Breeding Snails

[Sarn1]

So I'll be getting a couple figure-8s at some point & have a decent amount of snails in my 29 gallon biocube. I was wondering if I have to setup a separate snail breeding tank or if the snail population will be able to reproduce fast enough to survive puffer feedings.

 

[iliveinazoo]

So I'll be getting a couple figure-8s at some point & have a decent amount of snails in my 29 gallon biocube. I was wondering if I have to setup a separate snail breeding tank or if the snail population will be able to reproduce fast enough to survive puffer feedings.

They will eat, eat and eat until either the snails are all gone or they explode.

 

[Sarn1]

How elaborate a tank do I need to setup, can it be a plastic tupperware container or does it need to be a full blown tank with filtration & lighting etc...

 

[myenigmaself]

I second that you'll need a separate tank. Snails are very hearty creatures though. I've had luck with a bare 10g and an air stone. Just throw some raw vedgies in there now and again, and I always threw in white chalk to provide a calcium source. I definitely wouldn't recommend planting it, as you may encounter some stoeaways and might not be able to control which species you're cultivating. I tried breeding snails in my sump, with some success, until I planted it and it became overrun with MTS, which are not suitable for figure 8 consumption.

Good luck

 

[Sarn1]

I was thinking I'd put the tank in the tank cabinet but there would be no lights, of course unless I added lighting, or maybe its just easier to setup a separate tank elsewhere, seems like kind of a pain, any thoughts...

 

[myenigmaself]

I never had any lights on my snail tanks, typically they were on the bottom shelf of a corner tank so they got some of the ambient light from the room, but that's it. In the wild you often find snails in dark places, so I don't think that should be an issue. If anything I would worry more about putting all that humidity in your cupboards, but it would probably be fine.

 

[iliveinazoo]

How elaborate a tank do I need to setup, can it be a plastic tupperware container or does it need to be a full blown tank with filtration & lighting etc...

The better the set-up the more snails that you'll get, I'd guess that an unfiltered tank is likely to cause diseases like you would get in an unfiltered fish tank and make for a risky food source. If you're cultivating pond or ramshorn snails then you wouldn't need a heater but a small amount of light (Like an 11W hang-on-the-side type lamp) would make algae which is a great source of food for the snails.

Plants aren't necessary but will help with the water condition, more important for me would be a hardscpae like rocks or driftwood to give more of a surface area for algae to grow on.

 

[Sarn1]

OK I guess I need to setup another tank, the wife is going to love me, I guess the smaller the better. Do you think I can get away with a 5 gallon, maybe I'll setup a cheesy tank with a neon substrate, a moving skeleton pirate & maybe a couple tetras, frogs or electric blue lobsters, this is going to be awesome.

 

[iliveinazoo]

They'd breed in a 5(US)G tank but they still need good water conditions.

 

[myenigmaself]

Agreed, I've successfully bred in a 2.5g in the past. Same with any other setup, the smaller it is the more unstable it is. The better the water the faster they'll breed and the healthier they'll be.

 

[Sarn1]

Its most likely going to have to be a small tank & discrete I mentioned it to my wife yesterday & she wasnt thrilled about the prospects of another tank, I think I may be pushing my luck. What kind of filter would you put in a small tank how bout something like this:

http/www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+9821&pcatid=9821&r=485

Or would it be ridiculous to use my old Eheim 2217 canister filter, its not currently being used but at 264 gph I'd be I'd be filtering that thing 50+ times an hour plus those old canister filters are kind of a pain in my opinion.

 

[Sarn1]

Or what if I put a refugiam or even a cheapo baby nursery like this one here:

http/www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=14698

I can stick out of sight it in the middle compartment of my BioCube 29. Does anyone think this could work, would the snails might be too cramped? If I stick a zucchini in there now & then, I would imagine they would be pretty happy.