# Do assassin snails eat fish eggs?



## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Yes, unfortunately I believe about all snails do go for fish eggs to eat if they have a chance. Best thing IMO is to isolate the pair if you have the couple, in a tank with no snails and deco equipment as a hideout, let them do their thing and have the spawn undisturbed. And it's possible they felt threatened in some way in the tank (like the assassin snails) and they went and ate some of the eggs for the heck of it. They could still be young parents.. maybe another spawn and they will get it right next time.


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Assassins are brutal, I've seen them go after fry before.. didn't catch them but they were hunting.. i feel they'd eat the eggs yes..


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## Nakinata (Mar 25, 2011)

Those jerks! I currently have one fry that's growing in a breeder box. That fry is now with the 3 remaining eggs, hopefully the eggs will hatch for me. I've gone on a genocidal rampage and removed every assassin snail that I could find. I wouldn't be surprised though if there are still more hidden under the substrate...


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

I can't confirm that but I would not rule it out. Beside prey snails they eat frozen bloodworms (a favorite of theirs) shrimp pellets and at least dead dwarf shrimp. If they can catch it I believe they will eat it. And eggs are easy to catch.


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## ErtyJr (Jun 21, 2014)

My assassin snails eat pretty much everything they can. But I've bred my apistogramma cacatuoides multiple times in tanks with them and have never had a problem.


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## Nakinata (Mar 25, 2011)

ErtyJr, would you happen to know how often apistogrammas spawn?


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## ErtyJr (Jun 21, 2014)

Mine are way too prolific. I have to keep them separated, because in the wild the mother breeds and then cares for her young about 1 month at which time the young wander off slowly untill she is left with none. The whole thing takes maybe 2 months.

They only breed in the rainy season so in the wild about once a year. But that's not what your asking. In captivity, they will breed far more often which will actually shorten their life span, along with over eating, too high of temps, and eating too many fatty foods. All these things shorten their life span, but all of those things also lead to them spawning more frequently. 

A temperature of 79 will lead to a 50/50 ratio of male and female offspring within a margin of error. A temperature of 76 will lengthen your fishes life significantly. 

Lots of fatty foods will make them spawn more frequently. These are all things we want, but will shorten the lives of our pets which we care for. With proper care an apistogramma can live 5 or more years in your tank. Most apistogramma live 2-3 years in tanks.

Now that I've said all this I will answer your question and you can form your own opinion on how to treat your fish.

Once the female is no longer guarding fry she will take about 1-2 more weeks to develop more eggs and lay again. Because of this I remove the mother from the father and leave her with her young to raise them for many months. I generally try to only have each fish breed 1-2 times per year.


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## Nakinata (Mar 25, 2011)

That was really helpful information, thanks a lot for the insight! I always had apistogrammas live around 2 years, I didn't even realize they could live longer than that.


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## ErtyJr (Jun 21, 2014)

Your welcome and hope it helps!

Oh and I don't know why I didn't think to ask sooner but where was your female when this all happened? You said there were 3 eggs but didn't mention her. Were the 3 eggs colored white or brownish yellow?

If white they weren't fertilized and she will stop caring for them anyways. 

I ask where she was because my female likes to move her eggs fairly often. Especially once they hatch into wrigglers which takes 2-3 days.

Generally if I poke my nose around to much, the next day the eggs or wrigglers will be moved. She may have just moved them and left the unfertile ones behind.


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