@KANDEMACKJACK it depends on the tank size. 6 is recommended for a 55 gallon. I had a rams horn issue in my 29 gallon. Put 3 in and give a month maybe two and you’re good. You can possibly get lucky with 3 and get all same sex which is what I think happened with me.
Try using alum powder mixed with water, about one teaspoon per gallon give or take. Soak the plants in that for 10-20 minutes then rinse well. I never had a snail problem doing this.
I had a ramshorn infestation. I bought 5 assassins to get rid of the ramshorn; which they did in several months. Now I have a ton of assassins with a dwindling shrimp population. I placed raw (supermarket) shrimp on a wooden skewer, and placed it in the tank. They attract the assassin snails, which may then be removed from the tank easily. After about 5 weeks, I believe my tank to be snail-free. Assassin snails are great to rid your tank of pesky snails. But, they will also eat shrimp.
I got some of these few days ago...let's say they were hungry . The killed the adult snails in my tank quickly . Total carnage . Snail exterminators for sure
I love assassin snails . my favourite aquatic creatures. I have a dedicated tank just for breeding them. your right about the breeding. when provided with fresh source of food they lay lots of eggs. I have over hundred eggs from one female and just today I had a pleasure of seeing one of them hatching and disappearing into the substrate.
Thanks Rachel. I have lots of baby snails in my 2 tanks. One tank has cherry shrimp so I was relieved to hear my shrimp should be ok. I bought 2 assasins, one for each tank so they don't multiply. Hopefully they aren't carrying eggs! I lost all but 5 cherry shrimp in Oct when my BIL got pancreatic cancer and we were traveling back & forth to MI for 6 wks. Yes, he died. That cancer is deadly and fast! My neighbor was helping out with my tanks while we were gone but something went way wrong in the shrimp tank. I waited 4 months for the tank / shrimp to stabilize (no more deaths). That's when the snails took over. I'm replenishing my shrimp tank now, got 10 locally to start (too cold here to risk shipping). Hopefully the assasins take care of the snails and don't eat my small shrimp or multiply. I have lots of plants / hiding places for shrimp. Fingers crossed. Thanks for listening :-). Joanne
Thank you VERY MUCH for this video! I have a big problem with pest snails in my aquarium and I got 3 assassin snails to get rid of the problem. I was not sure about how much I would need, and they are not enough yet, but as soon as I got them in the aquarium, they begun laying eggs at once. Some of the eggs (which reminds me of shark eggs) are now empty, and I was wondering how long it would take to them to develop. I didn't found info on the internet but thanks to your video now I know I have to wait for some months yet ;). I'm trying to be careful with the water changes, not sucking too much into the gravel, because I read they go there, but didn't know for how long. I have an Eheim Aquaball filter and they decided that the best place to lay eggs was there, so now I can't clean the outside of the filter from algae :). Thank you again!
I know this is a older vid. I to have fallen in love with this snail. I didn't even think about the plant issue. So thank you. I do keep other snails as well that I love very much. The local pet shop that I get my plants from keeps these guys in all their plant tanks. I have not seen any pop up in a tank that I have not put them in. I do have about 8 of them and my goal is to have them breed and replace the trumpet snails in certain tanks that pop control of the rams. I almost feel as if they are eating the scuds in my 20 long as well. My java moss is bouncing back after having them in there for a month or so and I also added some female bettas they where the last 3 baby girls left in the store during the virus of 2020. They have lots of room caves plants and platy friends to eat and scuds to suck up. They are all fat from scud hunting and hardly ate when I feed.
That was the most interesting and informative videos I've seen in a looooonngg time! I'm not much of a tank owner (I have African Dwarf Frogs) but I like marine life, I had never heard of this snail before tonight! I accidentally got pest snails a few years ago with a live plant for my 10gal betta tank ... it was awful I couldn't get rid of them! I loathe them now! I was tempted to get a zebra snail at one point but then worried I'd have a problem with them, too. I'll go check out more of your videos, thanks for the lesson!
+OZZYTHEOSCAR Yes! This is why I really prefer them in a species tank, rather than a display. They can still take care of your pest snails, but WHERE they end up is more controlled.
I've had three assassin snails in a ten gallon with fish and plants for several years now, and I've seen their eggs tons of times and at times they will be covering a whole piece of wood, but I still have not seen any babies, or even more adults. Its just been those three assassin snails for a few years.
Ha! Well, that explains a lot. I bought some small bristlenose. I asked the seller to send me some pest snails for my pea puffers. One of these fellas snuck in. Didn't know what it was but it looked decent. It's a planted tank so I'll have to wait until it shows up again :)
M. Peters I feel the same; I got a pond snail from petco back in my early 20’s who blessed me with hundreds and hundreds of babies. They were a delight 🐌
I bought a handful of these to help me get rid of my pest snail problem. It certainly worked great. And yes, they do breed, but much slower than the snails I previously had. But I guess I won't be taking any plants from their aquarium to add to my new tank, where I plan to get some zebra nerites.
I dont know if this was done on my requst, cuz i asked for this video a few years back and you told me you will make it. :D Anyways, great video, really informative, it answered all of my questions about these snails. :)
Amazing. Dear, what do you think about the diet of Clea Helena snails , with snails from the garden. I have a lot of them in my lawn. I'm not kidding, I have a tank where I'm trying to grow Clea Helena. Thanks in advance.
I bought one a few months ago, to control a Malaysian trumpet snail population I deliberately introduced for my sand substrate. It didn't look like it was keeping up so I bought one more yesterday. Within 30 minutes one was already on top of the other, and they haven't detached yet.
+LowTech Tank wondering why the other snails would be called pest snails. i have found the rams head and the little pond snails to be helpful in some cases. they only eat certain plants but keep the rest of my tank clean and even clean the leaves of my plants. just wondering why they would be considered pest other than they breed like crazy and get in to the filters.
+LowTech Tank Personally, I think they are invaluable as they are a good gauge of feeding and maintenance and are ornamental in their own right. However, a vast majority of fish keepers don't necessarily vacuum well or overfeed, and then they become so numerous I guess they have gained the reputation as a pest.
I've just removed the four adult C. helena I've had in my tank for about 14 months... never seen any babies but I'll not be putting any of my ornamental snails in that tank until I've changed the substrate! Seen them mating loads... sometimes all together!
The only thing about taking snails from a tank and give them to the other, I might as well just toss them outside. That's what I've been doing so far. But my assassins are spawning. Won't be long before I can send a handful of them into my 75 gallon to take care of my pond snail infestation. lol
Most of people think that the snails are eating their plants. You haveto have snails in your aquarium for 2 reasons I found in my aquariums over the years. 1st they eat rotten leaves not the healthy one. 2nd they are like bio filters, they can go get everywhere in the tank and filter to eat rotten fish food other things and they are making your aquarium healthy. But most of the people dont like them because they are breeding so fast and Helena is the best regulator. I had 25 liters aquarium full with brown horns, I got 2 helenas only and for a 6 months i had 5 helenas and most of the horns were gone and i had to search from friends other snails because helenas had to eat :D
I found my first baby assassin snail the other day, finally noticed it, about the size of a grain of rice. Now that I see your video I do notice other assassin eggs on and in the cracks of the cholla wood I have in my shrimp tank.
Rachel O'leary Actually, I hope so, I plan on setting up a couple more tank and it would be nice to know that I would not have to buy any snails for those tanks. I love assassin snails. Question??? Do you recommend feeding them say ramshorn snails as a treat from time to time?
Very informative video. If you buy just one (to avoid a population problem), might it be a pregnant female that will then lay a fertilized egg, or are the eggs fertilized after being laid?
I feel absolutely awful that I brought assassin snail. But I have rare well planted live plants: laces plant being one of them, and the pest snail came from a plant brought in local store. Must have had eggs attached to them. Seeing them get eaten like this makes me feel bad lol. But you know i spent a lot of time establishing my tank and now the leafs are rotting from the pest and makes it easier for them to kill it. I sometimes pick up the adult sizes and throw them in my turtle tank, but even then thy are breeding lol
If one chooses to select a fish species for snail control, I'd recommend the zebra loach. They are great community fish. I have not seen them to be agressive towards others or each other and do not eat guppy fry. I would suspect they wouldn't eat any livebearer fry.
Hello Rachel. I've just discovered your videos about few days ago and i am very impressed by your knowledge and experience. I wanted to ask, will these snails make problem and eat , aside the pest snails, also the gold apple snails , or even make problem to my shrimps? Thanks.
Thanks for your response. I also learned that these guys would most likely leave the miniature ramshorn snails alone and just focus on the bigger snails. My main thinking was to add some of the Helena snails only to get rid, or at least control the ramshorn snails population. I also can't add chemicals because of my plants, or loaches because of my shrimps.
Mine ate ALL snails in the aquarium, it got so out of control i ended up bringing in pest snails from other peoples aquariums to keep them fed. They did breed for me, I started with 5 and ended up selling off the extras at $2 each. It really depends on how hungry they are I think when it comes to what they eat. They did gang up on a weak ghost shrimp at one point which was neat but also kind of disturbing to watch
Hi Rachael, I want to get some assassins to get rid of the pest snails that came in on some plants. However I have 2 large beautiful apple snails, will assassins attack them . I really don't want to part with my apples. Your a wealth of information & I trust you Thnks
I love my assassins! I feed them mysis shrimp and bloodworms, which they enjoy. I saw one catching and eating a live red cherry shrimp once. The shrimp must have been weak or not paying attention.
I had 3 apple snails and I got one assassin snail with a plant (dunno how it got there). The assassin snail killed the 3 apple snails in 3 weeks, and killed all the pest snails in the aquarium in 4 weeks (there was alot of them, many different species). Fortunately, I got only one of them, so it didn't reproduce. Then it died, probably because there was no snail to feed it anymore. They are very heavy eaters.
I have only one snail and I’ve noticed my pest snails are starting to diminish so I added pond snails and I’m more afraid of all the eggs they are producing. I won’t get two so hopefully it will do it’s job and eat the ponds before the explosion. Can this snail take down a pond snail by itself?
I've had four assassins housed with my corydoras population for about half a year, and haven't seen any eggs/young. Either I've got the diet wrong, or the corys disrupt the sand substrate too much for young to be viable.
Hey Rachael! Recently discovered your RUclips page and absolutely love the advise and Videos! Just a quick question around the Assassin snail'.. did i hear that you mentioned that there are male and female sexes?? If so, can you tell them apart to avoid spawning? Real keen on them but don't want the same outcome in having another pest outbreak! Thanks
Rachel i have 1 assasin snail and just saw it squirt or release some thick yellowish substance into the water...what is that stuff? Its the only assasin snail in the tank.
I bought 4 Assassin Snails to get a hold of a huge pest snail outbreak in my 29g and they are lazy . its been months and the number of snails dont seem to be getting any smaller.
I ordered 2 lots of 40 assassins and put them in each of my tanks and the either disappeared or died. I can see some shells that have never moved but apart from that I haven’t seen any sign of them
I brought my 1st assassin snail yesterday. I've just been watching the little pest snails crawl over him . is that normal? does it just mean he's not hungry?
Hey I am have a neon, albino cory and albino pleco tank 30g. And a huge out of control bladder snail (problem) girls love them. But don't understand the numbers issue... what can I put in there that would snack on the snail and not the other fish...?
I have one in my tank that has a pond snail explosion. for a month it was doing a great job. now he spends most of the time half buried in the sand. he will be in a different spot but always in the sand. is this normal?
Great video, was about to go pick some up because my planted just exploded with pond and ram snails. Is there a way to dip plants in a solution of something to kill off any pest snail eggs?
Hi Rachel, thanks for the video. I'm new to the hobby but was suffering from an outbreak of pond snails and so LFS advised me to get an assassin. I absolutely love him, I think he's the coolest, but I only have one and I have read some people think they are happier in social groups. This seems to make sense if you say they don't eat their own kind and they gang up on big snails together. Should i get a friend for him?
Hey Rachel... Do you know if Assassin snails can reproduce from a single adult? I had one in my tank for a few months then it vanished, I have not seen it back for a long time. However, now I have what looks like tiny Assassin snails and my Ram shorn snails are dropping like flies... Any thoughts? I only ever had the one adult Assassin snail.
I have tiny black or brown snails in my 5 1/2 gal. (about 20- 30) tank. I tried a trap, but 1 of my first took the cucumber out along with the snails it caught. How do I get rid of them & make a trap. Forgot to tell you, when there is a lot of them, my tank gets really cloudy, even if I just cleaned it. HELP PLEASE!
Hi from Malaysia! I ordered 2 Assassin Snails online about 2years ago to control my population outbreak of Malaysian Trumpet Snails. I think I was lucky enough to get either 2 males or 2 females, as I dont see any baby assassin snails at all in my tank. I find that they are good indicators of water parameters as well; when I see one at the surface, i usually know something is up with my tank (minor spike/mini cycle/etc) then I quickly do a tiny water change and they go right back down. Btw can you tell if they are males or females?
Great video Rachael. I love these species spotlights. Could you do the Gertrude please. You suggested them for my tank so I'd love to know more about them and see some more video.
added some of these to my turtle tank 6 months ago due to bladder snail infestation. I do like their look vs the bladder snails. But now im a bit worried. My turtle will eat the larger snails so i hope ill be ok.
I have 2 of these, but in the year i had them i never discovered babies, maybe because my tank is not suitable. I got the second one by accident and have almost no pond snails around any more, so i wander: will they eat each other? and how long do they go without food? (i'm planning on adding more 'pest' snails for them)
Do they still lay eggs even if they're not fertilized? I only have one assassin, and it's been by itself for months. But I moved to it a new tank that had a pest snail problem, and it laid eggs all over.
Rachel O'leary Did give some for an auction this past weekend. Been able to give to some of the LFS around where I am. Whether I get any kind of trade in has been hit & miss.
Hello Rachel, I just bought 6 of the assassin snails and the guy who sold me them told be that they will kill each other, because I was worried about bringing another "pest" to my aquarium with these guys. How can I keep their numbers low? And if they breed will they actually eat each others? Greeting from Germany, your videos rock!
I routinely house them with shrimp without issue. I have seen them eat shrimp that are dying/aging out and dead shrimp, but never live, healthy vital shrimp.
I wanted Malaysian and was offered assassins as an alternative becasue they burrow into the substrate, but it is supposed to be for a shrimp tank. They'll eat the shrimp, right?
I've only had them for 24 hours or less and they're already latched onto one another mating, I hope. I think. I need to get them something to eat quickly. I'm surprised they're mating. Wow. i still haven't made up my mind if I want them in there or not (shrimp going in tomorrow). What do you think?
If they lay single eggs and those eggs take a couple of months to turn into something noticeable, Does this mean they are more controllable than ramshorn snails, which lay a dozen eggs at a time and mature in a couple of weeks? I'm looking to to introduce some to kill off the ramshorns and then keep them there as tank cleaners. I figured they would reproduce slowly enough for me to periodically remove some to keep number down.
So I went to the aquarium shop and said I’m need something to deal with some tiny snails I got which were attached to some plants that I got from eBay. I asked him if they would breed he said they wouldn’t breed in a home aquarium. Have I just swapped one 2ml problem for a bigger 1inch problem?
And this is why people put things in the sea. I went to my aquariast told him my problem and he’s given me a bigger problem. I alreadey have 4 Bala shark I need to rehome because of the aquarium shops..... yeah 6 inches max and are 9 each I have 3 in a 5 ft tank. Ok for now but aquariast sellers need to stop lying, seriously needs to be a law...I need to get investigated for a dog so why not for fish too. I could put an Asian airawana in a 28g if I wanted to.... there is no regulations on this it’s rediculous!
thanks for the info, I got a pair to take care of some pest snails and they happen to be lovers (Wich I heard is super lucky because they're hard to sex), and now I have like 60+ eggs! I guess I can't put that tank away.
it is very brutal, but they are cute. do they cannibalize themselves uck, I don't want to know. I started and wrote the comment until you answered my ques
I'm so annoyed with these assassin snails. I bought three and put them in a 10gal which is overrun with bladder snails (pond snails). I haven't found a single empty snail shell yet after 8 days. Dang I hope these get hungry soon! LOL
Well i dont think ramhorn/ramshorn snails are pest because their hardy unlike nerites and they work all of my nerites died but ramshorns live and ramshorn snails are good pest control for algae even their small but they repreduced realy fast so cleaning algae is also fasttttttttt
Rachel O'leary well if you have some time coming up can you do a care video on them? maybe touch on how you keep them, decor for the tank also maybe some size comaprison i seen people say they keep with fish and shrimps but idk how crazy i want to be
![KSI - Thick Of It (feat. Trippie Redd) [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tXEPbotEjZE/mqdefault.jpg)
Just get one assassin snail... Just one...
@KANDEMACKJACK it depends on the tank size. 6 is recommended for a 55 gallon. I had a rams horn issue in my 29 gallon. Put 3 in and give a month maybe two and you’re good. You can possibly get lucky with 3 and get all same sex which is what I think happened with me.
I'm having a pond snail issue in my 20 gallon tank. I came across your video in researching a solution and it was helpful. Thank you!
Glad to hear it!
Try using alum powder mixed with water, about one teaspoon per gallon give or take. Soak the plants in that for 10-20 minutes then rinse well. I never had a snail problem doing this.
I had a ramshorn infestation. I bought 5 assassins to get rid of the ramshorn; which they did in several months. Now I have a ton of assassins with a dwindling shrimp population. I placed raw (supermarket) shrimp on a wooden skewer, and placed it in the tank. They attract the assassin snails, which may then be removed from the tank easily. After about 5 weeks, I believe my tank to be snail-free. Assassin snails are great to rid your tank of pesky snails. But, they will also eat shrimp.
I got some of these few days ago...let's say they were hungry . The killed the adult snails in my tank quickly . Total carnage . Snail exterminators for sure
I love assassin snails . my favourite aquatic creatures. I have a dedicated tank just for breeding them. your right about the breeding. when provided with fresh source of food they lay lots of eggs. I have over hundred eggs from one female and just today I had a pleasure of seeing one of them hatching and disappearing into the substrate.
Thanks Rachel. I have lots of baby snails in my 2 tanks. One tank has cherry shrimp so I was relieved to hear my shrimp should be ok. I bought 2 assasins, one for each tank so they don't multiply. Hopefully they aren't carrying eggs!
I lost all but 5 cherry shrimp in Oct when my BIL got pancreatic cancer and we were traveling back & forth to MI for 6 wks. Yes, he died. That cancer is deadly and fast!
My neighbor was helping out with my tanks while we were gone but something went way wrong in the shrimp tank. I waited 4 months for the tank / shrimp to stabilize (no more deaths). That's when the snails took over. I'm replenishing my shrimp tank now, got 10 locally to start (too cold here to risk shipping). Hopefully the assasins take care of the snails and don't eat my small shrimp or multiply. I have lots of plants / hiding places for shrimp. Fingers crossed. Thanks for listening :-). Joanne
Sorry to hear about the BIL. I have lost a couple people to pancreatic cancer. It's a brutal beast
Thank you VERY MUCH for this video! I have a big problem with pest snails in my aquarium and I got 3 assassin snails to get rid of the problem. I was not sure about how much I would need, and they are not enough yet, but as soon as I got them in the aquarium, they begun laying eggs at once. Some of the eggs (which reminds me of shark eggs) are now empty, and I was wondering how long it would take to them to develop. I didn't found info on the internet but thanks to your video now I know I have to wait for some months yet ;). I'm trying to be careful with the water changes, not sucking too much into the gravel, because I read they go there, but didn't know for how long. I have an Eheim Aquaball filter and they decided that the best place to lay eggs was there, so now I can't clean the outside of the filter from algae :). Thank you again!
I know this is a older vid. I to have fallen in love with this snail. I didn't even think about the plant issue. So thank you. I do keep other snails as well that I love very much. The local pet shop that I get my plants from keeps these guys in all their plant tanks. I have not seen any pop up in a tank that I have not put them in. I do have about 8 of them and my goal is to have them breed and replace the trumpet snails in certain tanks that pop control of the rams. I almost feel as if they are eating the scuds in my 20 long as well. My java moss is bouncing back after having them in there for a month or so and I also added some female bettas they where the last 3 baby girls left in the store during the virus of 2020. They have lots of room caves plants and platy friends to eat and scuds to suck up. They are all fat from scud hunting and hardly ate when I feed.
I started off with 8 assassin snails a couple of months ago. Yesterday I counted 41 babies 😀
That was the most interesting and informative videos I've seen in a looooonngg time! I'm not much of a tank owner (I have African Dwarf Frogs) but I like marine life, I had never heard of this snail before tonight! I accidentally got pest snails a few years ago with a live plant for my 10gal betta tank ... it was awful I couldn't get rid of them! I loathe them now! I was tempted to get a zebra snail at one point but then worried I'd have a problem with them, too.
I'll go check out more of your videos, thanks for the lesson!
Great video Rachel. I like them, but only thing is as they breed, they become a pest in their own right. That's why I prefer nerite snails 😁
+OZZYTHEOSCAR Yes! This is why I really prefer them in a species tank, rather than a display. They can still take care of your pest snails, but WHERE they end up is more controlled.
OZZYTHEOSCAR which is what she says in the video and others
Rachel O'leary , will breed helena without gravel or soil?
+Антон Герман yes
Rachel O'leary and the young without soil and gravel will survive in an aquarium with shrimps cherry?
I've had three assassin snails in a ten gallon with fish and plants for several years now, and I've seen their eggs tons of times and at times they will be covering a whole piece of wood, but I still have not seen any babies, or even more adults. Its just been those three assassin snails for a few years.
Ha! Well, that explains a lot. I bought some small bristlenose. I asked the seller to send me some pest snails for my pea puffers. One of these fellas snuck in. Didn't know what it was but it looked decent. It's a planted tank so I'll have to wait until it shows up again :)
I guess I'm weird, but I love all snails. I would never get an assassin snail, but I found your video fascinating as usual. Thanks for all you do!
M. Peters I feel the same; I got a pond snail from petco back in my early 20’s who blessed me with hundreds and hundreds of babies. They were a delight 🐌
I bought a handful of these to help me get rid of my pest snail problem. It certainly worked great. And yes, they do breed, but much slower than the snails I previously had.
But I guess I won't be taking any plants from their aquarium to add to my new tank, where I plan to get some zebra nerites.
I dont know if this was done on my requst, cuz i asked for this video a few years back and you told me you will make it. :D Anyways, great video, really informative, it answered all of my questions about these snails. :)
Amazing. Dear, what do you think about the diet of Clea Helena snails , with snails from the garden. I have a lot of them in my lawn. I'm not kidding, I have a tank where I'm trying to grow Clea Helena. Thanks in advance.
I bought one a few months ago, to control a Malaysian trumpet snail population I deliberately introduced for my sand substrate. It didn't look like it was keeping up so I bought one more yesterday. Within 30 minutes one was already on top of the other, and they haven't detached yet.
great idea to have a kill tank to house them in. thank you for telling everyone about the danger of discarding the snails to the wild.
+LowTech Tank wondering why the other snails would be called pest snails. i have found the rams head and the little pond snails to be helpful in some cases. they only eat certain plants but keep the rest of my tank clean and even clean the leaves of my plants. just wondering why they would be considered pest other than they breed like crazy and get in to the filters.
+LowTech Tank Personally, I think they are invaluable as they are a good gauge of feeding and maintenance and are ornamental in their own right. However, a vast majority of fish keepers don't necessarily vacuum well or overfeed, and then they become so numerous I guess they have gained the reputation as a pest.
I've just removed the four adult C. helena I've had in my tank for about 14 months... never seen any babies but I'll not be putting any of my ornamental snails in that tank until I've changed the substrate! Seen them mating loads... sometimes all together!
The only thing about taking snails from a tank and give them to the other, I might as well just toss them outside. That's what I've been doing so far. But my assassins are spawning. Won't be long before I can send a handful of them into my 75 gallon to take care of my pond snail infestation. lol
Most of people think that the snails are eating their plants. You haveto have snails in your aquarium for 2 reasons I found in my aquariums over the years. 1st they eat rotten leaves not the healthy one. 2nd they are like bio filters, they can go get everywhere in the tank and filter to eat rotten fish food other things and they are making your aquarium healthy. But most of the people dont like them because they are breeding so fast and Helena is the best regulator. I had 25 liters aquarium full with brown horns, I got 2 helenas only and for a 6 months i had 5 helenas and most of the horns were gone and i had to search from friends other snails because helenas had to eat :D
I found my first baby assassin snail the other day, finally noticed it, about the size of a grain of rice. Now that I see your video I do notice other assassin eggs on and in the cracks of the cholla wood I have in my shrimp tank.
+Michael Agostino get ready to see more soon! :)
Rachel O'leary Actually, I hope so, I plan on setting up a couple more tank and it would be nice to know that I would not have to buy any snails for those tanks. I love assassin snails.
Question??? Do you recommend feeding them say ramshorn snails as a treat from time to time?
Very informative video. If you buy just one (to avoid a population problem), might it be a pregnant female that will then lay a fertilized egg, or are the eggs fertilized after being laid?
+Scott R If you can get a juvenile, then they wont' reproduce, but they can store sperm similar to an apple snail, for internal fertilization.
I feel absolutely awful that I brought assassin snail. But I have rare well planted live plants: laces plant being one of them, and the pest snail came from a plant brought in local store. Must have had eggs attached to them. Seeing them get eaten like this makes me feel bad lol. But you know i spent a lot of time establishing my tank and now the leafs are rotting from the pest and makes it easier for them to kill it. I sometimes pick up the adult sizes and throw them in my turtle tank, but even then thy are breeding lol
So if you get one snail then it might be okay, unless you get a pregnant female. Do they get pregnant with the eggs in or out of the body?
I believe they use internal fertilization.
If one chooses to select a fish species for snail control, I'd recommend the zebra loach. They are great community fish. I have not seen them to be agressive towards others or each other and do not eat guppy fry. I would suspect they wouldn't eat any livebearer fry.
Hello Rachel. I've just discovered your videos about few days ago and i am very impressed by your knowledge and experience. I wanted to ask, will these snails make problem and eat , aside the pest snails, also the gold apple snails , or even make problem to my shrimps? Thanks.
+Damjan S. They will gang up to take down your apple snails but shrimp are generally safe
Thanks for your response. I also learned that these guys would most likely leave the miniature ramshorn snails alone and just focus on the bigger snails. My main thinking was to add some of the Helena snails only to get rid, or at least control the ramshorn snails population. I also can't add chemicals because of my plants, or loaches because of my shrimps.
Mine ate ALL snails in the aquarium, it got so out of control i ended up bringing in pest snails from other peoples aquariums to keep them fed. They did breed for me, I started with 5 and ended up selling off the extras at $2 each. It really depends on how hungry they are I think when it comes to what they eat. They did gang up on a weak ghost shrimp at one point which was neat but also kind of disturbing to watch
Hi Rachael, I want to get some assassins to get rid of the pest snails that came in on some plants. However I have 2 large beautiful apple snails, will assassins attack them . I really don't want to part with my apples. Your a wealth of information & I trust you Thnks
I love my assassins! I feed them mysis shrimp and bloodworms, which they enjoy. I saw one catching and eating a live red cherry shrimp once. The shrimp must have been weak or not paying attention.
How about shrimps 🦐? Will this snail eat them or are thay only eating snails?
I had 3 apple snails and I got one assassin snail with a plant (dunno how it got there). The assassin snail killed the 3 apple snails in 3 weeks, and killed all the pest snails in the aquarium in 4 weeks (there was alot of them, many different species). Fortunately, I got only one of them, so it didn't reproduce. Then it died, probably because there was no snail to feed it anymore. They are very heavy eaters.
I have only one snail and I’ve noticed my pest snails are starting to diminish so I added pond snails and I’m more afraid of all the eggs they are producing. I won’t get two so hopefully it will do it’s job and eat the ponds before the explosion. Can this snail take down a pond snail by itself?
Wish I could get these but they are illegal in Australia for quarantine reasons. Do you know any other ways to eliminate pest nails Rachel?
I've had four assassins housed with my corydoras population for about half a year, and haven't seen any eggs/young. Either I've got the diet wrong, or the corys disrupt the sand substrate too much for young to be viable.
Hey congrats 3000 love the awesome videos crazy cool species you keep
Hey Rachael!
Recently discovered your RUclips page and absolutely love the advise and Videos!
Just a quick question around the Assassin snail'.. did i hear that you mentioned that there are male and female sexes??
If so, can you tell them apart to avoid spawning?
Real keen on them but don't want the same outcome in having another pest outbreak!
Thanks
+Gavin Adrian Koch I don't know of a way to sex them
Thanks for your reply
Keep up the good work!
will they eat shrimp? i dont want to lose any shrimp but i have a shitton of tiny snails that hitchhiked into my tank and its driving me nuts
Rachel i have 1 assasin snail and just saw it squirt or release some thick yellowish substance into the water...what is that stuff? Its the only assasin snail in the tank.
I bought 4 Assassin Snails to get a hold of a huge pest snail outbreak in my 29g and they are lazy . its been months and the number of snails dont seem to be getting any smaller.
I have heard that spixi snails also eat pest snails so if kept together with assassin snails what would happen?
We have at least 100 mylasin trumpet snails. Was given about 10 assasin snails
I ordered 2 lots of 40 assassins and put them in each of my tanks and the either disappeared or died. I can see some shells that have never moved but apart from that I haven’t seen any sign of them
Would you look at that, a snail is the best predator for snails
I brought my 1st assassin snail yesterday. I've just been watching the little pest snails crawl over him . is that normal? does it just mean he's not hungry?
Hey I am have a neon, albino cory and albino pleco tank 30g. And a huge out of control bladder snail (problem) girls love them. But don't understand the numbers issue... what can I put in there that would snack on the snail and not the other fish...?
I have one in my tank that has a pond snail explosion. for a month it was doing a great job. now he spends most of the time half buried in the sand. he will be in a different spot but always in the sand. is this normal?
Great video, was about to go pick some up because my planted just exploded with pond and ram snails. Is there a way to dip plants in a solution of something to kill off any pest snail eggs?
Bleach works fine just rinse thoroughly after
Dear Rachel, thank you for this video. Will they eat my Discus`eggs?
Don’t own discus and I’m 4 years late but they probably do but o doubt the parents of eggs will let the snail get near their eggs
Hi Rachel, thanks for the video. I'm new to the hobby but was suffering from an outbreak of pond snails and so LFS advised me to get an assassin. I absolutely love him, I think he's the coolest, but I only have one and I have read some people think they are happier in social groups. This seems to make sense if you say they don't eat their own kind and they gang up on big snails together. Should i get a friend for him?
+Sarah James it isn't really needed, but couldn't gurt. Welcome to the hobby!
+Rachel O'leary Thanks for replying so quickly! Off to the fish store it is!
This is a horror movie! 😭😂
it my feel like a movie to us but to those pest snails it's terrorism.
Hey Rachel... Do you know if Assassin snails can reproduce from a single adult? I had one in my tank for a few months then it vanished, I have not seen it back for a long time. However, now I have what looks like tiny Assassin snails and my Ram shorn snails are dropping like flies... Any thoughts? I only ever had the one adult Assassin snail.
They are likely like other snails in that the females can store sperm for a few months.
We love all our pest snails. Yesterday we found an assassin snail. :(
I have tiny black or brown snails in my 5 1/2 gal. (about 20- 30) tank. I tried a trap, but 1 of my first took the cucumber out along with the snails it caught. How do I get rid of them & make a trap.
Forgot to tell you, when there is a lot of them, my tank gets really cloudy, even if I just cleaned it.
HELP PLEASE!
These snails are ornamental enough for me. I don't mind transferring them from tank to tank. Their eggs take such a long time to hatch though :(
Hi from Malaysia! I ordered 2 Assassin Snails online about 2years ago to control my population outbreak of Malaysian Trumpet Snails. I think I was lucky enough to get either 2 males or 2 females, as I dont see any baby assassin snails at all in my tank. I find that they are good indicators of water parameters as well; when I see one at the surface, i usually know something is up with my tank (minor spike/mini cycle/etc) then I quickly do a tiny water change and they go right back down. Btw can you tell if they are males or females?
Will they take over your tank like pest snails and would they eat plants
I have a assassin snail and it does live in a cold tank at times.
Great video Rachael. I love these species spotlights. Could you do the Gertrude please. You suggested them for my tank so I'd love to know more about them and see some more video.
+LVcichlids Sure, I can bump them up on the list.
Awesome 😎 video ❗️
added some of these to my turtle tank 6 months ago due to bladder snail infestation. I do like their look vs the bladder snails. But now im a bit worried. My turtle will eat the larger snails so i hope ill be ok.
I have 2 of these, but in the year i had them i never discovered babies, maybe because my tank is not suitable. I got the second one by accident and have almost no pond snails around any more, so i wander: will they eat each other? and how long do they go without food? (i'm planning on adding more 'pest' snails for them)
do they inject venom into their prey?
It's more of an insulin,I believe,but yes
Hi Rachel, cool video, do Assins eat shrimp, I have a snail plague in my one shrimp tank and what to through an Assin snail in there
they do not generally eat healthy, active shrimp
+Willem Schipper If its a dead or dying shrimp they will. At least the ones in my tank.
+Willem Schipper They also do prefer snails to shrimp. As mentioned, if your shrimp are healthy, they will not bother them
cool video great information as always you should put a little blurb in the title (things pet stores don't tell you) lol🐌
Do they still lay eggs even if they're not fertilized? I only have one assassin, and it's been by itself for months. But I moved to it a new tank that had a pest snail problem, and it laid eggs all over.
+Jessica Lee I believe that they can store sperm, though I would imagine that would only be for a few months at most.
I had them take over on me. I put a BB puffer in and thinned them out.
+pecktec Taken over my tank too. I can't put a puffer or a loach so been having to manually pull them out then to donate/trade in/kill them.
+pecktec I get in hundreds a week from hobbyists for credit- it is a popular item at club auctions as well if you have one close enough
+Rachel O'leary wow that's cool I tried to trade them in at my LFS but they had lots also.
Rachel O'leary
Did give some for an auction this past weekend. Been able to give to some of the LFS around where I am. Whether I get any kind of trade in has been hit & miss.
i got 2 nerita snails.. i will be getting 2 gold mystery snails and 2 assasin snails.. is this an ok mix?
+Demetri the assassin's can gang up together to attack the mystery snails, unfortunately
@@RachelOLeary thanks 🐚☯️💖🔮😊😇
Well at least i now know what all these little white square dots are in my tank.
Hello Rachel, I just bought 6 of the assassin snails and the guy who sold me them told be that they will kill each other, because I was worried about bringing another "pest" to my aquarium with these guys.
How can I keep their numbers low? And if they breed will they actually eat each others?
Greeting from Germany, your videos rock!
+Thomas Dippel they do not predate on each other in my experience
+Thomas Dippel they do not predate on each other in my experience
+Thomas Dippel they do not predate on each other in my expeience
Will they attack fully grown mystery snails or just my pest ramshorn?
Yes they will go after large mystery snails
Thanks for the feedback, enjoy the week
Cool. Do you have any experience keeping fw clams?
+Agr414 No, not really.
Can anyone tell me white kind of moss(?) is on the wood at 7:42
I’ve been growing it for a few months but I can’t find the name!
Rachel (or other people) : i have a limpets breakout in a lot of my breeding tanks...Will anentome helena solve this problem ??
Will these eat cichlid eggs, wigglers, or free swimming fry? Also can a single assassin snail kill a 1" nerite?
+xScrixx eggs most likely yes. They try with nerites but are rarely successful
Thanks for the quick reply! Keep up the great videos, been subbed for a while now :D
Have you added them to a shrimp tank before? what is you experience with that?
I routinely house them with shrimp without issue. I have seen them eat shrimp that are dying/aging out and dead shrimp, but never live, healthy vital shrimp.
Can I get an assign snail and add it to my tank with a rabbit snail?
I wanted Malaysian and was offered assassins as an alternative becasue they burrow into the substrate, but it is supposed to be for a shrimp tank. They'll eat the shrimp, right?
+romeyn smith Smith they are capable but generally only est weakened shrimp
I've only had them for 24 hours or less and they're already latched onto one another mating, I hope. I think. I need to get them something to eat quickly. I'm surprised they're mating. Wow. i still haven't made up my mind if I want them in there or not (shrimp going in tomorrow). What do you think?
I think if you are not sold, follow your gut :)
My assassin snails ignore larger snails like Zebra Nerite Snails. They only ate the pond snails.
Cool video Rachel! It was interesting to watch them eat the other snails!
If they lay single eggs and those eggs take a couple of months to turn into something noticeable, Does this mean they are more controllable than ramshorn snails, which lay a dozen eggs at a time and mature in a couple of weeks? I'm looking to to introduce some to kill off the ramshorns and then keep them there as tank cleaners. I figured they would reproduce slowly enough for me to periodically remove some to keep number down.
They lay eggs singularly, but MANY in a row.
Would you consider them more controllable than ramshorns though?
+Patrick Rumbol No, not if you have a lot of food (ie pest snails)
I accidentally spilled ph down in my tank. As i was quickly doing a water change, the snails polluted the tank with snail slime. it was awful.
I have 3 questions about the assassin snails. 1. Do they eat plants? 2. Do they eat algae 3. Can they live with shrimp and cpos?
+JR Galore 1. No 2. No 3. Yes
So I went to the aquarium shop and said I’m need something to deal with some tiny snails I got which were attached to some plants that I got from eBay. I asked him if they would breed he said they wouldn’t breed in a home aquarium. Have I just swapped one 2ml problem for a bigger 1inch problem?
they absolutely breed readily in the home aquarium
And this is why people put things in the sea. I went to my aquariast told him my problem and he’s given me a bigger problem. I alreadey have 4 Bala shark I need to rehome because of the aquarium shops..... yeah 6 inches max and are 9 each I have 3 in a 5 ft tank. Ok for now but aquariast sellers need to stop lying, seriously needs to be a law...I need to get investigated for a dog so why not for fish too. I could put an Asian airawana in a 28g if I wanted to.... there is no regulations on this it’s rediculous!
thanks for the info, I got a pair to take care of some pest snails and they happen to be lovers (Wich I heard is super lucky because they're hard to sex), and now I have like 60+ eggs! I guess I can't put that tank away.
it is very brutal, but they are cute. do they cannibalize themselves uck, I don't want to know. I started and wrote the comment until you answered my ques
I can never find any of these in local shops . I need a few to control my local pest
snail population
I've decided to name my assassins snail Lawrence. my wife told me I was a giant dork lol
I'm so annoyed with these assassin snails. I bought three and put them in a 10gal which is overrun with bladder snails (pond snails). I haven't found a single empty snail shell yet after 8 days. Dang I hope these get hungry soon! LOL
found one of these in my tank. must have been on one of the plants.
Will they eat planaria Rachel?
Nope
how about with fish will these guys attack smaller fish like if they are sleeping near the bottom?
or cory dora catfish?
that has not been my experience
Well i dont think ramhorn/ramshorn snails are pest because their hardy unlike nerites and they work all of my nerites died but ramshorns live and ramshorn snails are good pest control for algae even their small but they repreduced realy fast so cleaning algae is also fasttttttttt
Do they eat fish eggs? Also, do they eat algae and clean the tank like other snails
they do not eat algae and would eat fish eggs.
Rachel O'leary ok. Thank you 🙂
Thanks for this video good information to know 👍
hey do u keep any dwarf crayfish? I was looking into getting some but was kinda weary
I do, but cannot sell them anymore as they became illegal in my state as of this past January :(
Rachel O'leary well if you have some time coming up can you do a care video on them? maybe touch on how you keep them, decor for the tank also maybe some size comaprison i seen people say they keep with fish and shrimps but idk how crazy i want to be
Sure, I also have an article I wrote on them for AMazonas Magazine that I may be able to send you the pdf of, if you like. Let me know.
Rachel O'leary yeaaa that wouldbe super nice if you can you want my eamil?
How often do assassin snails eat a pest snails
I have a snail pest but i don't want every snail to die. if I just introduce one helena snail will that help without killing every snail?
They will continue to kill them until they are gone. Manual removal would probably be better for you if you want to preserve a population.
+Rachel O'leary thanks for the quick answer!!