# Curious about those Assassin Snails!



## Rachel (Mar 21, 2003)

Ok, I must say, I am very fascinated about this "new" snail. 
I've read some about them on here, and have a general idea about them.
There seems to be many pros, but not many cons. 
Are they truly that perfect or do they have a dark-side? 
If I got one or two, would I have an even bigger problem in a few months?


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## cah925 (Jun 23, 2007)

I put three assassins in a 75 gal tank and with a week the front area near the glass was littered with empty snail shells, both pond and MTS. I honestly don't know of any cons aside from tearing a tank down and having to find these 3 specific snails. They do tend to burrow a little similar to MTS so keeping a slope in your tank long term may be an issue. I haven't noticed any mating with my snails. I started with 3 about a year ago and I still have 3. They don't seem to multiply like MTS or pond snails.


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## milalic (Aug 26, 2005)

Rachel said:


> Ok, I must say, I am very fascinated about this "new" snail.
> I've read some about them on here, and have a general idea about them.
> There seems to be many pros, but not many cons.
> Are they truly that perfect or do they have a dark-side?
> If I got one or two, would I have an even bigger problem in a few months?


If they ever breed in your tank, which happens in some cases, you will not have a problem with getting rid of them here in the forums. I have not found any drawbacks so far with them.

very interesting to see them eating.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

If you have many of the Assasin snails you can see them forming "lines" leading toward a dead fish or a piece of bloodworm. It's pretty interesting to see how they line up one behind the other, all headed in one direction.

But these snails will not touch a fish that is still moving, even if the fish is dying. 

If they can't find food they switch to anything they can eat. Very hardy animals. 

They sometimes bury in the gravel so you should always know how many you have - In case you want to put some other snails (Nerites maybe) in your tank later.

--Nikolay


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

will they hurt shrimp?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

tex627 said:


> will they hurt shrimp?


No, they will not hurt shrimp, even the babies. They will not touch anything that is moving or can move away.

--Nikolay


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Niko - do you know how these do in low pH tanks? I've been watching my nerite population shrink due to the low pH. (I feel like a slow killer) I've promised myself not to get any more snails since my pH has to remain low due to my CO2. It's so weird how my MTS, ramshorn, ponds snails seem unaffected by the low pH.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

We don't have any Assasin snails in a CO2 tank so I can't say if low pH affects them. 

Maybe someone will chime in here - quite a few people have gotten Assasin snails in the past few months.

--Nikolay


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## Fishtory (Jan 21, 2009)

Are you saying assassins will kill nerites?


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

these snails sound cool. are they hard to breed? did anyone have success breeding these guys?


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## DarrylR (Dec 5, 2007)

Assassins Snails had cases of "Ganging up" on mystery snails aka briggs, and I have found a empty nerite shell in my assassin snail tank..was wondering where my nerite was when I moved them all to another tank. Also there was a case of a assassin snail that snagged a healthy not ill nor dying shrimp.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192938


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

Assassin's can breed in the aquarium. Although they breed much slower than most other snails. They leave single eggs on plants and such.

Here's a pic of the eggs:


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## BettaGuy (Aug 26, 2009)

*Will Assassin Snails eat Algae?*

Hello all - good to be in this forum!

Will assassin snails eat algae, specifically the type that grows on the aquarium glass and on the leaves of slow-growing plants? Those are the two types of algae in my tank. I don't want to add other algae eaters because I only have nano's, about 2 gallons. Pleco's would be out of place. I already put in a dozen of cherry shrimps - they clean other types of algae but they leave the ones on the aquarium glass alone.

Thanks in advance!

BettaGuy

P.S. - I don't have betta's in the nano's - only cherry shrimps and a male guppy - so I don't have fish that will harass the snail.


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

*Re: Will Assassin Snails eat Algae?*



BettaGuy said:


> Hello all - good to be in this forum!
> 
> Will assassin snails eat algae, specifically the type that grows on the aquarium glass and on the leaves of slow-growing plants? Those are the two types of algae in my tank. I don't want to add other algae eaters because I only have nano's, about 2 gallons. Pleco's would be out of place. I already put in a dozen of cherry shrimps - they clean other types of algae but they leave the ones on the aquarium glass alone.
> 
> ...


No, they won't eat algae. If you want a snail for that, you could try a Nerite. They come in many different shades, shapes, and patterns.


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## BettaGuy (Aug 26, 2009)

*Re: Will Assassin Snails eat Algae?*



jamesstill84 said:


> No, they won't eat algae. If you want a snail for that, you could try a Nerite. They come in many different shades, shapes, and patterns.


Thank you James!

I've been on the lookout for Nerite's. They're my first choice, actually. I can't source them locally, though. Which is strange, because some of them are indigenous to the Philippines.

I'll keep on looking. Thank you!


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

I love Nerites. They come in so many different patters, colors, and shapes. You have many choices when choosing some. I hope you can find some!


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

I liked Nerites also, but didn't like the eggs they laid all over eveything.


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

Yes, the eggs are annoying and ugly. I wish that if they were going to lay eggs, that we could at least raise the young.  I'm still tempted to try to get them to hatch.


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## Dave-H (Oct 5, 2010)

Tex Gal said:


> Niko - do you know how these do in low pH tanks? I've been watching my nerite population shrink due to the low pH. (I feel like a slow killer) I've promised myself not to get any more snails since my pH has to remain low due to my CO2. It's so weird how my MTS, ramshorn, ponds snails seem unaffected by the low pH.


Sorry to bring up old thread - I found this while trying to figure out if my low ph tank is the reason my assassins are dying. My ph is around 5.5 with the CO2 going, which concerns me as I don't hear of tanks going this low very often.

What is your tank ph and did you ever try out assassins??


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