Spawning Spixi Snails

[CanadaPleco]

I really don't understand this species of snails... They are only breeding right now in my bare bottom 15g tank that has hypancistrus fry in it. There are now prob. 100 baby snails or more and only 3 adults. I have found out that assassin snails will kill them even tho they are like 5x bigger. I have a bunch in a cold tank 66 degree, no spawns that I have noticed, I have them in another tank 82 degree, and lots of plants, no spawns really (and there are prob 20-30 adults in here). I would really love to find a way to raise thousands of these snails as they make great food for some of my fish.

I do know that they love veggies, even more so then BN plecos!

http://www.planetinverts.com/spixi.jpg

[jlloydb]

i recall some advice from a breeder who supplied my first attempt to keep these snails: simply put...overfeed the tank. your warm water tank is the preferred set up. otherwise, her tank looked quite unimpressive. cloudy water, detritus, and a mix of veggies decomposing on the surface. she suggested that overfeeding was critical to avoid the newly hatched from cannibalistic behaviors. once the snail achieves a certain maturity, such behavior becomes a disinterest, and the snail moves on to other feed. in her example, clutter and decomposition appeared to be the better arrangement. HTH.

[Pamelajo]

Plenty of food is a biggy for breeding these guys. Lots of leafy greens, blanched a bit.
Be careful of water conditions as these guys are sensitive to bad water. Lots of water changes when you have little ones.

[Bwhiskered]

I knew Pam would come in with the answer.

[Pamelajo]

You know when it comes to slimey critters of the applesnail variety I will try to help when I can.:secretsmile:

[CanadaPleco]

Well all the egg clutches have hatched and I have a TON of these snails in my 15g L333 and LDA05 grow out tank. There must be at least 200 of them and do they ever grow fast. I've got at least 50 of them where I can actually see the striping now. Wonder how long until they are 1cm.

This is awesome, so many of my fish love snacking on them, I know its bad, but its what they eat in nature.

[Pamelajo]

This is awesome, so many of my fish love snacking on them, I know its bad, but its what they eat in nature.
Congrats on all the little ones.
In the wild they are part of the food chain, and fresh foods are way better for our critters.


Great pic by the way Rich.

[CanadaPleco]

And a photo of some of the youngsters... They are growing quite fast, more hatched, but I think these ones that are about a month older ate them.

560

[Pamelajo]

They look good and healthy.