Assassin snail problems

[Gillmo]

I have lost the last few batches of eggs. I saw an assassin snail in the cave yesterday and noticed only about half the eggs that were there the day before. This morning there are no more eggs. I'm so pissed. I've never had the problem before. I'm wondering if anyone else had the same problem. I've lost about five batches so far. The only answer seems to be the snails. I was so happy when I got them to control the trumpet snails but now I'm bummed.

 

[Doodles]

Sorry to hear that Gillmo, have heard that they may eat eggs as they are opportunist feeders, if its there for the taking they will have it.

Can you remove them all?

 

[Irene0100]

remove what snails you can and make sure there is food availabale for any left so they dont have to resort to eggs!

 

[foti]

i really do hate snails!
sorry about the eggs make a trap and just catch them after removing the assassin snails!

 

[Irene0100]

you are really sure the snail ate them? sometimes disturbance eg from the snail, people walking by, lots of noise, or just you looking in the cave, will make dad eat the eggs.

 

[SmithRC]

this post has opened my eyes slightly.... I've got Assasins in with our Zebs and our L183's... I've bred both in the past but not had any fry in just over a year... the same sort of time scale that we've had the snails in with them!

Infact I've seen assasins in the back of caves on many occasions...

I'm now wondering if I've missed the bigger picture here and just assumed the fish hadnt settled from our house move....


hmm...

 

[Irene0100]

wow, needs looking into for sure!

 

[windy]

ive never had any probs with assassin snals eating the eggs
if the male guarding the eggs do's his job prop he'll kick the snail out of the cave
ive about 40-50 assassin's in every tank

 

[Joby]

I lost a cave full of apprently healthy L144 eggs once and had noticed an assassin snail in the cave with them so could be :dk:

 

[billyjimbo]

I am so glad this has been highlighted, my L182 which bred regularly have not had any fry for months now and I wondered why but last week I was checking all the caves and the one used most for laying eggs had at least 10 assassins in it, I have taken all the assassins I can find out of the tank and will pick out any babies that appear and see how it goes, pity really because they do a great job of clearing those little nuisance snails.

 

[Bigjohnnofish]

has anybody got any pics of some assassin snails... i dont think we have them in australia

cheers :dk:

 

[Irene0100]

http://arizonainverts.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=204

if you google seach assassin snail here are quite a lot of pics.
they are dark brown and cream striped.
they are not really a snail in the true sense -they are a whelk.

 

[Gillmo]

Thanks guys, I had assassins for a few years and never had a problem until a few months ago. For the past few months I haven't had any fry in four tanks. All had assassin snails until a week ago. I noticed the snails in the caves and never thought of it. Other snails eat fungus and never touch the eggs. I thought the assassins were fine until I noticed the eggs dissappearing. I've been taking them out for over a week now and still find a few every now and again. The males in these tanks have always done well with eggs and I've never had the problems until recently. I've only had assassins for about a year and they have only been a problem for a few months.

 

[hullfishman]

this is interesting , last time my 201s spawned there was around 30 eggs and there where no assassins in the tank, i added a few about a2 weeks ago then my 201s spawned again and i pulled 2 fry yesterday

 

[SmithRC]

Assasins coming out of my Zeb, L400 and L183 tanks tonight I think...

 

[Irene0100]

would love to hear from anyone removing assassins and then get some breeding happening successfully!
it would gather more evidence.
obviously some dads are not letting them in the cave but others might thinking they are friendly snails come to clean fungus or something. or just that some of the adult snails can be quite large and if a lot came in a small zeb could be overwhelmed I guess.

 

[billyjimbo]

I have been taking them out as I see them, I am now convinced that they have been eating my L182 eggs and will post on here if I get a spawning soon. It is amazing how many you find when all the information says they are slow breeders, I started with 20 about a year ago, I have sold a couple of hundred over the year and still have about 60 plus the ones I pick out daily, I would suggest that if anyone has them in their breeding tanks that they take them out straight away until it is established for sure whether they are eating the eggs (and possibly fry while they are too young to get out of the way).