How do assassin snails mate

So she making some cash off my assassin snail infestation lol she gave me some puffer fish and a tank set up for them to help me cut down on snails. Old 55 gallon. I put as many as i could get in new tank she gave me.. I am not making a dent in the population giving them away by the hundreds. I recently set up a 10 gallon to just put assassin snails in from my canister filters.. Its as bad or worse then pest snails. My pest snail problem was never this bad… least assassin snails are cleaner.

Im thinking the warm weather is the culprit? Or we just got a breed of horny assassin snails lol i counted 13 pairs attached to each other this morning. Hard to breed and slow to breed my butt! Lol and no.. I dont know why they are breeding like crazy. It sounds like you could start a snail selling empire. If you figure it out the trick, you should share it with the rest of us. I will happily take some off your hands.

Maybe I vacuumed them up when I clean the gravel?? In my experience, common plecos will definitely take the opportunity to eat eggs or hatchlings. Your email address will not be published. Housing Assassin snails really only thrive in mature aquariums, and the minimum tank size for this snail is 29 gallons liters.

Breeding Assassin snails have defined males and females, and are not hermaphroditic like many other snails. Compatibility Assassin snails themselves are preyed upon by larger cichlids, or any of the more common snail eating fish. Snail Control Assassin snails are renowned for their ability to deal with problem snails in an aquarium, and just a handful of these snails can deal with even a massive Malaysian trumpet snail infestation.

Comments i got about 50 tiny eggs stuck up one corner of my tank, already last year moved 21 to my big tank. Oops, I made a mistake. The food you suggested does NOT have spirulina. Hello How soon after the breeding are the eggs laid? Thank you. I have no idea HOW they got in my tank!

Could they have come in frozen brine shrimp? Do you have live plants? Most often the hitchhike in on live plants. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Males and females cannot be distinguished by external features. That is why it is necessary to have at least 4 — 5 Assassin snails to ensure that both male and female are present.

In Clea Helena, courtship starts with the male climbing over a female shell and holding it firmly for a period of 20 — 30 minutes. After that, the male slightly slides towards the female right side and starts grasping with his penial sheath searching for genital aperture. During this process; the male transfers semen to the female.

According to the observations , copulation can last for 3 — 5 hours. It usually occurs in a night time. In some cases, the mating activity may be communally. Eventually, the males and females separate, and the females go off to lay their eggs on a hard surface such as driftwood , rocks, glass, or plant stems presumably as a protective mechanism.

The fertility rate of Clea Helena is pretty low. Females usually deposit between 1 to 4 egg capsules per clutch in a straight line, separated from each other by 5 mm approximately.

Eggs capsules are square in shape, nearly transparent, and approximately 3 to 4 mm in width and length. The eggs in the capsules are less or about a millimeter in size. Over a period of 46 — 58 days, the white-yellowish egg turns light brown, it means that the embryo undergoes complete non-feeding, benthic development before hatching.

Important to know : The higher the temperature the faster they will hatch. Assassin snails do not breed at all if the temperature drops below 20C 68F. Newly hatched baby Assassin snails are about 3 — 3. They do not stay on the substrate and prefer to bury into the substrate feeding on microorganisms they find there.

Therefore, it is absolutely important to have soft substrates in breeding tanks. They eat the same food just like the parents. Unless there is an infestation of pest snails in the tank, and temperature suites them, do not expect Assassin snails to breed systematically. In most cases, it will take several months before you can get first baby snails. The good this, though, is that baby snails have a very high survival rate. Assassin snails have become targeted by the freshwater ornamental trade industry, due to their predation abilities on other snail species that frequently became aquarium pests such as Bladder snails , Pond snails , Ramshorn Snails , and Malaysian Trumpet Snails.

Nonetheless, in some cases, people are not satisfied with the results. They complain that Assassin snails do not eat them fast enough. There can be several reasons for that:. Assassin snails are active predators of snails. They will be a serious threat to any freshwater snail species in the tank. There is no safe snail for Assassin snails.

Every now and then I see different posts on forums and Facebook groups where people ask can they keep them with big snail species like Mystery snail , Chopstick Snail, Rabbit Snail , Japanese Trapdoor Snails , etc. Sometimes people say that they have been keeping Assassin snails even with Nerite snails without any problem. Personally, I would not recommend doing it. If it works for them, it does not mean that it will work for you.

Sooner or later but your luck will run out especially if you have several of them. It is a pretty interesting fact that Assassin snails can behave like a pack hunter in attacking larger snails.

Therefore, do not keep other snails with them, they will try to eat any snail. Note : Snails without an operculum are particularity vulnerable to attack. However, even snails with an operculum, like Trumpet Snails, are no match for a hungry Assassin Snail. There are also some conflicting data about Assassin snails compatibility with dwarf shrimp. Some people say that they will be fine with dwarf shrimp.

Others witnessed some aggression or at least strange activity. Some time ago I researched this topic and came to the conclusion that Assassin snails do eat shrimp. So, the answer is absolute yes! Of course, it is very sad to see the death of the shrimp. Nonetheless, believe it or not, but from an ecological viewpoint that can be good for the shrimp colony.

The point is that healthy shrimp are too fast for them to catch. Therefore, if they catch weak shrimp it leads you to have a stronger better shrimp colony later on. Therefore, if they caught a shrimp, you can tell yourself that they did culling for you.

Selective Breeding. Do Assassin snails attack dwarf shrimp very often? No, they do not. On the contrary, these incidents are pretty rare but they happen. Their tankmates should include other calm and peaceful community tank fish for example, Pygmy Cory Catfish , Otocinclus Catfish , etc. Keep Assassin snails away from all types of freshwater crabs except Thai Micro Crabs , crayfish even Dwarf Mexican crayfish , and even some types of predatory shrimp such as Macrobrachium family.

All of them can be very aggressive towards the snails. Assassin snails are freshwater snails that do not require special care. Even without their beneficial task of consuming pest snails and meaty residues, they are very personable snails that are quite beautiful in appearance. They are also considered to be quite hardy and can be a great addition to any freshwater tank. Your email address will not be published. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment.

Lucky bamboo Dracaena sanderiana is not just touted as a popular houseplant anymore. More and more aquarists start using this species in their terrarium, paludarium, and aquarium setups, owing Palm tree polyp Clavularia viridis is a unique, fascinating colonial coral that makes an excellent candidate for established reef aquaria.

This species is also known as Clove polyp, and it Failing to provide this significantly increases the chance of illness and a shortened lifespan. Here are some of the most crucial care tips you need to follow. At the very least, they should be kept in a gallon tank. In general of course, a bigger tank is always better. These creatures thrive when they have room. In the wild, Assassin Snails can be found in tropical climates. They live in slow-moving rivers filled with soft sand and plenty of rocks.

Rivers in Southeast Asia tend to be a bit alkaline, so the snails fair best in water conditions that mimic this quality. Temperatures should be on the warmer side. Any significant shift into a cooler temperature range can lead to shell problems and death. Because of this, the substrate should be loose enough to let them slowly cover themselves. This is soft and easy for them to burrow in. Using a large or coarse substrate can cause damage to their tentacles and skin.

For the most part, a sandy substrate is the only high-priority requirement for Assassin Snails. You can feel free to decorate the rest of your tank how you like.

We like to go the extra mile when it comes to our critters, and we think you should too. Including some rocks and climbable driftwood is something we highly recommended since it gives these snail places to explore. Plants are welcome, too. Usually, keeping plants with snails is a bit risky. This is because these snails are carnivorous.

When it comes to equipment, there are no strict requirements either. The movement caused by normal filters is more than enough current for these snails. You should, however, pay close attention to how effective your filtration is. Assassin Snails need high-quality water to thrive.

Any algae-eating fish or shrimp can work however Plecostomus are best avoided as they can suck snails right out of their shells when fully grown. Cichlids, Pufferfish, large Catfish, and Cyprinids are also poor tank mates because they will simply swallow them whole or crush them with powerful throat muscles and teeth.

These species lay massive bunches of eggs or are live bearers in the case of Trumpet Snails and can quickly reach plague proportions. As they come across snail slime trails Assassin Snails quickly follow them back to their source and climb onto the shells of other snails to keep them from escaping.

In the confines of an aquarium they can eventually exterminate other snails — if you buy fewer Assassin Snails than mentioned above then they will do an admirable job of controlling pest snails without eliminating them. They will also find and consume the eggs of other freshwater snails, except for Mystery and Apple Snails, which lay their eggs above water.

Assassin Snails are not as prolific as other snails but will readily breed in captivity when given the right conditions! The best way to get Assassin Snails to breed is to provide mates, warm temperatures, 0ppm nitrates, fine substrates for adults and young to feel comfortable in, and high quality food. If there are no live snails for them to hunt then provide fresh and frozen meat. Assassin Snails are not hermaphrodites and reproduce sexually.

While they do have defined male and female sexes the differences are impossible for aquarists to detect. Once well fed, offered mates, and mature, they will eventually breed on their own. Assassin Snails mate and lay a single egg roughly once per month. Each yellow boat-shaped egg sack eventually turns a deeper shade of brown and develops over the course of a month when kept in temperatures around 80F. Cooler water can slow the development process to as long as two months.