Should GSPs eat mystery snail babies?

[bigskies]

I have a snail tank set up to supply snacks for 2 GSPs. I have 4 varieties of snails - many trumpet snails which I don't feed to the puffs because I heard their shells are too hard, about 75 niusance snails which I do feed to the puffs, 2 adult golden mystery snails, 1 adult black mystery snail, and 1 rams horn. I'm asking about the golden mystery snails because I appearantly have 1 male and 1 female... and now 4 huge egg clutches that will begin hatching out in about a week. Each clutch producing maybe 50 snails (there are more eggs than that but they may not all hatch). Thats 200 mystery babies !!!! And I can tell by looking at her shell that she is about to lay another clutch. Are they alright to feed to the puffs? Anyone want any golden mystery snails?

[bigskies]

OH - the pics didnt go through - here they are.... I hope...

[Mareva]

I beleive mystery snails are the same than apple snails. Yes you can feed th babies to ou puffs!

[GSP]

This is my first post and I didn't want to start a new thread. I just got a new GSP from walmart (a horrible story for another thread) and I have been feeding him some nuisance snails and he seems to love them, the only problem is the bigger ones that he cant swallow are dead or leaving their empty shells on the bottom of the tank.

The question is, whats the easiest way to get rid of the shells? Is there a rake or a vacuum that wont destroy my substrate?
I figured the TS would know considering the topic of the thread.

Any info is appreciated!

Thanks.

[dumpythepuffer]

the shells wont normally be sucked up by a gravel vaccuum...so i just normally leave them if they die. i have some tiger snails and 2 passed away it became great dinner to some guppies and my DPs. the shell doesnt pollute the water any. however if you still want them out, i just reach inside and pluck them out

[Nick]

Shakespeare LOVES baby mystery snails, when my (now ex) gf's tank had a few clutches burst out, he'd eat them nearly exclusively... he never left shells though, he's start at the fine point of the shell(not the squishy parts, like most puffers) and chisel it apart from the top down, leaving no meat at all and a pile of shell dust I still find bits of when gravel vacuuming.

[StormySkiez]

the shell doesnt pollute the water any. however if you still want them out, i just reach inside and pluck them out

I was under the impression empty snail shells can pollute the tank. Am I wrong?

[Nick]

Nope, empty shell bits are fine. Only if the puffer only eats the foot and leaves half the snail in the shell is it polluting, and since feeding snails that are eaten this way doesn't wear their beak, the situation should be avoided by feeding snails small enough that your GSP can crack their shells. Shakespeare could take out snails 4x the size of his eye, using the "point down" method I described above.

[StormySkiez]

Thank you Nick for clearing that up for me.