Predatory fresh water molluscs.

[Kada]

Hello all. Like many with aquariums (for me theyre all palludariums), we deal with snail explosions messing with our plants and water quality. Also, like many, I keep Anentome helena (assassin snails) which are pretty cool and breed in our tanks. They do a decent job of keeping things in check, especially once a sustained environment is maintained and everything is basically on auto pilot.

I love their size, shape and color. But interested in branching out into a broader range and am wondering if other smaller predatory snails are commonly kept in everyone's respective countries? What all exists in captivity where you live?

I also tried a few native leech species which were really cool to watch. But they tended to enjoy larger snails (eg. Apple snails) and didn't kill them but we're more just parasitic rather than predatory. My favorite native to Taiwan is Whitmania laevis, very beautiful coloration, but too big and not very effective at that even when given apple snails.

I'm interested in straight murderers of small snail species haha.

 

[Smotzer]

I'll be following along as I am always curious what all people use.

we deal with snail explosions messing with our plants and water qualit

I happen to be one of the lucky few that havent ever dealt with snail invaders in my tanks! I really think that making sure you know where your aquatic plants are coming from as far as reputable folks go, and then also really in depth cleaning of all plant materials, especially the aquatic ones, might make a difference.

 

[Kada]

I'll be following along as I am always curious what all people use.


I happen to be one of the lucky few that havent ever dealt with snail invaders in my tanks! I really think that making sure you know where your aquatic plants are coming from as far as reputable folks go, and then also really in depth cleaning of all plant materials, especially the aquatic ones, might make a difference.

I laugh at the term reputable in regards to pet stores in Taiwan hahaha. But your point is dead kn, my fault for not cleaning and quarantining new plants first. That's totally my fault.

My assassin snails are breeding well though. They are pretty cool to watch. Wouldn't mind another option just for something new to learn about and watch. Few years ago we kept a leech tank, which was pretty fun. Turns out they are terrible at killing snails, even though they are parasites of them. Plus I have cla.s and fish now so don't want to find out if these leech species are more opportunistic than I thought. My favorite was Whitmania laevis

 

[Smotzer]

Wouldn't mind another option just for something new to learn about and watch.

It’s the curse there’s always the pull to want to learn about new species and then enjoy watching them go about their life cycle.

Plus I have cla.s and fish

Do you mean “clams”? If so which species?