Where to grow pest snails?

[IHaveADogToo]

My pea puffer tank will be cycled by this weekend. Last weekend I was getting some nitrites and nitrates, but no ammonia, so I expect that by the time I test again this coming weekend the nitrites should be done. Of course I will test to confirm, but once I'm in the clear, I'll be getting the pea puffers.

I want to keep a population of pest snails that I can collect a handful of to feed to my puffers once a week or so. I know I can go to the pet store or the LFS and get a container of snails from them. That's not a problem. But I don't want to do that every week. I'd rather breed pest snails myself.

I have a few tanks up and running right now, but I also have some super tiny nano tanks that are currently broken down. My question is, should I set up a dedicated tank for a snail colony, or should I just throw a few pest snails into my established tanks? If I set up a dedicated tank, it will be my 2 gallon cube. If I use established tanks then I'll be throwing pest snails into my 30 gallon community tank and maybe my 10 gallon betta tank.

What do you think? If I put them in the community tank, am I going to regret it? If you were me, would you use the 2 gallon cube as a dedicated pest snail tank, or would you intentionally put pest snails in your other tanks? I'm not sure if I'll end up with pond snails or ramshorn snails. Will just have to wait and see what they give me.

 

[seangee]

I'd go for dedicated as they'll breed faster. Possibly a small sponge filter to stop it getting too manky. You probably don't need a heater but I think they breed faster at tropical temps.

 

[Colin_T]

I would set up a couple of dedicated snail tanks. Have a sponge filter in there and a few plants. Leave the light on for 16 hours a day t encourage algae to grow on the glass. Have Ramshorn snails in one tank and pond snails in another. Feed them each day on fish flakes or pellets and let them go nuts.

Add new bloodlines each year to keep them producing lots of eggs. If you inbreed them too much the number of eggs they produce is reduced.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

As a side-note, the pea puffer tank has a lot of detritus worms in it. Probably snuck in with some plants. Will the detritus cause any problems for the puffers? I've seen fish eat detritus worms before, particularly neon tetras and bettas, so I'm thinking it might just be another food source for the puffers to hunt, but I'd like to hear what y'all have to say about it.

 

[Colin_T]

I like to keep tanks clean but other people have leaves and rotting plant matter on the bottom of their tanks. As long as it is actual plant matter and not fish poop, it is fine to leave it there and it's up to you whether or not it stays. If it's fish poop then get rid of it.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Do snails eat detritus worms? I know some shrimp do. If they do, then I could just go ahead and get some snails this week and let them clean the tank of detritus for the puffers, then when the puffers arrive they will eat the snails.

 

[NickAu]

Here you go the perfect snail breeding tank, you dont need substrate or a light just a sponge filter and maybe a heater.

I don't know about Puffers but I do know Bumblebee Gobys love detritus worms

 

[Baccus]

On a side note if you do set up something as a dedicated snail breeding establishment be sure to feed the snails some good quality food at least once a week and make sure they are getting enough calcium otherwise their shells will be too thin and defeat the purpose of feeding them to puffers which is primarily to wear down the puffers "beak" on the hard shell while also getting a nutrious feed.