If you meticulously took your time to select and plant aquarium plants, the last thing you want is your snails eating up and destroying your hard work. Some snails are even better at attacking the plants you love the most, killing your beautiful java moss and anubias in a matter of days. This is why it’s necessary to figure out the behaviors of your aquatic crawlers early so that you can handle the problem effectively.
Fortunately, assassin snails do not eat aquarium plants as they’re carnivorous animals. They feed mainly on prey snails, some seafood, and protein-based foods like fish pallets. The closest thing to plants that assassin snails eat is algae, and they rarely eat them.
Can Assassin Snails Live With Aquarium Plants?
Assassin snails can live in planted tanks and even enjoy a green environment. You can plant suitable aquarium plants to keep your tank pulsating with life.
However, some plants may pose a problem for your snails. Examples are toxic plants like Philodendron and Pothos, prickly plants like some species of aponigenton, and overcrowding plants like some hygrophila species that tend to limit movement and hunting. It’s important to ensure that while you beautify your tank, it shouldn’t affect your snail’s quality of life.
Are Assassin Snails Good Tank Cleaners?
Although assassin snails eat algae, they are horrible tank cleaners. If you find your assassin snail-eating algae, they are most likely starved and have taken to making use of the resources available. Either that or they are eating algae by chance while foraging for prey. Their diet is mainly proteinous and they rely on other animals to provide the nutrients they need. If you want to clean your tank, opting for algae-eating snails like nerites or ramshorns is your best bet. However, they eat live plants too. So you must consider whether you prefer a cleaner tank over perfect plants.
Aquarium fish like twig catfish also make great tank cleaners as algae is their major food source. It’s even advised to have full-grown algae before introducing the fish into your tank. So, if you have an algae problem, either of the aforementioned is preferable compared to assassin snails.
What Do Assassin Snails Eat? The Regular Diet Of Killer Snails
Assassin snails have a carnivorous diet. They eat mainly protein-based foods and do not need to eat plants to stay healthy. If you’re wondering what to feed your killer snails, I’ve got you covered on all of that.
Algae-Eating Snails
Assassin snails are called “snail-eating snails” for a reason—they devour populations of algae-eating snails relentlessly. Not even the hatchlings or proportionally bigger snails are safe from the predators. They’re known for skillfully diminishing invasive populations in aquariums. Prey snails are highly rich in protein and nutrients sourced from plants that assassins naturally can’t obtain on their own. Naturally, a snail diet is the wild assassin’s regular and sustainable meal.
Small Invertebrates
In addition to other snails, assassins hunt down and eat invertebrates such as shrimp and worms around them. Invertebrates are common food items for aquarium assassins as they are good sources of the protein they need to stay healthy. So, if you’re looking to add variety to your snail’s meals, you can look into frozen bloodworms and shrimp for your snail. Note that despite being simple creatures, assassins have preferences and some may not enjoy certain meals and will choose not to eat them.
Algae
When assassin snails are starving, even algae looks delicious. They don’t naturally eat algae and can go their whole lives without needing a supply, but when resources are low it might be their only option to survive. Also, assassins may occasionally graze on algae when hunting for prey. Instead of intention, killer snails eat algae out of chance. Some owners have recorded their snails eating algae flakes in various cases, which is normal as well.
Decaying Matter
Assassin snails enjoy feeding on decay and it is nutritious for them. They particularly appreciate the softened texture of rotting foods and feast on waste in between their hunts. They have a highly sensitized perception for locating detritus using the chemoreceptors.
Fish Pallets
If you’re looking for easier feeding methods, fish pallets are your best bet. You can escape the hassle of preparing shrimp or throwing invasive snails into your aquarium for your killer snails. They’re highly nutritious compressed granules of protein, vegetables, and oils that are very beneficial for fish and assassin snails. If you have killer snails in your fish tank, you can throw in extra fish pellets for the snails to feed on.
How Often Do Assassin Snails Eat? Frequency Of Feeding And Spacing Meals
Wild assassin snails eat daily. They are constantly munching on something whether it be decay, algae, leftovers, fish waste, or a freshly caught feeder snail. So, I recommend feeding them at least two average-sized snails or a few fish pellets a day. If you closely monitor your assassin snails, you will come to realize how much food they can consume and feed them accordingly to prevent wastage.
Snails don’t eat more than they need to, and sometimes, too much feeding can lead to more problems than you need. For instance, the snails begin to overpopulate and mess up the water parameters when they’re overfed.
You can also decide to feed them every other day if you prefer to. They are hardy creatures and can manage themselves well without being fed for a day. However, spacing meals should never include going more than 3 days without food. This is simply torturous and unnatural for the snails and will lead to unhealthiness and short lifespans.
The Irritating Challenges Of Keeping Assassin Snail Pets
Your plants may be safe, but there are a few things you must compromise when you have assassin snails. Although they are beneficial when you put them to good use, here are the various aspects you should consider before having assassin snails:
There Will Be No Room For Other Snails
You may have been swooned by the idea that assassin snails will only hunt down prey that’s smaller than them in size, but this has proven false in several scenarios. Assassin snails will kill and eat even bigger snails, and will sometimes perform gang murders to quicken the process and make the job easier.
If you have an apple snail that is bigger than the assassin, there is every possibility that you’d meet an empty shell or a decaying corpse on a random day. Though the bigger snails are not the easier targets, they will get attacked when your assassin snails have run out of food options or wake on the wrong side of the tank.
Assassin Snails Are Not Always Flexible Pets
If you have successfully maintained your pest snail problem using assassin snails, you’d be left to figure out what to do with the assassin snails which could be pretty limiting if you have big plans for your tank. Unless you choose to exterminate the killer snails, you must find only compatible tankmates to prevent your new aquarium pets from getting eaten or dying due to improper water parameters.
Assassin Snails Spike Ammonia Levels
Tank cycling is a process of colonizing the aquarium with beneficial bacteria to break down toxic ammonia into nitrites. When bio-matter decays in an aquarium, ammonia is produced and released which is highly toxic to aquatic animals. To prevent this, you must keep track of the water parameters using an API water testing kit and perform a 20% water change when necessary.
The problem is that since assassin snails are carnivorous, the tendency to build up ammonia frequently is high due to the chances of animals decaying in the tank. Thus, you will be performing these nagging water changes more frequently to keep your pets alive.
You May Still End Up With Overpopulation
If your assassin snails are living the premium lifestyle in your tank having access to several meals in a day, they will begin to breed and populate which could quickly become a problem for you. It’s quite ironic especially if you initially brought in the killer snails to tackle a pest snail situation. The only way to handle this is to reduce the amount of food you give your assassin snails and slowly drop the temperature to 73° F. Since they only breed in warm temperatures, they will halt reproduction to preserve their energy.
5 Ways To Manage The Problems With Keeping Assassin Snails
If you’re wondering what next to do with your assassin snails after a successful pest snail control, or are stuck with any of the problems we have just discussed, here’s what to do:
1. Place Suitable Tankmates In Your Aquarium
If you desire a much more diverse aquarium, you can introduce animals that are not targets for assassin snails. Aquarium fish are the best choice for this purpose. There are several types of fish lets that will add a bit of drama into your tank as well as coexist with your assassin snails peacefully. Examples of such are Siamese algae eaters, rosy barbs, cherry barbs, and dwarf suckers.
2. Ensure Frequent Water Changes
Water changes are necessary to keep ammonia levels low. Depending on how much is going on in your aquarium, that is the bioload of waste created by your tank inhabitants, you may require water changes weekly or every other month. The best way to know how frequently your tank needs a water change is by monitoring the ammonia levels daily using simple testing strips (view on Amazon) for the duration it takes before there’s a spike in ammonia. This way, you can tell how long it takes for your nitrate cycle to be thrown off balance, and then, how often you need to change the water.
Also, do not replace the water in your aquarium completely, or else the entire colony of ammonia-degrading bacteria will die taking your pets along! Make sure you only perform 20% water changes to keep the bacteria thriving and your nitrate cycle alive.
Here’s the easiest way to perform a 20% water change:
- Switch off all appliances such as air stones, thermostats, heaters, and any other electrical tool attached to the tank.
- Use a siphon to remove 20% of the aquarium water into a different container.
- Measure up an equivalent amount of clean water to replace the amount you took out. If your new water is chlorinated, you need a good water conditioner to dechlorinate the water and prevent your pets or plants from getting harmed.
- Pour the treated water (new water) into the tank gently to avoid stirring up the substrate and stressing your animals. And voila, you’ve successfully changed your aquarium water!
3. Limit Excessive Feeding
If your assassin snails are frequently munching on something, it will pollute the tank with more waste and decay. I suggest feeding your snails once a day and then letting them forage on leftovers until their next feeding time to keep the tank clean. After all, they are bad algae eaters. The best they can do is eat bits of waste to keep the environment fairly clean.
4. Introduce Assassin Snail-Eating Animals Into The Tank
If you prefer to keep the cycle of life going, introducing cichlids and clown loaches into the tank will help manage the assassin snail overpopulation. Assassin snails can overpopulate aquariums when they’re comfortable, leaving you with the same problem you started with harboring the pest algae-eating snails.
5. Sell Or Give Out The Assassin Snails
If you simply prefer to start up a new tank with new inhabitants, you can sell your killer snails to snail owners who need them. Assassin snails have been highly sought after ever since the pest snails became invasive, and their valuability can be monetized to a degree.
Currently, several groups on Reddit or Facebook actively buy and sell aquarium pets such as assassin snails. If selling is a hassle for you, you can opt to give them away to local fish stores or to people who need them to take the task off your hands. This will enable you to set up a new tank with the pets you prefer.
Can Assassin Snails Eat Aquarium Fish?
Assassin snails will eat aquarium fish if they can catch them, which is almost impossible. Unless the fish is dying or dead, your assassin snails will stay out of their way. It’s simply too much of a hassle for them to deal with. However, the fry of the fish may be easier targets due to their fragility despite being too fast for assassin snails. There’s simply little to no chance of your killer snails going after your agile fish even when they’re starving.
