The Puffer Forum

I have a 20 long sump under my 75 gallon tank and I am looking to breed snails in it that I can feed here and there to my puffers in the tank above. Does anyone have any tips on breeding saltwater snails? Which snails are the easiest to do this with? From what I know with freshwater you just put the snails in there and before you know it you have a snail problem, is this pretty much the same with saltwater? Appreciate any feedback!

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This is what I used to do with freshwater snails as this article is about, is it pretty much the same for salt water snails? I heard not to feed my puffers live freshwater food once they are in the saltwater because it will harm the tank somehow from freshwater bacteria and such. Are there any certain type of saltwater snails you would prefer?

Nerite's breed only in saltwater. They maybe something to look into

Sw snails are too hard. Breed fw snails they're easier and a tad softer.

We (my boyfriend & i) breed snails. It was going well for awhile but then their shells started getting pitted & odd shaped...our water source had changed & they weren't getting the calcium they need. So watch for that, if it happens there are ways to add calcium safely to an aquarium. Neutral ph is good too. We breed cherry shrimp in the same tank & they do great with the snails. Also, lots of plants!! We feed them pellets & bits of vegetables - cucumber & carrot seem to be favorites.

I would not use neutral water for breeding snails, it would be harder to get normal shells with soft water I would opt for hard water in the upper 7s for the pH, GH and KH preferably 8-10 or harder. The common snails will do quite well in such water IME.

You can also create a snail jello for their primary feeding

I began tossing in those calcium based weekend feeder blocks, and it seems to be keeping my dKH and calcium levels up nicely. I use RO water so I have to be careful about low pH.

We've had this snail tank for awhile, 2 apt moves each w/ different water...so in my experience snails are pretty flexible. Not that I'm an expert by any means, just telling what I've noticed.

Tufa rock does a snail tank good.

I have a prejudice against tuffa rock. I never use it anymore.

why is that RTR

It is too dangerous to FW fish skin, too dangerous to equipment (It has cost me a couple of Eheim pumps $$$),and is a potential source of heavy metal toxicity. After the pump fiasco, I tossed my entire stockpile. I had previously tossed a whole crate that I thought a bit heavy/dense - I soaked some in high purity water and got a buddy to run an analysis - which showed multiple metals leaching out. I won't even use it in the yard anymore. The lightest stuff should be safer, but I have been burned twice and will never use it again - even for mounting small Bromeliads (which I used to grow routinely in pockets dug into the stuff).

cuttle bone should work fine. Nice rich source of calcium