The Puffer Forum

after a slow start, i finally have breeding success --

in my 2.5 gal betta-type tank (no betta of course) i started with 8-10 pond snails and now have hundreds of eggs laid and dozens of little babies scootin' around the tank --

also, the 5 ghost shrimp tank mates have multiplied. Not sure if they were already preggers when i bought them, but i have 5 or so little tiny ghost shrimp running around -- i was worried that the ghosties would eat the snail eggs, but if they are eating them, they arent doing any significant damage to my population.

the moral of the story is -- if i can do it, anyone can do it !

If well fed they might leave the snail eggs alone... but my shrimp have always gobbled a lot of mine.

I also just began snail breeding. I picked up a 2.5 gallon tank, a good sized rock, used some gravel I had in another tank and added 4 mature trapdoor snails. The next day there were 2 babies. The next day 4. Then 7. I'm growing snails faster than my F8 can eat them! All I do is drop in some broken up algae wafers and clean the water weekly. It really isn't hard.

I'm just reactivating the topic 'cause I'm interested in breeding snails to my first puffer, I have a couple of weeks to cycle the tank for him,for the time being, I could breed some snails, OK? . I set up a 5G FW with some aragonite e some rocks e put about 5-7 snails in there. Should I aerate the water and put a heater too? I guess the temperature of the water is at 73-75°F. Is that right? What do you recommend me?

Thanks..

i heater is good -- they breed faster at higher temperatures (80) and when you over feed them -- some kind of filtraton is good (since excessive feeding helps them multiply)

something like an airstone with an under gravel filter or a hang on back would work

on the same note , they are pretty tolerant of bad water in my experience

i noticed with my snails feeding them zuccini makes a difference. they bred more. its pretty cool. also fresh water changes (obviously) haha

I would think that a small air driven sponge filter would work well

yah that too. haha

thanks a lot for replies!!! I'm gonna do a simple filter, some kind a DIY e use a heater too...
Today I realized they're really tolerant about water parameters, 'cause I cycling the tank with ammonia, and I made a mistake getting ammonia level much more than 6,5ppm and the babies snails I found there was still alive!!!!

thanks guys...

do you guys use a light for the tank? what kind of snails do you have?

i have a little incandescent 15 w bulb -- i feel like i have more snails when i leave it on longer but thats just a hunch , no proof

i have pond snails

do you need a lid? the snails wont leave the water will they? do you have plants in there?

i dont have plants but ive heard of people having plants -- they might climb out without a lid --

I put some watersprite floating in the snail breeding tank... it didn't make any difference I suppose.

In my 5.5 gal snail breeding setup I have:

Gravel, A few rocks, A piece of driftwood, A cuttlebone (to add calcium and make their shells harder), 2 fake plants, one moss ball, and a piece of slate. I use a HOB filter. They bred like crazy for a while but have since slowed down.

I've since added a heater to raise the temp and hopefully their will to breed.

I use a standard florescent light without a lid. They don't crawl out. I'm no biology expert but I think snails live in water and need it to "breathe" so I don't think they'll go wandering off.