PlanetCatfish.com

Is it safe to have snails in a Pleco breeding tank? Should I be concerned for newly laid eggs or young fry?

I keep lots of plants in my grow out tanks and this brings snails..so I use the assassin in with them too. I have never had a problem with mine in the tank. Infact I have assassins in every tank in my house as they are breeding quit often for me.

Same here. I have assassins in my display tanks and I breed BN and have bred L15 in there without any issues.

Andy

i have kept assassins in most of my tanks (they do not make it in my darter tank though...)

spoiling the 'yea' mood with a 'nay'; I know for a fact that Assassin snails (are we talking Clea helena? common names give me gyp) can and do eat fish eggs

proven example: in Marc's tank (Marc van Arc's a mod here and Auchenipterids keeper) they keep eating all his Tatia and Centromochlus eggs

and these catfish have protected eggs, they use a slime jelly to protect their eggs

in short: you just have been lucky, you got away with it

but as a rule: carnivorous snails do NOT belong in breeding tanks

Apllesnails (Pomacea, Ampularia), Pondsnails (Physa) and Assasssin Snails are all known egg robbers

the only snails to be safe with fish eggs are Ramshorn (Planorbis, a herbivore)) and even better Trumpet/Malaysian/Burrowing Snails (Melanoides tubervulata, a detritivore and carrion feeder)

I have used the last 2 species succesfully as anti-fungus method and unfertilized egg garbagemen when breeding several species of Synodontis (tiny eggs), Sturisoma, Hoplosternum, Corydoras, Lophiobagrus and Ancistrus.

you don't have to take me on my word; there are clear pictures in Wels Atlas 1 (Mergus) where trumpetenails are shown with L number eggs
that's where I got the idea from and I plagiarised it with great succes

but don't use helena's; if they get hungry, your breeding effort is for naught.

I'm assuming that with cave spawning loricariids, the father does a good job of preventing these snails entering the cave. Once the fry are ejected, they are mobile, and are not vulnerable.

This would explain the discrepancy between observations regarding these snails (egg depositing vs. egg guarding strategies).

I'm not a fan of any snail in tanks but its a part of keeping fish i suppose, i have nerite assasins and pests but tend to remove what i can if fish are breeding regardless of parental care or not. i do like snails in grow on tanks where they munch left over crap that i cant remove if working etc but recon shrimps may take over this role

Hi all,

You don't have to take me on my word; there are clear pictures in Wels Atlas 1 (Mergus) where trumpetenails are shown with L number eggs that's where I got the idea from and I plagiarised it with great succes

I've used MTS for this role for a wide range of fish, I originally got the idea from a Killi breeder. Ingo Seidel mentions it in "Back to nature guide to L.." as well. I've also used Asellus in the past and Red Cherry Shrimp successfully, although there are reports of these eating eggs (Killi eggs are very tough). I keep Ramshorns in with all my fry, they are great for cleaning up and probably generate micro-fauna food items as well, the only downside is they won't survive very soft water. In my opinion the combination of MTS and Ramshorns as egg minders definitely increases spawning success.

I'm assuming that with cave spawning loricariids, the father does a good job of preventing these snails entering the cave. Once the fry are ejected, they are mobile, and are not vulnerable.

I'm pretty sure that is the right answer.

cheers Darrel

i found an assassin snail in my cave with my male L201 who had eggs, i only got 2 fry from that spawning, wether the snail ate the eggs or not i cant be certain but my last spawn yielded 29 fry

I must be very lucky having spawnings with assassins too .. maybe they don't get a look in?.. maybe this stresses the male?.. will keep peeled for any news as it's a thought I've had myself since introducing the snails watching their carniverous selves destroying roast beef like theres no tomorrow!