Assassin snails are pretty much the invasion police of snail aquariums. Whenever there’s a pest snail invasion, assassins are usually the first, safest, and most effective method of eradicating the raid. However, it becomes problematic when you want to diversify your tank by adding other species of snails. You’d begin to wonder whether your nerite snails can coexist in the same space as assassins, and under what conditions.
Assassin snails will eat nerite snails and may even develop a preference for them in particular. They’re carnivorous snails with voracious appetites for algae-eating snails, some invertebrates, and decaying matter. So, they will enjoy a good meal of algae-eating snails, or specifically, your nerite snail pet if the assassin comes across it.
If you’re hoping your nerite snail can coexist with your assassin, sadly that will be almost impossible as the nerite will become snail food sooner than you think.
The 8 Most Common Prey Of Assassin Snails
Assassin snails are skilled hunters, and they will hunt and kill potential prey within their reach. If you’re wondering the kind of prey assassin snails target, here are the snails that kick in their killer instincts instantly:
1. Apple snails
Apple snails are types of freshwater snails native to South America but have been introduced to other places like Europe and Asia, and are currently noted as invasive species. They are sought after by aquarium enthusiasts for their colorful and aesthetically pleasing appearance, and by assassin snails for their rewarding flesh. They hunt down apple snails relentlessly and even are used to control the population when they become pests.
2. Mystery Snails
Mystery snails are a category of apple snails, and similarly, are one of the common prey of assassin snails. Assassins enjoy preying on the hatchlings of mysteries and despite their differences in size, can and will harm and kill them. Most misinformed owners believe that if the mystery snail is bigger than the assassin, then they can escape being preyed on. However, predatory mollusks like assassins are capable of ganging up and killing prey bigger than them, such as your golf-sized mystery snail.
3. Ramshorn Snails
Due to being small-sized, ramshorn snails are usually hitchhiked into unsuspecting tanks. They would annoyingly attach themselves to plants or substrates which you would then put into your tank, and before you know it, you have a troubling population of ramshorns taking over your aquarium! Though their size may be beneficial to their sneaky behavior, assassin snails relentlessly prey on them for the same reason. They are the easiest targets for predator snails, and they are quite nutritious, too.
4. Pond Snails
These freshwater snails are infamous for reproducing immensely thanks to their asexual nature. They are hugely invasive and almost difficult to control. Due to their rampant nature, they are notorious hitchhikers known for showing up in places you would have sworn not to have put them, such as your highly guarded aquarium.
Assassin snails enjoy feeding on the pond snails and are highly skilled in hunting them in their numbers until there’s none left. They are also highly nutritious for predatory snails since they are heavily herbivorous and nutrient-rich for their predators.
5. Bladder Snails
Similarly to pond snails, bladders are highly invasive and are known to immediately distribute eggs the moment they feel comfy. They are huge algae eaters and make great tank cleaners, but due to their overwhelming ability to breed, they can later mess up the tank more than they can clean. This is when it’s necessary to introduce assassin snails to your hijacked aquarium. Assassin snails will relentlessly consume bladder snails until none remain, enjoying the feast to the very end!
6. Malaysian Trumpet Snails
In the wild, Malaysian trumpet snails are the regular prey for assassin snails being natives of the same place which is South East Asia. They are not as invasive as pond or bladder snails, but they reproduce quickly and can overpopulate your aquarium if they get too comfortable.
7. Rabbit Snails
Rabbit snails are interesting herbivores native to Indonesia and are kept in aquariums for their unique appearances. However, due to being sandy substrate lovers like assassins, they are easily gobbled up when in the same tank as your killer critters. Still, they’re hardly hunted due to their complicated shell shape which makes them difficult to feed on. Assassins will prefer to hunt down a bladder snail compared to a rabbit snail.
8. Shrimp
Assassin snails can and will target shrimp if they are hungry enough, especially shrimp fry. Although the possibilities are low, they can attack vulnerable shrimp when they are molting, sleeping, or injured and happily feast on them. If you’re wondering whether shrimp are safe around assassins, the truth is they are not. It ultimately depends on whether you’re willing to risk it or not.
What Are The Suitable Tankmates For Assassin Snails?
If you’re looking for suitable tankmates for your assassins, other snails are not the best idea. Instead, you should look into aquarium fish that the killer critters will be unable to catch. The common law of assassin snails is that if they can catch and kill it, they will eat it!
Fish like the Siamese algae eaters, Bristlenose plecos, and Dwarf suckers are examples of suitable tankmates for assassins as they will complement the habitat by eating up algae. Along with adding inhabitants that your snails can’t harm, you must avoid aquarium pets that will not hurt your assassin snails such as fish like bettas or loaches, crabs, and turtles. In the end, you aim to achieve a habitat where each pet stays out of the other pet’s way, or stomach in this case.
What Do I Feed My Assassin Snails? Assassin Snail Diet
If you’re looking into keeping assassin snails as pets without an invasive snail problem, you have to hand-feed them their correct diet regularly. Here’s how to go about it:
Prey/Pest Snails
Prey snails can be gotten from local fish stores, generous aquarists, or troubled tank owners who would gladly get the maddening invasive species off their hands. Avoid wild-caught snails since they may be hosting parasites that will harm your tank and its inhabitants—It’s best to be as safe as possible. You can throw in some feeder snails for your assassins to get them in their hunting spirit. They will be well-fed for as long as they have prey to devour.
Blood Worms
Blood worms are common proteinous foods for carnivorous pets like your assassins, and they absolutely enjoy them! You can opt for either blood worms or pest snails for your snail depending on the pattern of feeding. Assassin snails can eat daily or every other day, but I don’t recommend keeping them hungry for more than two days. Usually, starving them is why they go on killer sprees attacking even snails that are larger than them.
Raw Fish
Assassin snails will enjoy thin strips of raw fish if you throw them into the tank. Do not feed your pets cooked and spiced fish because spices are harmful to snails and can kill them if they contain overwhelming amounts of salt or citrusy flavors. Besides, they prefer to kill their prey or feed on dead or decaying meat. It’s best to keep it as natural as possible when you’re feeding fish to your snails.
Shrimp
Additionally, you can feed raw diced shrimp to assassin snails as part of their diet as shrimp is highly proteinous and contains calcium which is beneficial for their shells. As long as the shrimp is not cooked with spices, you will maintain a healthy assassin snail on this diet through and through.
Will Assassin Snails Eat Snails Bigger Than Them?
Assassin snails will eat human-sized prey if they can, and a few inches added to their prey snail will not deter them. However, it is rather unusual for them to hunt down bigger snails—they usually go for them when they’re out of choices. While it’s almost impossible for one assassin snail to eat a 4-inch apple snail, it does not stop it from attacking and harassing its prey even to the point of injury which could lead to the snail dying.
Some cases demonstrate a group of assassin snails ganging up against bigger snails and successfully killing them. In other words, I would not trust assassins around algae-eating snails if I were you, even if they are considerably bigger.
Will Assassin Snails Eat Other Assassin Snails?
Rarely, assassin snails may turn against their kind to eat them, specifically the hatchlings. This usually happens when the snail is starved or when the victim snail is dying. It’s necessary to ensure your pets are well-fed to avoid the killer snails from cannibalizing themselves.
