# Assassin snails



## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Was there someone who had Assassin snails here for sale??
curious,
penny


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## jamesmackinnon (Feb 9, 2011)

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/sale-trade/77227-sale-assassin-snails-snail-eats-other.html


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

yeah, that's where I got the idea. lookin' for my local CT peeps.


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## LiveHumanSkeleton (Jun 25, 2010)

I don't know with any great certainty, but at least among fellow club members, Amanda seems to have the most luck with breeding Assassins. Last I can recall she mentioned possibly having some available.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

OK, let's see if she responds- thanks


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## Franzi (Dec 7, 2009)

I didn't want to say anything on that guy's thread, but $5 per snail is a bit overpriced. I've seen them here and other forums usually for $2.50 - $3.00. aquabid seems somewhat reasonable if you buy 10 or so.

How many are you looking for vancat?


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

@ Franzi- No specific amount....I don't know much about them but would like to get rid of some snails. 
Yeah, that dude sold me some fish a while back and I didn't really like how he did business.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Hi Penny,
I sell my assassins for $2 apiece when I offer them. Right now my colony is in the middle of repopulating itself, but enough young snails have been appearing lately that I'm guessing I should have some soon. I'll let you know when they're next up for grabs.


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

> I didn't want to say anything on that guy's thread, but $5 per snail is a bit overpriced. I've seen them here and other forums usually for $2.50 - $3.00. aquabid seems somewhat reasonable if you buy 10 or so.
> 
> How many are you looking for vancat?


The assassin snails I sell are mostly at mature adult size. I feed them very high quality algae, protein based food to help keep them healthy and grow to their fullest, so you know, I have to make some back in this hobby.. And at adult sizes, you would expect them to be close to 5.00. I take out most of the adults that have just reached maturity.



> @ Franzi- No specific amount....I don't know much about them but would like to get rid of some snails.
> Yeah, that dude sold me some fish a while back and I didn't really like how he did business.


I don't recall me selling any fish to you? I have not sold any fish to you ever before, I am certain of it..


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

@asukawashere: thanks!!
@neonflux: maybe I am confusing you with someone else. Really sorry.


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## Franzi (Dec 7, 2009)

To each his own. If people want to pay $5, then that's great for you! 

I wonder what very high quality algae is and why one would feed that to assassins.


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## freshyleif (Jan 9, 2008)

I have to agree with Franzi, $5 even for mature adults seems a little high IMHO. I would like to know why you feed a carnivore algae, I feed mmine sinking meat pellets for carnivorous fish. That is actually what I think started my snails breeding, just a hunch no science in that theory.


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

Well, because they are my assassin snails, and they still do eat spirulina (algae) flakes for me at least. My assassins seem to like it. They eat anything, literally... But I mostly feed meaty stuff like bloodworms, beefheart, etc. Honestly, the flakes are for fish, but the assassin snails still go for them...


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## Gramazing (Mar 6, 2010)

Spirulina is very high in protein and I believe it's not actually an algae (not that the assassins snails would give a crap 8)) so I'm not surprised they eat it.

I don't want to undercut NeonFlux seeing as he sold me some very pretty rotala colorata and willow hygro... but if you don't buy his I have plenty. I got 10 last May and I now have about 40 of them and not a single pond snail! I've just dropped a bit of chicken neck in my tank to see how many I actually have. 

PM me if you are interested.


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## LiveHumanSkeleton (Jun 25, 2010)

Well, if I may chime in once again on this thread. I'm quite proud to say that I observed my assassin snail couple (they're the only ones in my 10 gal.) mating. So maybe, I'll have some assassin babies of my own.

Penny, you didn't specify the size of the tank(s) that'll house the assassins. I never thought I'd have a chance at breeding them, so you might want to start with just a handful.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Hey Live,
I have a 58. No idea how many I need/want??? please advise. 
(Fish load= a dozen dwarf pencilfish, a krib pair and some of their fry, a few otos, an SAE, a few black mollies, a couple BN plecs. Green neons in a Q tank, going in soon.)

Gramazing, thank you! I think LiveHS is local for me, so I'll wait & see what happens- I'm in no rush.


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## joshvito (Apr 6, 2009)

sorry about highjacking your FS thread, but I have to add my 2cents. The two assassins I have eat lots of things, they especially like worms, white worms and black worms. I notice that they eat fewer snails when there is an abundance of other foods available, and they prefer Malaysian trumpet snails over Ramshorn snails.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

hmm~ no prob about the hijack. I'd like to know more about them anyway. Can you (or anyone else) tell me, is there any down side to them?


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

vancat said:


> hmm~ no prob about the hijack. I'd like to know more about them anyway. Can you (or anyone else) tell me, is there any down side to them?


Hmm... well, if you're breeding cichlids or something in that tank, they would go after the eggs. Of course, so would ramshorns or pond snails. Other than that, I'm having a hard time coming up with any drawbacks... some people suggest they may attack shrimp, but I've found my cherries (who share a tank with the assassins) get along fine. The snails would certainly eat the body of an already-dead shrimp if they came across it, but I don't think they go out of their way to hunt down live shrimp. They seem to prefer slower prey...

As for Bruno's recently mating assassins, it's going to take up to 4 months before they even come out of their substrate phase, at which point they'll still be quite tiny, so that's not a quick solution.

As for the 58g tank, I suppose it depends on how quickly you want the pest snails gone. Personally, I'd put in a half dozen and let them have at it for a few months (at which point babies will surface and start wreaking havoc on the local snail population), but if you want the pest snails wiped out more rapidly, I'd say maybe 12-18 would get things done. They don't add much to the bioload, they're just little snails (plus they remove other snails that previously contributed to said bioload).

If I weren't down with a flu-like virus from hell right now, I'd head over to my fishroom and see if I could get a count on my assassins. I just don't feel like driving and/or introducing my fish to germs right now.


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## LiveHumanSkeleton (Jun 25, 2010)

I only hope to be so lucky, I don't know if a single instance of mating is that effective. I've spent far too much time watching my budgies engaging in questionable activity without a single offspring to show for any of it. But it's fair to say that snails are way more prolific than birds.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

ah, I don't want babies. I just want the pesky snails gone. Thanks guys!


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