Assasin Snails

[Verminator89]

Ok, so i have a 2ft planted tank that has for the most part always had snails. It wasnt always set-up as a planted tank you see, only more recently. I've since removed what i thought was ALL the pond snails numerous occasions, but as everyone is aware that task is near impossible. Theres always one that gets away, or a clutch of eggs you don't spot. So i decided to go the Assasin snail route, reports online state they're pretty good. So i decided to get some, i got 2 to be exact. Now they've been in my tank now for about 4 days, and i'm yet to see them get one. Believe me when i say i've been excited to see this legendary Assasin at work, but they're useless in my tank. They go speeding along the glass/substrate/rocks clearly hunting. His lil antenae thing is waving around, i'm thinking "Oh boy he's gonna get one". I can see one he's closing in on, i'm getting ready for a small victory jiggle when hes about to take one pond snail down.....but he goes zooming way paste him. For 4 days now i've watched him zoom around and he weaves amongst the pond snails like they're traffic cones in a test of endurance. Why won't he kill them!? I was told to expect 1 snail death per day for each Assasin snail in the tank as a general rule. I'm yet to see 1, or even one empty shell. I'm quite dissapointed to say the least. I figured two would give me a steady average of 2 pond snails down every day and gradually bring the numbers down.

Gutted!

Sort it out Assasins, your useless!
So far

What are other peoples experiences of these "legends". I've seen videos, clips and even in the shop i saw them hunting down some pondies they dropped in to show people. Bit of a risk dropping pond snails into a shop filtration set-up but hey ho. I suppose 1 or 2 pondies in a container with 60+ Assasin snails is never really going to survive long enough to eat/breed or even think really.

 

[Gill]

The ones I added earlier today have already taken down 3, 2 small and one BIG snail

 

[Verminator89]

Oh now why would you go and tell me that, in all honesty Haha, well i'm glad your having success. Maybe i've either got cannibal Assasin snails, or even worse....vegetarian Assasin snails. Hopefully mine will pick up their hunger soon, and sooner rather than later. My HC is starting to look more like baby pond snails than it does HC

 

[kizno1]

Oh now why would you go and tell me that, in all honesty Haha, well i'm glad your having success. Maybe i've either got cannibal Assasin snails, or even worse....vegetarian Assasin snails. Hopefully mine will pick up their hunger soon, and sooner rather than later. My HC is starting to look more like baby pond snails than it does HC

How big are they? If there only small maybe the see all the snails a bit to big for a meal

 

[Verminator89]

Thats the thing there easily an inch long my Assasin snails, but they're passing up every snail go by. From the smallest most dinky little baby pond snails, to the fully grown brutes sliding around. I'm actually a little bemused by it. So far the only interesting thing i've observed is my cherry sgrimp hitch-hiking rides around the tank

 

[Verminator89]

OK, my Assasin snails are now freaking me out slightly. Please someone tell me how they breed. They are not hermaphrodites, so you need two to breed is my understanding. Now i'm sure i'm well aware of how they breed and how long it takes but i would like to hear (or see) someone else put it into words for me to be sure i'm not going mad. Below i will list a few, very few simple facts. This is how it is;

-I have 2 Assasin Snails about 1" each
-This is collectively their third day
-I have not seen a single "white egg"
-This morning there must be atleast 30+ little assasin snails in my tank

How is this possible? Not one egg, my tank is very very open. There are NO hiding places except two small areas behind a rock, but even so i have not seen a single egg.

 

[Curiosity101]

This is going to sound very patronising but... are you sure they're assassins? Assassins will breed quite happily and could well have laid eggs by now but they're very slow to hatch and very slow to grow to a visible size. I would put money on the snails you're seeing NOT being assassins.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Can you get a photo of the snails?

 

[Verminator89]

Hah, this has crossed my mind. I'll have to wait for them to mature a little bit before i can get a good enough photo. The macro lens isnt working atm and the only other lens i have is to far out to get any decent image of something so small.

I have a sneaking suspicion that they are just young pond snail. The introduction of my Assasins, ontop of the fact they are proving faily useless right now, with the added initial panic that they "look" like Assasins i think may have made me hastenly believe they were Assasins when they are perhaps not.

I might shuffle out the room rather slowly now

If i can get a pic i will do though, just to be sure. I dont know which outcome i'd rather prefere right now

 

[Curiosity101]

A rough picture of them will do. Doesn't matter if it's a bit blurry... they're not exactly fast movers (in terms of normal fish speed).
I'm thinking there is a small chance they're either striped MTS or sulawesi snails

 

[Verminator89]

So this is the best pic i can get of one of these baby "snails" as i'm so unsure what they are. The more i sit back and think the more i reckon they are indeed just common pond snails. Bearing in mind this image is with a macro lens, and the first time i've ever used it (i hate it). So #41#### tricky to take a pic with a macro lens.

Obviously thats like 10% of the original macro lens photo, so that snail is T-I-N-Y. Concidering that a cheery shrimp nearby, and it looks huge

EDIT: The snail is literally in the bottom right corner. Yes theres algae, i had/was dosing EasyLife EasyCarbo in this tank before and it wasnt working, brown plants ect. So i got a basic CO2 kit and now everything pearls Even the algae unfortunately

 

[Curiosity101]

When we asked for a picture I personally was refering to the 'assassin' snails. lol. And yes that snail does look like a pond snail or MTS

 

[Verminator89]

Well theres only two definate Assasins in there, the two i bought. Its the little ones i got a picture of that i'm freaking out are baby Assasins after 2 days of having them

 

[Curiosity101]

However you've said they don't give a second glance to any of the pest snails which sorta implies to me they might not be assassins...

 

[Verminator89]

I'm 100% they're Assasin Snails