Assassins and other snails

**kilyth** · 09-10-2012, 08:57 PM

I got a couple of assassins to take care of a problem with ramshorns. They're acclimating right now. Should I remove my nerite and apple snails from the tank or are they too big to be bothered by the assassins?

**Loller** · 03-03-2013, 02:40 AM

Assassins can gang up on bigger snails and do get pretty lazy. They should eat the smaller ones before they mess with the big ones though. They are barely eating any in my 8g and it p's me off o:< . Though in my other tank, he eats about 1 big one per day while in the 8g I haven't found 1 snail shell on the ground with 2.

How many do you have and how big is the tank? Are there a lot of hiding places? More plants and hiding places, more you need. They get VERY lazy but do good if you have enough.

**~firefly~** · 03-03-2013, 10:11 AM

I'm not sure if assassins will go for apple snails, but just to comment on the previous post...they shouldn't be lazy - mine weren't when I got them to clear a pond snail problem. One important thing is not to overfeed if you have snail issues. Both the pest snails and the assassins will eat leftovers. Easier meals. May be the cause of apparent laziness on the hunting front.

**Loller** · 03-03-2013, 03:27 PM

Not exactly lazy, kinda said it wrong. If you feed too much, the assassins will eat some food, which will mean they eat less snails that day. If you feed to where everything is gone in 2 minutes, they do great. But if there are a lot of plants, it will take time. In my tank, they get the job done when there's no leftover food.

Please regard my first post, but make sure you have enough or the other snails will out populate the assassins.