# Breeding Ramshorn Snails



## Capsaicin_MFK (Nov 15, 2009)

How to breed snails:

1) Put snails in tank.
2) Overfeed fish.
3) ???
4) Profit.


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## g33tar (Jan 8, 2010)

Capsaicin_MFK said:


> How to breed snails:
> 
> 1) Put snails in tank.
> 2) Overfeed fish.
> ...


Agreed. Put one in any vessel of water and hold on tight. When I first set up my aquarium I wanted snails SO bad. I'd see people on here talking about how annoying they are. Then I finally found my first snail and treasured it like baby made of diamonds. Then there were 1,000.

I'm guessing you have some sort of snail-eating fish?


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

hahaha WIN!


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

Capsaicin_MFK said:


> How to breed snails:
> 
> 1) Put snails in tank.
> 2) Overfeed fish.
> ...


Problem with #1: I have assassin snails in the main tank in order to get rid of my pond snails and MTS.
Which is why I put my ramshorn snails inside a Lee's 3 way breeder box.
I was just wondering if anybody knew if there's a better plastic container with slits than the small breeder boxes.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

My weather loach is currently on a grand tour of all my tanks to eliminate all pond snails, and greatly reduce the ramshorn population.  She's doing a great job.

The Lee's Three-Way Breeder doesn't have slits on the bottom, only on the sides. The slits for the "fry area" are provided by a removable plastic insert, which you can take out.


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

I know that the slits for the fry area could be taken out.
Which is why I use the Lee's three way breeder box since it's the best I can find.

So, that being said, I wanted to get something bigger.
Cuz the three way breeder box seems kinda small.
If there's anything bigger, but has the SAME design (having only side slits), then that would be great.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Oh, I misunderstood.

If it's this video, it looks similar to this product with all the extra dividers and such taken out.


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

DarkCobra said:


> Oh, I misunderstood.
> 
> If it's this video, it looks similar to this product with all the extra dividers and such taken out.


Wow! Thanks!
How did you manage to find it?
It does make me wonder if the filter and all that stuff can be removed.
But thanks for finding that out for me!!!


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

Just out of curiosity, do those boxes only let water in but not water out? How do you prevent snails from escaping?


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

takadi said:


> Just out of curiosity, do those boxes only let water in but not water out? How do you prevent snails from escaping?


Well, if you look carefully at the picture, it shows side slits on both sides.
While on the left side, there's a filter that lets water go into the box.
On the right side, there's slits so that water can leave the box.
So it's a pretty legit structure to me.

About snails escaping, I dont think ramshorns try and escape by climbing out of the water.
I've had like ONE escape, but it's not that bad.
As for baby snails, it's kinda hard to keep them inside. But if you put in plants and some soil inside the box, i'm pretty sure they would want to stay there.. i hope. hahaha


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

Yea I was thinking about the baby snails escaping through the slits and perhaps entering another breeding box and messing up the genes


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

takadi said:


> Yea I was thinking about the baby snails escaping through the slits and perhaps entering another breeding box and messing up the genes


LOLLL!!! that would suck!
But, I mean, if it happens, it happens.
Unless you use some netted breeder box, but I always feel like they dont get as much water circulation. If you know what I mean.

The ramshorn babies grow pretty fast.
So if you find one that's grown up a lot since birth, you can just pick it up, put it back in it's place and it wouldn't escape anymore cuz it cant.

I dont think ramshorns breed until they get to a certain size right?


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

You could easily breed ramshorns in plastic cups on a flat surface. Throw some java moss in there, feed them and change the water every couple of days and you will have babies galore. It happens all the time in my cory hatching cups when I throw java moss from my snail tank in them. No need for a fancy setup unless that's just what you want.


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## Safez (Mar 4, 2011)

> 1) Put snails in tank.
> 2) Overfeed fish.
> 3) ???
> 4) Profit.


Lol it doesnt get much better than this!, you dont need fancy breeding boxes for snails my friend.


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

Well unless he's trying to do selective breeding for colors and shell patterns


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

That's really what it takes. I found one on my plants a month ago. I put it in my 5 gallon. It layed eggs on the silicone. Now I have been feeding them to my Cichlids. There are just TOO MANY! How much can you sell them for btw? On ebay or something?


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

takadi said:


> Well unless he's trying to do selective breeding for colors and shell patterns


Mine's shells look like leopards' shells. Is this normal?


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Mine's shells look like leopards' shells. Is this normal?


Mine do too. And I'd give anything to stop them breeding.


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

If you read the previous posts, you would know why I wanted breeding boxes.
I have assassin snails in my tank.

I know that I could possibly use plastic cups, but the fancy breeding boxes are mostly for aesthetic purposes too. haha
I like to keep my aquarium looking nice and if I had this random plastic cup floating in my tank, it'll look like some polluted lake of some sort. LOL!


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

And yes, I am trying to selectively breed.
I currently have some blues and browns and leopards.
Currently, the leopards already had tons of babies and the blues... im waiting on them.
I'm waiting on my other shipments of other colors right now too.
So I need a lot more breeder boxes. LOL


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

Geniusdudekiran said:


> That's really what it takes. I found one on my plants a month ago. I put it in my 5 gallon. It layed eggs on the silicone. Now I have been feeding them to my Cichlids. There are just TOO MANY! How much can you sell them for btw? On ebay or something?


You can indeed sell them on ebay or aquabid or anywhere.
But, I don't think selling browns or leopards will give you any profit. LOL!
I know a guy selling 10 of them for $1. with a $5 shipping cost.
Some sell 100 of them too for a cheap price.

Usually, more rare colors cost more. For example, blues, pinks (albino), pearl shells, goldens, etc.

Usually people put these snails on aquabid and let people bid on their snails.


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

wish I had one of these guys:


















they're from some german websites and they call these guys white ramshorns o__o


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## Safez (Mar 4, 2011)

leucistic snails?


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

possibly.
But i thought leucistics were pink.
But these guys aren't even pink.
Maybe the one on the bottom seems more pink, but their shells are white.
the snails on the first picture seem to have more of a yellowish brown body.


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## PasD (Sep 2, 2006)

Anyone try breeding these snails in a unheated aquarium? If so, how fast did they reproduce?


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

takadi said:


> Well unless he's trying to do selective breeding for colors and shell patterns


She. Not he. Lol


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## pao81cha (Feb 26, 2010)

I have one in my tank, I'm wondering if there has to be a male and female to reproduce.


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

pao81cha said:


> I have one in my tank, I'm wondering if there has to be a male and female to reproduce.


If you have one, one is not enough.
Ramshorn snails do not have a gender.
They're hermaphroditic meaning that they can choose to be males or females.
You need to have two ramshorns for them to reproduce because they can't reproduce by itself.


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## pao81cha (Feb 26, 2010)

could they switch to being a male to a female then back around


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

pao81cha said:


> could they switch to being a male to a female then back around


I have no idea.
But I think since they dont have any gender, we cant say whether they are females or males.
They would have both female and male organs... as to what i read.
Just know that they will reproduce like mad if you have two of them.


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## dj2005 (Apr 23, 2009)

j0onahra3 said:


> wish I had one of these guys:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Using the same image I sent you some days ago, my baby albinos look about the same (ignore the red shelled Ramshorns as I was too lazy to remove them at the time):









If they are simply Ramshorns selectively bred for the white shell trait, then you should be able to achieve that effect easily with the ones I shipped to you.

And as others stated, lots of food + Ramshorns = tons of babies. Just make sure your filter doesn't suck your babies up.


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## j0onahra3 (Mar 3, 2011)

dj2005 said:


> Using the same image I sent you some days ago, my baby albinos look about the same (ignore the red shelled Ramshorns as I was too lazy to remove them at the time):
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, I did think about your snails when I posted the pictures up.
I will try that out! Thanks!
I realized that these white shelled ramshorns could have yellow feet, which makes them even more appealing.
But I haven't had any yellow footed ramshorns just yet.
Maybe one from my brown ramshorns, but it's young.
So I can't be too sure how it'll grow up to look.


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