# Baby Ramshorn Shell Questions



## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

OK 1st off, SO SORRY if this question has been asked before, but I looked at 37 pages of "omg snail prolems" and " whats wrong with my shrimp"! Does NO ONE read the old posts?! 

Anyways I thought that I would just write my own thread...

I'm trying to breed some Ramshorn snails for my skunk loaches, who LOVE them...I put about 6 1/4 in ramshorn snails in my 20 long in April! And I'm just now seeing any babies, and maybe it's just been awhile since I have seen any baby RHS and that I don't remember what thier shells look like but these guys don't look not right... thiers shell are layed over and look really thin not like the adults I have where they are up right and NORMAL looking. 

Is this just cuz they are babies still? I also have 3 mystery snails in there, they only been in there for 3 weeks and have almost made one new loop around their shells, also the adult RHS I have have made a lot of new very thick and healthy looking shell since i noticed the babies.

Any In put would be nice also my GH is 14 and KH is 8, I put some baked cruched egg shell in about 2 weeks ago.


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

You should feed them snail jello with a high calcium content. If you overfeed a little, they'll breed faster for you and their shells will be in better shape. I think the shells are leaning over because they're heavier than the snails can really carry. I have some that occasionally do that.


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

Here's my recipe for snail jello:

Snail Jello Recipe
=====================================

Ingredients:

1 Jar of baby food (veggies or fruits)
1 Calcium supplement (I use Calcium vitamin from local Wal-Mart)
1 Tsp of non-flavored Gelatin
Any fish food you may want to include
Any herbs around your kitchen

Instructions:

1) Crush up all your fish food (algae waffers, shrimp pellets, flake food, etc. (NO frozen or live foods))
3) Crush your herbs really fine (Garlic powder, Basil, Ginger, Parsley, Chili Powder, etc)
2) Crush your Calcium pill (if you're using one)
3) Heat your baby food up in the microwave for about 30 seconds
4) Stir in all your fish foods, calcium, herbs with your baby food
5) Stir in the gelatin (make sure it's mixed in real good so it doesn't clump too much)
6) Place the finished product in the refrigerator to setup

Note: Once the Gelatin sets up and it becomes Jello, it will keep longer if you place it in the freezer.
This is a good amount that should last about a month depending on how often you feed and how many tanks you have setup

You can modify this recipe to fit your needs depending on what you have available.


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

And just put some right in my fish tank, Will the fish eat it too? What if the snails dont eat it? 

Will the leaning snails eventuly right themselves?


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

I would think the snails would eventually be able to hold their shells up. The fish will eat it too. I feed it to all 12 of my tanks.  If they don't eat it fast enough, just suck it out with your gravel vac or scoop it out with a net.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

Dude, you need to feed them some pellets if you want tons of them. Go grab some crab cuisine by hikari, or any other type of sinking pellet. Even shrimp pellets. Feed them and you'll have a tank full of babies.


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

Man I tried the shrimp pellets, they did not eat them! The Mystery snails love them but the ramshorms could care less! Maybe I got a bad brand cuz I'll put a few and if it sets in one spot for too long it will grow a nasty white film all over that area... Think I was over feeding, I dont give them as many now

The lazy snails are getting bigger, they look like land snails, lol, I think they will right themselves, It does not look as bad now that they are bigger... Just since I posted this I've noticed a 3 fold increses in egg cluches! Even though I have not given them the snail jello yet, have not been to the store...

Could these lazy snails be due to the temp? Cuz I dont have a heater on this tank, I'm going to pick up a few today. It's getting chilly in KS!


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

LVKSPlantlady said:


> Man I tried the shrimp pellets, they did not eat them! The Mystery snails love them but the ramshorms could care less! Maybe I got a bad brand cuz I'll put a few and if it sets in one spot for too long it will grow a nasty white film all over that area... Think I was over feeding, I dont give them as many now
> 
> Could these lazy snails be due to the temp? Cuz I dont have a heater on this tank, I'm going to pick up a few today. It's getting chilly in KS!


I have many ramshorn snails and have NOT had any trouble with them breeding - in fact, I have too many egg sacs all over the place in my shrimp tank (where I keep the ramshorns around to eat the leftover food). The ones that I have relish New Life Spectrum's H2O wafers, Hikari Algae wafers, as well as the Mosura products.

What is the temperature of your tank (or in KS since you don't have a heater in your tank)? My tanks are at ~76'F and the ramshorns breed prolifically.


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

Well I think I found out why I had no Egg sacks for so long, I saw my kribis eating them, I watched him on and off for 8 hours the other day, and that's all I saw him doing, but since I now have almost 10 dime sized adults, before I only had 3 or 4 smaller than dime ones, he can not keep up...Plus now the lazy snails are laying eggs too, I've been seeing a lot of 4 to 10 egg egg sacks. 

I'm getting ready to make the Jello now...

I did get a heater the tank is now at 76, where as before I got it I think it was in the upper 60's like 67 F 68F... It got cold here last weekend and there must have been a rush on aquarium heaters at wal-mart cuz I got the last two on the shelf!


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

oh crap I forgot about the Ca supplement! Guess snail jello will have to wait...


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

LVKSPlantlady - have you had a chance to make the snail jello yet? How are your snails doing now that you have a heater in your tank?


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

I see a lot more itty bitty babies and more and more egg sacs! They seem to be more active too. 

No snail jello yet I have not been back to the store yet...I wonder if i can use egg shells instead of Ca suplument? Anyone know...


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

You can use egg shells. They're calcium too.


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

Made the jello... they F***ing love it! I picked all the big snails I could find and droped them on it and it's alredy half gone. 

Thanks ya'll


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

That's great! Glad you had success with it. 

I have yet to meet an aquatic creature that didn't like it...lol.


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

Awesome! You'll have a thriving population of ramshorns in no time! Before you know it, you'll be trying to figure out how to get rid of them rather than breeding them. =)


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

I have very hungry yoyo loaches and skunk loaches that prefer ramshorns to MTS I'll have no prob getting rid of these snails! 


Infact if anyone wants to send me a boat load of unwanted ramshorns I'd gladly pay the shipping. I dont want to sound greedy but I know my fish would love to eat them too!

I need to get some pond snails!


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

LVKSPlantlady said:


> I have very hungry yoyo loaches and skunk loaches that prefer ramshorns to MTS I'll have no prob getting rid of these snails!
> 
> Infact if anyone wants to send me a boat load of unwanted ramshorns I'd gladly pay the shipping. I dont want to sound greedy but I know my fish would love to eat them too!
> 
> I need to get some pond snails!


Hmm... I'll keep that in mind for the next time when I have a ramshorn explosion in my tanks. =)


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

This is hilareous! I'm going to keep you in mind in case my snails come back from what's left of the egg sacks. I had a 125 gallons of almost nothing but snails (pond snails and ramshorns) so I oxidized them while killing algae at the same time using 4x the recommended amount of hydrogen peroxide. I lost a few tender leaves, but no permanent or significant damage if you do this during peak lighting hours with some water movement. Reading your thread makes me wish I had thrown as many as possible into another tank. Next time I'll just shoot you a pm and send them on their way.


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

The little Snails are getting big fast...but still laid over... and now I'm seeing some smaller then those ones and they're not all laid over. They look just like mini adult, like I remeber! 

...hummm... any thoughts anyone??


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

OK just another update...with new pics...I moved all 10 of adult ramshorns out of the 20 L and into the 5 gal I recently set up, so they could be unbothered to "do thier thing!"... I after thinking I killed them all with the move for all of 5 days all but 3 finally sprang back to life, that was a few weeks ago...now there are snail sacs all over the place... not quite EVERYWHERE yet but getting there! Also after rinsing out a cloged filter I found 4 b.b. sized Normal looking ramshorns so I put them in the 5 gal as well...oh and as of now one big pearl pond snail... Thanks Neonflux!

On the other hand back in the 20 L, there are lots of sideways baby RHS and eggs hatching everyday but I SAW my golden Mystery snail cruze over one and then the baby RHS was gone! Gone I tell yas he was just gone!!! :jaw: The mouth parts on this guy are rather see though I was able to see the little bugger go right up! OMG! There are still 3 other large Mystery snail in here so they are prob eating them too! Maybe they could be used as population control? NOT that I want any! 

I wish I couls get a pics of a sideways RHS, But they are still so small my crappy camera wont focuse on them! I'm almost starting to think it's a diffrent spiecies of snail! Or that some sort of chemical poisoning before or shortly there after they hatched permanently deformed them! But I could not think what! The b.b. sized one where from this tanks filter!?

I put a few Sideways ones in the 5 gal and they still look sideways just bigger now and there snail bodies look smaller then the other normal RHS of about the same size, they eat the snail jello too, they seem to grow slower. Where as the babies that hatched in there look like mini's RHS spots and all...

So anythought?


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## jamesstill84 (Mar 29, 2009)

I'm sure they're fine. They may not get their shells upright though. I only have 1 left that has a sideways shell. Maybe it's a genetic thing?


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

Well if it were Genetic then the new babies, that have only been in the 5 gal, should have the same problem, seeing as how they have the same parents and all...But they don't they are teeny tiny itsy bitsy, hurt your eyes to see them small but you can tell they have normal shell growth, even spots...


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

ok here are some pics...


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## michelleml (Oct 24, 2009)

I found one of these in my tank and im not sure what it is. Is this a good snail to have?


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## LVKSPlantlady (Oct 4, 2009)

OK I think these snails look different is because they are Giant Or Columbian ramshorns snails, not the typical brown, blue or red ramshorn that grows quickly and stays rather small. A few weeks before I started seeing these odd snails in my tank I bought some plants from a shop I only saw brown ramshorns in the plant tanks that time, but when i went back they had some smaller Giant Ramshorns in the plant tank, they had bigger ones for sale in the fish tanks. These snails were just as big as Mystery snails but not golf ball shaped, more like a hockey puck, but not that BIG! With dark brown, cream and yellow stripes. So these guys must have hitched hiked on the plants! Typical snails! OH well no biggie on my end...

On a side note the snails breeding tanks is almost ready for it's 1st culling, also I added a small clutch (20-25) of newly hatched mystery snails to grow out a bit for my turtles!


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