the snail waste will creep out and get filtered, and any snails who venture out will be food, like a time release feeding. If I do that I will definately check in with updates if it works.

 

[aaronjohn20]

Just a thought. I wasn't sure if it'd work or not. What about a breeder trap? The plastic floating kind.

 

[emerald76]

Just a thought. I wasn't sure if it'd work or not. What about a breeder trap? The plastic floating kind.

I bred a few hundred snails by accident in one of those! They won't get huge but I started with two and ended up killing 200 or more

 

[SiameseCat]

My final decision (for now). I'm going to continue using the plastic quart container, semi covered, unfiltered, small plastic plant. I have confiscated a small screen strainer basket I've used for rinsing fruit and dedicated it for this. Every Saturday pour the whole container through the basket, eggs and most snails stay in container, whatever comes out stays in basket, refill container, put screen contents back in, add algae tab, feed puffers, wait til next Saturday. Ive used my floating breeder in the begining, it works well, but kind of an eye sore.

 

[aaronjohn20]

Ic. Well good luck to u. Hope it all turns out for ya