Assassin Snails

I think we need a freshwater invert section, but in the meantime, I will stick this here

Has anyone tried the assassin snails, they are supposed to eat other snails. I got some on the weekend and they are more or less in hiding since, but I have seen a few eaten Malaysian Trumpet Snails. I have one particular tank where you can watch the gravel moving there are so many MTS buried in it, so thy have plenty to feed on - if they are up to the job.

I have another tank with those little flat snails that never get very big and stick to the glass to fool you into thinking your corys have been spawning again! I stuck a couple of the assassins in there but they manage to find an MTS to eat, I didn't think that tank had any Hopefully they will start on the little guys soon.

Interested to hear whether they worked for anyone else or not.


Daragh

Topic moved to the Brand New Freshwater Inverts section !!!

Valerie

Hi Daragh,
Don't have them but have read a lot of mixed reports on them. they are suppose to be good against snails of equal size and smaller and will remove a few snails each per day do this differs from post to post.

i read one report were they were eating a shrimp but they did not know if the shrimp had been ill or dead sounds very much like an opportunity they came upon and exploited.

the other problem was with Ph because of the shells.

in the may 2008 of PFK page 85 it stated that these will eat carrion other small invertebrates potentially baby cherry shrimps fish eggs and fry would be at risk!

the PFK conclusion was you would need a a lot to impact a big population of snails.

the artical was by DR. Neale Monks

So what the answear is this snail is new to the hobby and the pros and cons have not been fully explored

as Mickey has said they are relatively new to the market and as yet unknown but keep us posted on your mts banquet you've laid on for them
this was on tropicalfishfinder hope it helps

Clea helena (Assasin Snail , Anentome helena )
A rare example of a freshwater whelk. Shell is nicely marked with a brown and yellow spiral pattern; body is peppered light and dark grey. Maximum size of the shell is about 2 cm.

Fish information (behaviour and breeding):
Native to Southeast Asia. Lives in streams with sandy or muddy bottoms. Usually burrows into the substrate when resting, with only the top of the shell and its sensitive proboscis being visible. Quite active, and will spend some time moving about hunting for prey.

Feeds primarily on small snails. Does a good job of catching and killing juvenile Malayan livebearing snails and Physa pond snails. Does not appear to molest larger snails such as nerites. Nor will it harm shrimps or fish, though fish eggs may be eaten. Essentially carnivorous, and will also eat carrion and frozen foods such as bloodworms.

Fairly easy to keep. Does well in a clean aquarium with a good water current and excellent water quality. Prefers neutral to basic, hard water. Does not need salt. Requires a sandy substrate that allows it to bury itself.

Will reproduce in the aquarium, albeit slowly. Mating takes place on the surface of the sediment. Eggs are laid singly, in semi-transparent structures that will be seen deposited around the tank, usually on solid surfaces. Once the eggs hatch, the juvenile snails disappear into the sediment, and won't be seen again for some months. Juvenile snails will only be seen at the surface once they reach a shell length of about 5 mm or so.

Fish Details:
Distribution Southeast Asia
Temperature 24-26 C
Size Shell length about 2 cm
Water Parameters Hard, alkaline water preferred
Water PH 7.0-8.0

also have a look at

theaquariumwiki.com/Anentome_helena

Seamus

As they are a new species..as above.. not much is known about them..however there are reports of them eating young/adult shrimp....however in our experience they are INVERT. safe...not attacking/eating, japonica or other shrimp species??? So.......... but they do eat BW and BS..... so in my conclusion i would consider them scavengers....?????

Mickey, Seamus, thanks for the additional information. I made sure to put them in tanks where there are no shrimp and unlikely to be any eggs. They would be better named dissappearing snails, for the moment at least, but maybe after they settle in I will see more of them. I have seen a few Malaysian Trumpet Snails meet theire doom, but they have a lot more to look after

I will try and get a photo of one having dinner next time I see one.


Daragh

looking forward to that Daragh

Mickey

I got a dozen from Drew just after they came in. I had put some Cabomba in the tank and a week later was plagued with snails.
Most had settled on the bog wood. removed the wood, boiled & disanfected it, removed the Cabomba but still had a fair few snails left. Tha Assasins disposed of them in a few days also the eggs and now snail free. they eat any left over Blood worm. beef heart the Discus leave. Spend a lot of the time buried in the sand & although they browse during the day they seem to be more of a nocturnal creature, look forward to breedind results as quite a few seem more interested in mating than eating !!!!

keep us posted on these, might look into them myself
Seamus

Hi Daragh
so a few months on whats the story!

any news, got a couple the other day,, have seen them twice since, any news on mating or eating other snails

Ok guys mine have laid eggs, which hatched a week ago..
Got 4 more adults the other day..
All munching their way through my exstensive pest snail collection..lol...
Great fun to watch on the hunt..
Cant wait to see if any baby assasins appear, from what i have been told it will be a few months before they are seen.
Regards,
Denis

Just curious, what happens when you run out of Snails?

Kev.

I think if you let the infestation get to a certain point, say in your filter, assasins aint gonna help you as they'll breed many times faster than they're been eated, unless you get maaany assasins?


Had to start my 180 from scratch, no plants in that tank
Used a plant basket to feed cats, must have had eggs on it. Filer was infested with them 2 types of them

I now has a few in the srimp tank, so I have to check out these snails before it gets too nasty, they seem to love the juwel internal filter housing, ripped it out of the vision, behind it and everything they were, millions of eggs all over the inside.

MANKY


mark

I know what went wrong, i got moss from a knowm dealer and cleaned it thouroughly. Three weeks later i saw one snail. That was ok. then another and all of a sudden they were everywhere.
When i move i will take down that tank and rehouse the asasins in a smaller tank with some of the other snail pests, plus i want to have a nice live food for the loaches. Believe me i wont run out of snails for a long time , i want to breed the assasins and let them live happily..
All the equipment used for infested tank is only for that tank as i do not want them to spread again..
Regards,
Denis

Hope it works out for you, should be interesting. Oh yes them loaches love a bit of live food, especially te Zebras, not shy one bit.

Where's the best place to get te assasin snails?



Mark

Kinsealy usually stock them.

Kev.

Cheers, will drop out and have a gander.


Mark

Simon also has them in Youghal,Ive a few in my tanks and they are hidden for much of the time but I have seen them munch at snails too!! If they run out of snails they will eat leftover food and like meaty food as well as catfish tablets. However many sites state that they may only eat 1 snail every day or two.I don't have mine long enough to confirm that but I know I watched one eat a snail when I introduced them and it didnt move for around 8 hours after it started eating it!They aren't going to wipe out your snail population very quickly really unless you have large numbers of them,however they should keep the population in check. Also they reproduce far slower than other snails and need a male and female in the tank to reproduce.They bury themselves alot so dont expect to see them too often. They are certainly a good addition to a tank,they aren't a threat to shrimp but could in my opinion be a threat to eggs in a tank. They also produce eggs themselves,jelly like casing who when they hatch will disappear into the substrate for a few months until they are bigger.(again I havent seen this in my tank yet either,but will be mindful when doing the water changes). Ironically Im presently treating one of my tanks for white spot and totally forgot they were in the tank,they seem to be alright after the first dose of treatment so hopefully they will surive the second dose now too.
They are also rather quick moving compared to other snails.
Gavin

i think they are a threat to eggs, i did not get many bn babies from my last batch,
i will be keeping a closer eye on them


U can pick em up most anywhere.Well u used to be able too.
u may need to order at the moment as i had to check in several lfs to find more
As the shops say they are not on the lists anymore.. out of stock..


Here is a great link..
www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192938

Regards,
Denis.

Ok guys i now have small assassin snails flying about the place eating all in their path.. They are great hunters-lots more eggs laid by the assassin parent so hopefully there wil be more soon.
They are about 3mm at the moment

if they start over running the tank i'd love to get some off u, but apart from other snails wat else do these eat

edit: dam i keep forgetting my loaches will eat them
sorry Denis

no worries, think u should get rid of ur loaches at this point.lol

Must take a trip out to Kinsealy and have a look for some!! Been on the lookout for a while!

Most lfs have them.
Geat fun to watch

Seahorse have these in stock now

also aquatic villiage has a tank FULL of them

i got 2 ages ago not knowing what they were. they are in my planted tank now, only occasionally see a big (3mm) ramshorn, which goes to the puffer. aside form the biggies i'd say the assasins are doing the job. they will help clean up dead fish/carrion and shrimp shells. too afraid to put them in shrimp tank which has lots of ramshorns in case they assasinate the cherry shrimp babies