The Puffer Forum

I have a young GSP named King Koopa (posted about him before), and I've been feeding him fiddler crabs for teeth maintenance once a week, aside from his regular diet. I've been trying to find ramshorn snails EVERYWHERE since that's the most popular puffer choice, and seem to have no luck! I live in Brooklyn, NY and work in the city, and I've called all the branches of Petco (none), the only 3 local fish stores I know in the city, and no one seems to have them. Any NYers have any luck? I'd order online too, if anyone has a dependable (and reasonable) source they can recommend.

Also, when I do get them, can I leave the bunch in his tank? Can a GSP even be depended on for leaving them alone when he's had his fill (somehow I doubt it)? Another option is leaving the rest in my betta's tank to breed (there's certainly an algae feast in those tanks for them), and then just plucking them up when it's time for his teeth filing/snack.

Thanks for all the help with the amateur questions. =)

Any pet store that sells live plants will have them. Most will just give them to you. I started with some that hitchhiked on a plant order and now I have a couple hundred in their own tank. To bad you don't live closer.

I have gotten from different people on aquabid.com. Both times were good. I like the ramshorn vs the pond snails because they get bigger. I have a 10 gallon tank for my snails. If you put a bunch in the betta tank don't be suprised if you can never get rid of them, which might not be a bad thing! Mine breed at a pretty good rate but the babies are a bit slow growing. They can't keep up with my puffers! I've also seen some on ebay. In fact there were some listed that were from PA. Shipping is a bit expensive (it's always cost me $10 for priority) but they have all arrived safely. I'm trying now to get them breeding in thier own tank at a quick enough rate for my puffs. I just got about 70 from aquabid.com, someone from Utah. Good luck!

Oh and I don't know about GSP's but my f8's would probably try to eat the whole bunch if I put them in the tank. When I first got them I had quite a few pond snails in my tank and in a few hours they were al gone.

I've had great luck with getting my ramshorn's from eBay. Paying the shipping can be a pain, but as I'm not able to find them locally, I have to resort to online! I've never been able to find them on Aquabid, so eBay is it for me. I've used several different sellers, too.. no DOA's yet!

Edit: Also wanted to let you know, I would never house my predator with my prey! My GSP actually lives with 30-40 nassarius snails in his marine tank, and pays NO attention at all to them. However, as soon as a pond or ramshorn is in the water, its HIS! Haha.. Pretty sure if there were multiples, he would not stop when he got "full". Just my experience.

Thank you!!! I finally got myself to look on eBay, and bid on 20 blue ramshorn snails, then found a Buy It Now for 10 and immediately bought that... It's $12.98 including shipping! So pleased, and will definitely keep 5 and 5 with my bettas for the "breeding". The seller said they'd ship with a heatpack, I hope so since the Northeast winter is deadly!

Won't your betta eat the snail eggs?

I got to wondering this too. How about the baby snails?

You kinda need a separate tank. But you can use a 2 gallon plastic cheapie. I got mine from Petco on clearance for $4.58. I ditched the undergravel and use a sponge filter Bought 6 on Ebay for .99 ea plus 2 bucks for shipping. I typically get free snails from Petsmart, though I have bought Ramshorns as every other tank I have has some sort of snail eater in it.
I have also used a bare bottomed 10 gallon tank I had lying around with some Java Moss or Hornwort and a sponge filter.

Thank you for the help!! Does the snail tank need a cover, and if not are they in danger of escaping? Is a filter very necessary if I am willing to change water everyday? I'm still waiting for my snail order to come in from eBay.

LOL, I'm picturing slimy trails all over your house.

Cover is a must! They do come out a bit. It seems, at at least in my tank that the babies come out the most. And if you have any pond snails you'll find those on the lid and all over, so lids are good. I have a filter, in fact I went with over filtration because the ramshorns seem to be messy and I was expecting a high bio-load. I wouldn't want to commit myself to daily water changes, just extra work that a filter could do. Plus the filter will have some good bacteria in there which can't hurt