eschaton
Fishaholic
I haven't had the heart to kill the ramshorn snails I remove from my tank. I try to give them a fighting chance, so I've set up a "snail prison," and in the process found out how hard it is for snails to die.
All it is is a small (can't be more than 0.5 gallon, probably less) clear glass container I leave by a lighted window, with some plant clippings in it. I've never changed water (though I have topped off a few times) or added food. Every month or so another 20 snails go in there.
While quite a good deal of snails have died in there (there's a significant layer of dead shells on the bottom of the tank) there's an even more surprising number of snails who've stayed alive in there, not all of them recent introductions by any means. It's shocking to me how resiliant the little buggers are, considering they have no food but detritus, algae, plants, and the decayed bodies of their snaily brethren. I also sometimes wonder if I'm creating a super-snail in there who can tolerate these extreme conditions, though I haven't seen any baby snails yet.
Obviously it's not a closed ecosystem, as it is oxygenated from the water surface, has been topped off two or three times, and gets a new influx of snails, but it fascinates me as it seems to work in its own weirdly dysfunctional way as a semi-enclosed ecosystem. I'm thinking of upgrading it to a slightly larger bowl with greater surface area, new Java Moss, and some crushed coral to fix the acidic PH caused by all the snail poop and see what happens.
Feel free to move this to the invert subforum if needed. I thought it might be of general interest though.
All it is is a small (can't be more than 0.5 gallon, probably less) clear glass container I leave by a lighted window, with some plant clippings in it. I've never changed water (though I have topped off a few times) or added food. Every month or so another 20 snails go in there.
While quite a good deal of snails have died in there (there's a significant layer of dead shells on the bottom of the tank) there's an even more surprising number of snails who've stayed alive in there, not all of them recent introductions by any means. It's shocking to me how resiliant the little buggers are, considering they have no food but detritus, algae, plants, and the decayed bodies of their snaily brethren. I also sometimes wonder if I'm creating a super-snail in there who can tolerate these extreme conditions, though I haven't seen any baby snails yet.
Obviously it's not a closed ecosystem, as it is oxygenated from the water surface, has been topped off two or three times, and gets a new influx of snails, but it fascinates me as it seems to work in its own weirdly dysfunctional way as a semi-enclosed ecosystem. I'm thinking of upgrading it to a slightly larger bowl with greater surface area, new Java Moss, and some crushed coral to fix the acidic PH caused by all the snail poop and see what happens.
Feel free to move this to the invert subforum if needed. I thought it might be of general interest though.
I was embarrassed to admit this but I have a small aquasaurs tank from ages ago (yup I know how bad they are now... didn't at the time 
) And thats where my pest snails go... loads of babies 
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=85297
