A snail that hunts snails, and buries itself to do it
An assassin snail is sold as a solution to a pest snail problem. It is a carnivore that ambushes other snails from under the sand, and three of our four sources say it will eventually take the expensive snail as well.
Wikipedia describes the method rather than the personality: the species spends much of its time buried in substrate, shows reduced activity during midday hours, and often buries itself in order to ambush prey. It earns the name from its practice of eating other snails, and its wild diet is given as worms and gastropods.
On the name itself the trade and the taxonomy have not caught up with each other. Wikipedia gives the accepted genus as Anentome and lists Clea helena among the historical synonyms, with Canidia, Hemisinus and Melania used earlier still. All three of our care sources still write Clea: Aquarium Breeder as Clea Helena / Anentome Helena, Aquarium Source as either, and AquaticMotiv as Clea Helena alone. The record prints both, because a buyer will see both on labels.
Where Anentome helena comes from, per Wikipedia: throughout southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia, Thailand, and in Lake Toba on the Indonesian island Sumatra.
This is the second snail record on this site and the first predator on it. Our nerite snail record is an algae grazer, and station 06 is about what happens when the two are in the same tank.
Why this record was written now
- The gap
- Six thousand seven hundred searches a month, and the snails silo held one record.
- What it changes
- It is the first record here that eats another record on the same layer, and the third refusal against our nerite snail record.
- What it does not
- One blank, the growth rate, which nobody publishes. The removal question in station 09 has no answer in any source we hold, and the record says so instead of guessing.
Assassin snail care, and three sources that agree on the tank
| Source | Temperature | pH | Hardness | Tank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aquarium Breeder | 75 to 82 °F optimal, 64 to 86 tolerated | 7.0 to 8.0 optimal | GH 6 to 20, KH 2 to 10 | 10 gal, called optimal |
| Aquarium Source | 70 to 80 °F | 6.5 to 7.5 | 2 to 15 dKH | 10 gal, plus 5 gal per two snails |
| AquaticMotiv | 74 to 80 °F | 6.7 to 7.8 | 6 to 15 dGH | 10 gal for a small group |
| Wikipedia | not stated | not stated | not stated | not stated |
All three assassin snail care sources say ten gallons, which happens on almost no other record on this site. The scaling rule is Aquarium Source’s and it is the only one published: add 5 gallons for every two snails, which makes the six snail group in station 07 a twenty gallon tank.
On temperature the three bands share 75 to 80 °F. Aquarium Breeder is the only source that separates optimal from tolerated, and its tolerance range, 64 to 86 °F, is the widest figure any snail record here carries.
On pH every source puts the middle of its range above neutral, and the reason is the same one our nerite snail record prints: Aquarium Breeder states that snail shells are 95 percent calcium carbonate and asks for GH above 6 on that basis. Acid water is not a preference problem for a snail, it is a shell problem.
Stable parameters, and what that means on a snail
Three of our four sources describe Clea helena as hardy and then attach the same condition to it. Aquarium Breeder asks for drip acclimation, the method used for shrimp, because the species is hardy but sensitive to sudden parameter swings. AquaticMotiv asks for stable parameters rather than particular ones. Aquarium Source tells you to aim for the middle of its temperature range rather than either end.
None of that is unusual for a freshwater snail and all of it matters more than the exact figures above. A tank held steadily at 77 °F is better assassin snail care than one swinging between 75 and 80, and the same is true of the pH: our nerite snail record carries the shell chemistry that explains why an acid swing costs a snail something a fish would not notice.
On hardness the two sources publishing general hardness overlap from 6 to 15 dGH, 107 to 268 ppm. Aquarium Source publishes 2 to 15 dKH instead, which measures carbonate rather than general hardness and is not convertible by arithmetic.
What do assassin snails eat? Snails, meat, and not algae
All four sources call Anentome helena a carnivore, and one of them spends a paragraph on what that rules out. The food list is short and it is all meat.
- Aquarium Breeder: they are carnivores, not algae eaters. It names bladder snails, ramshorn snails and Malaysian trumpet snails as prey, and frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and sinking carnivore pellets as the substitute when the prey runs out.
- Aquarium Source: carnivorous and eat protein-based foods only, naming trumpet, rabbit, ivory and ramshorn snails, plus snail eggs, shrimp fry, bloodworms, brine shrimp and leftover flakes.
- AquaticMotiv: carnivorous and primarily feed on other snails, naming bladder, pond and ramshorn, with frozen or live bloodworms, brine shrimp and daphnia as supplements.
- Wikipedia: carnivorous, feeding on worms and gastropods.
Do assassin snails eat algae? No
Aquarium Breeder answers it in the negative twice: they are carnivores, not algae eaters, and assassin snails do not eat algae. None of our other three sources lists algae among its foods either.
That matters because of what sits next to it in a shop. Our nerite snail record is the algae eater and its sources are specific about which algae, soft green algae and brown diatoms. Buying an assassin snail for algae is buying the wrong animal, and buying a nerite for pest snails is buying the other wrong animal.
Do assassin snails eat planaria? One source says the idea is a myth
Aquarium Breeder is the only source we hold that addresses it, and it does so bluntly: no, this is a forum myth. Nothing in the other three sources contradicts it, and nothing in them supports the idea either. This record carries the negative because one source we cite states it and none disputes it.
When the pest snails run out
Every source has a version of this and none of them presents it as optional. The prey population is finite, an assassin snail is not an algae eater, and the tank then needs feeding: carnivore pellets and frozen meat per Aquarium Breeder, bloodworms and brine shrimp per the other two. An assassin snail bought as a tool becomes an animal with a diet the day it succeeds, which is the same shape of problem our what to feed a snail guide exists to name.
The full record
| Field | Recorded | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum tank | 10 gal | Three sources publish a figure and all three say ten gallons, which happens on almost no other record here. Aquarium Breeder calls 10 gallons, about 40 liters, optimal and states no hard minimum. Aquarium Source asks for a 10-gallon tank and adds the only scaling rule anybody publishes: add 5 gallons to that size requirement for every two snails. AquaticMotiv asks for a minimum of 10 gallons for a small group. Wikipedia publishes no tank size. Read the Aquarium Source rule against the group figure in station 07 and six snails is a twenty gallon tank. |
| Temperature | 75 to 80 °F | Three sources publish a band and 75 to 80 °F is the span all three contain. Aquarium Breeder gives 24 to 28 C, 75 to 82 °F, as optimal and adds a tolerance range twice as wide, 18 to 30 C, 64 to 86 °F. Aquarium Source gives 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and tells you to aim for the middle. AquaticMotiv gives 74 to 80 °F, 24 to 27 C. Wikipedia publishes no temperature. The row prints the overlap of the three published bands rather than the tolerance, which is the same convention every other record here uses, and the tolerance figure is worth knowing anyway: it is the widest any snail record on this site carries. |
| pH | 7.0 to 7.5 | Three bands and the overlap is a half point. Aquarium Breeder: 7.0 to 8.0 optimal, 6.5 to 8.5 tolerated. Aquarium Source: 6.5 to 7.5. AquaticMotiv: 6.7 to 7.8. So the floor is Aquarium Breeder at 7.0 and the ceiling is Aquarium Source at 7.5. Every source that publishes a figure puts the middle of it above neutral, which our nerite snail record explains: a snail shell needs carbonate, and acid water dissolves it. |
| Hardness | 107 to 268 ppm | Two sources publish general hardness and they overlap from 6 to 15 dGH, which is 107 to 268 ppm. Aquarium Breeder: GH 6 to 20 optimal, with KH 2 to 10, and it gives the reason no other source on this record states: snail shells are 95 percent calcium carbonate, and it asks for GH above 6 for that reason. AquaticMotiv: 6 to 15 dGH. Aquarium Source publishes 2 to 15 dKH instead, which is carbonate hardness rather than general hardness and not the same measurement. Wikipedia publishes nothing. |
| Adult size | 1 to 1.2 in (25 to 30 mm) | Four sources and the overlap is narrow because two of them describe a larger animal than the other two. Wikipedia is the widest: typically grows 0.7 to 1.25 in, 18 to 32 mm, though aquarium specimens tend to be smaller. AquaticMotiv: 1 to 1.25 inches in length when fully mature. Aquarium Breeder: 2.5 to 3 cm, about 1 inch. Aquarium Source: about one inch in length, with some reaching up to 2 inches long, which it calls quite uncommon. The row prints 1 to 1.2 in, the span all four support, and the two outer figures are worth carrying: a wild animal can be smaller than an inch, per Wikipedia, and a captive one can reportedly reach two, per Aquarium Source. |
| Diet | Carnivore. It hunts snails and does not eat algae | Every source calls it a carnivore and one of them makes the negative explicit. Aquarium Breeder: they are carnivores, not algae eaters, and assassin snails do not eat algae. It names bladder snails, ramshorn snails and Malaysian trumpet snails as prey and frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and sinking carnivore pellets as substitutes. Aquarium Source: carnivorous and eat protein-based foods only, naming trumpet, rabbit, ivory and ramshorn snails, plus snail eggs, shrimp fry, bloodworms, brine shrimp and leftover flakes. AquaticMotiv: carnivorous and primarily feed on other snails, naming bladder, pond and ramshorn, with frozen or live bloodworms, brine shrimp and daphnia as supplements. Wikipedia: carnivorous, feeding on worms and gastropods, and it describes the method, often burying itself in order to ambush prey. Nothing we read says it grazes algae, which is the answer to the question 250 people a month ask. |
| Water column | Substrate, and buried in it | Wikipedia: the species spends much of its time buried in substrate, and it shows reduced activity during midday hours. That is not a preference, it is the hunting method, since the same source says it often buries itself in order to ambush prey. AquaticMotiv asks for fine gravel or sand for burrowing. The layer matters on this site for one practical reason: our otocinclus, nerite snail and shrimp records all work the same surfaces, and this record is the only one on that layer that eats the others. |
| Lifespan | 2 to 5 years | Four figures and two positions. Aquarium Source: between 2 and 3 years on average, though some enthusiasts have reported these gastropods living for upwards of 5 years. AquaticMotiv: 2 to 3 years in captivity. Aquarium Breeder: up to 5 years. Wikipedia publishes no lifespan. The row carries 2 to 5 years because the low pair and the high pair are both published and the difference is not something our sources resolve. It is longer than our nerite snail record at 1 to 2 years, which is the only other snail here. |
| Growth rate | Not recorded yet | No source publishes a rate, a size at an age or a maturity date. The nearest anybody comes is the hatching time in station 08, and that is the figure our sources disagree about most. |
The same nine fields for every animal on this site are in the A to Z index.
Where our sources disagree
Every record here names a disagreement. On this one it is the figure that tells a keeper whether the eggs on the glass are alive or dead.
Aquarium Breeder
Eggs hatch in 46 to 58 days at optimal temperature.
AquaticMotiv
Eggs typically take around 3 to 4 weeks to hatch.
What we record: we print both and take neither, and the count is three to one against the long figure. Aquarium Source says about a month for the tiny eggs to hatch. Wikipedia says the capsules usually hatch within a few weeks.
AquaticMotiv says 3 to 4 weeks. Aquarium Breeder, which is the most detailed source on this record by a distance and the one that publishes the calcium chemistry nobody else does, says 46 to 58 days.
That is a month of difference on a figure with a practical consequence: a keeper working from three weeks writes the clutch off as failed at day thirty, and a keeper working from eight weeks does not. Nothing our sources publish explains the gap, and temperature is the obvious suspect only because Aquarium Breeder attaches its figure to optimal temperature and the other three attach theirs to nothing.
Do assassin snails eat shrimp? Yes, with three different conditions
This is the most searched question about assassin snails after their care, and every source that answers it answers yes and then qualifies it. No two qualifications are the same.
- Aquarium Breeder: yes, they do eat shrimp, but only the weak, the sick, or the ones that are molting.
- Aquarium Source: names shrimp fry among the foods, alongside snail eggs and bloodworms.
- AquaticMotiv: only smaller or baby shrimp, while larger or adult shrimp are typically safe, and it puts larger shrimp on the compatible list.
Read those three together and the answer is not reassuring in the way a shop makes it sound. A healthy adult shrimp is safe by all three conditions. A molting one is not, per the first. Every shrimplet in the tank is not, per all three.
Against our own records
Our cherry shrimp record carries a 30 to 40 mm Neocaridina davidi whose young hatch at about a millimeter, so a colony of Neocaridina contains both categories at all times. Our tank mates grid marks that pairing a caution and prints all three conditions, because a refusal would overstate what our sources say and a clear cell would understate it.
Our amano shrimp record carries a 1 to 2 inch animal that does not breed in fresh water, which puts it on the safe side of every condition our sources name. Our ghost shrimp record carries a 1 to 1.5 inch animal and a source describing it as sold as food, which is a different problem entirely.
The molting clause is the one worth remembering, because it applies to every shrimp in every tank on a schedule the keeper does not control.
Will assassin snails eat mystery snails? Eventually, says the source that answers
Three of our sources address prey size and they do not land in the same place.
- Aquarium Breeder, asked directly about mystery and nerite snails: eventually, yes. It also says larger snails are taken if the assassins gang up.
- Aquarium Source restricts the prey to other snails that are smaller than them, naming trumpet, rabbit, ivory and ramshorn snails.
- AquaticMotiv puts bigger snails on the compatible list and small snails on the avoid list.
So one source says the big snail goes eventually and two say size protects it. Our record refuses the pairing with our nerite snail record rather than allowing it, for a reason worth stating plainly: a nerite is the animal in this hobby people pay a premium for, its shell is 0.5 to 1.5 inches, and one source we cite says the outcome is a matter of time rather than of size.
That makes three refusals against the nerite snail record on this site, after our pea puffer record, whose source asks for small snails with the shell on regularly, and our clown loach record, where four sources name snails as food. The snails silo is the one whose animals everything else eats, and our snails silo now says so with two records rather than one.
The other snails in the trade, and why they are not records here
Between them our sources name bladder, ramshorn, Malaysian trumpet, pond, rabbit, ivory and mystery snails, and this site holds a record for none of them. They are in the queue on the snails silo, and the reason they appear here at all is that the prey list is the product description for this animal.
Assassin snail size, and how many assassin snails do I need
The assassin snail size, from four sources
- Wikipedia: typically grows 0.7 to 1.25 in, 18 to 32 mm, though aquarium specimens tend to be smaller.
- AquaticMotiv: 1 to 1.25 inches in length when fully mature.
- Aquarium Breeder: 2.5 to 3 cm, about 1 inch.
- Aquarium Source: about one inch, with some reaching up to 2 inches long, which it calls quite uncommon.
The row prints 1 to 1.2 in, the span all four sources support, and it is the assassin snail size figure this record stands behind. Against the nerite it is the smaller by ceiling and the larger by floor: our nerite snail record carries 0.5 to 1.5 inches against 1 to 1.2 here, so the two overlap almost exactly, and our rabbit snail record is a different animal again at 2 to 4 inches, which is the size argument station 06 is about.
How many, and the arithmetic nobody publishes
Only one source gives a number and it gives it for breeding: Aquarium Source asks for 6 or more snails in one tank. The same page asks for 5 gallons per two snails on top of a 10 gallon base, so six snails is a twenty gallon tank by that source’s own rule.
Nobody publishes a dose for pest control, which is what the question usually means. There is no snails-per-gallon figure, no ratio to the pest population, and no time to clearance in any source we hold. What our sources do publish is the direction of travel: two of them say the population will not run away with you, because they reproduce very slowly per Aquarium Source and, per Aquarium Breeder, unlike bladder snails they do not breed out of control.
So the honest answer is to keep a small number and wait. One or two is a tool, six is a breeding project, and the difference is a tank size the sources will tell you about only if you read the scaling rule.
Are assassin snails asexual? No, and that is the useful part
The question comes up because most snails a beginner meets are not like an assassin snail. Wikipedia is unambiguous: sexes are separate, not hermaphroditic, with males and females indistinguishable in appearance. Aquarium Breeder says the same in one word, gonochoristic, and adds that breeding requires a male and a female.
That single fact is why two of our sources can promise the population will not explode. A hermaphroditic snail needs one animal to start a colony; this one needs two, and a keeper who bought one has bought a tool rather than a population.
The eggs, and the figure our sources cannot agree on
Wikipedia: females lay several clear egg capsules which are square in shape, each containing a single egg. Aquarium Breeder: 1 to 4 egg capsules per clutch. A square capsule with one egg in it is the identification, and it is the reason a keeper knows what they are looking at before the hatching argument starts.
And the argument, which station 04 prints as the dispute on this record:
- Wikipedia: usually hatch within a few weeks.
- AquaticMotiv: eggs typically take around 3 to 4 weeks to hatch.
- Aquarium Source: about a month for the tiny eggs to hatch.
- Aquarium Breeder: 46 to 58 days at optimal temperature.
Three sources say three or four weeks and the most detailed of the four says six to eight. The practical consequence is a month of waiting: a keeper working from the short figure writes the clutch off at day thirty, and one working from the long figure does not. Only Aquarium Breeder attaches its number to a temperature, which is the one clue anybody offers about why the four disagree. The same source adds the reason the argument is hard to settle from a tank: the baby snails spend weeks buried after hatching, so the day they hatch is not a day anybody sees.
The tank, and the one animal here that is safe with plants
Substrate, and why an assassin snail cannot do without it
Aquarium Breeder asks for soft substrate, sand or fine gravel, at least 2 inches, 5 cm, deep, naming pool filter sand, play sand and fine aquarium sand, and it says to avoid coarse gravel and bare-bottom tanks. AquaticMotiv asks for fine gravel or sand for burrowing.
The reason is two behaviors rather than a preference. The adult hunts by burying itself, per Wikipedia, and per Aquarium Breeder the baby snails spend weeks buried after hatching. A bare tank removes the hunting method and the nursery at once.
That second fact is also the most useful thing on this record for the argument in station 08: if the young stay out of sight for weeks after they hatch, nobody keeping a tank can date the hatch by watching, which is exactly the kind of figure four sources end up disagreeing about.
Plants: nothing to worry about
Aquarium Breeder is unusually direct. Assassin snails will not touch your plants, because they are carnivores without the mouthparts to scrape algae or consume plant tissue, and it names amazon swords, java ferns and carpeting plants as facing no risk.
That makes this the only animal record on this site with a source stating outright that it is safe with plants. Our goldfish record carries the opposite from Wikipedia, our clown loach record asks for vegetables in the diet, and our siamese algae eater record carries a source naming the plants that fish prefers to eat. Our java fern record is named here by name.
Two handling notes for assassin snails, and one is a health warning
- Copper. Aquarium Breeder: assassin snails are sensitive to copper-based medications, and it says to remove them before treating fish for ich or parasites. That is the same chemistry our clown loach record argues about, where one source says copper-based medicines are fine for a scaleless fish and another says the fish should not take a full dose at all. The snail has no such argument attached to it: one source, one instruction, remove the animal.
- Acclimation. The same source asks for drip acclimation, the method used for shrimp, on the grounds that the species is hardy but sensitive to sudden parameter swings.
- A lid. Not required, per the same source, which then says to cover the tank anyway since determined snails may find gaps.
What our sources put in the water with it
Aquarium Breeder names the safe list and it is the first time on this site that four of our own records appear on one: pygmy corydoras, otocinclus, small tetras and rasboras. Our corydoras record covers the pygmy species by name, and our otocinclus, ember tetra and chili rasbora records are the other three.
And the unsafe list, which is shorter and blunter: cichlids, loaches, goldfish and pufferfish will eat them, all snails are unsafe because assassins eat every snail species they can overpower, and crabs and crayfish are to be avoided as opportunistic predators of assassin snails.
Station 10 reads that list against every record this site holds.
How to get rid of assassin snails, and why we cannot tell you
What our sources actually publish
Not one of our four sources gives a removal method. No trap, no bait, no chemical, no procedure. That is the whole finding and this record prints it rather than filling the gap from somewhere we would not cite.
What two of them publish instead is a reason the question may not need answering. Aquarium Source: they will not overpopulate your tank, because they reproduce very slowly. Aquarium Breeder, asked whether they become a pest themselves: no, unlike bladder snails, they do not breed out of control.
Station 08 gives the mechanism behind both statements. This snail is gonochoristic, so a colony needs both sexes, and the eggs take between three and eight weeks depending on which source you believe. A pest snail can populate a tank from one animal; this one cannot.
What that leaves an assassin snail keeper with
Three things our sources do say about keeping assassin snails, none of which is a removal method, and all of which bear on the question.
- The prey runs out. Every source describes a carnivore that does not eat algae, so a tank cleared of pest snails is a tank where the keeper is now the food supply, and the food is meat.
- The eggs are identifiable. Wikipedia’s square capsules with a single egg each are what a keeper would need to recognize to control the numbers at all.
- They bury themselves. Wikipedia says the animal spends much of its time buried in substrate, which is the sentence any manual removal has to work around.
| Named | Our records | What the water says, against 75 to 80 °F here |
|---|---|---|
| Safe: pygmy corydoras | Corydoras | 72 to 82 °F. Contains this record completely |
| Safe: otocinclus | Otocinclus | 70 to 79 °F. Meets from 75 to 79 |
| Safe: small tetras | Ember tetra | 72 to 82 °F. Contains this record completely |
| Safe: rasboras | Chili rasbora | 72 to 82 °F. Contains this record completely |
| Unsafe: cichlids | Oscar, angelfish, discus, flowerhorn | Oscar 75 to 80, identical. Angelfish meets from 78 to 80. Discus and flowerhorn do not meet it |
| Unsafe: loaches | Kuhli loach, clown loach | Kuhli meets from 75 to 79, and its own source says it is not known for eating snails. Clown loach prints 82 and does not meet this record at all |
| Unsafe: goldfish | Goldfish | 68 to 74 °F. Refused by the arithmetic as well |
| Unsafe: pufferfish | Pea puffer | 74 to 82 °F. Refused on the diet, not the water |
| Unsafe: all snails | Nerite snail | 72 to 79 °F. Refused, and station 06 is why |
What none of our sources says is whether a fish will do it for you. Our clown loach record carries four sources describing a fish that eats any freshwater snail it can get, but no source on either record puts the two together, and this record refuses the pairing rather than recommending it as pest control.
Assassin snails for sale: what our sources say to check
This site sells nothing and holds no stock. What it can do with a shopping query is print what our sources say to look at, and what one of them says about where these animals end up.
The one check any assassin snail source publishes
AquaticMotiv is the only one that addresses buying: inspect the snails upon arrival, and check the shell condition and the activity level. Aquarium Breeder gives the reason a shell check matters, in a sentence about chemistry rather than about shops: snail shells are 95 percent calcium carbonate, and it asks for GH above 6.
Put those together and a damaged shell is a water report, not a cosmetic problem. Nothing in our sources publishes a price, a size to buy at, or how to tell a male from a female, and Wikipedia says the last one is not possible by appearance.
The part that is not about your tank
Wikipedia carries two sentences no care sheet on this record repeats, and they belong on it. Introduced populations may be a serious threat to native freshwater gastropods. And: assassin snails serve as an intermediate host to Echinostoma revolutum trematode parasites.
Neither is a reason not to keep one, and neither is something a shop tank will tell you. They are the reason this record ends where it does rather than with a purchase link: an animal sold as a tool for a tank is still an animal from somewhere, and our about page explains why this site prints the awkward half.
What this record will not answer
How long the eggs take
Three weeks, four weeks, a month, or 46 to 58 days, depending which of four sources you read. Station 08 prints all four.
How to remove them
No source we hold publishes a method. Two say the population is self-limiting and the record stops there.
How many you need
Nobody publishes a dose for pest control. The only number on the record is six, and it is a breeding figure.
Whether your big snail is safe
One source says the mystery and nerite snails go eventually and two say size protects them. We refuse the pairing rather than split the difference.
A growth rate
Nobody publishes one, for the second snail record in a row.
Which sex you bought
Wikipedia says males and females are indistinguishable in appearance, so no source can help and neither can we.
Assassin snail questions, answered from the record
What do assassin snails eat?
Other snails and meat. Aquarium Breeder names bladder, ramshorn and Malaysian trumpet snails as prey, with frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and sinking carnivore pellets as substitutes. Aquarium Source adds snail eggs, shrimp fry and leftover flakes and calls the diet protein-based foods only. AquaticMotiv adds daphnia. Wikipedia gives the wild diet as worms and gastropods.
Do assassin snails eat algae?
No. Aquarium Breeder says it twice: they are carnivores, not algae eaters, and assassin snails do not eat algae. None of our other three sources lists algae among its foods. For algae our nerite snail record is the animal, and its sources name soft green algae and brown diatoms specifically.
Do assassin snails eat shrimp?
Yes, with a condition, and every source states a different one. Aquarium Breeder: only the weak, the sick, or the ones that are molting. Aquarium Source names shrimp fry among its foods. AquaticMotiv: only smaller or baby shrimp, with larger adults typically safe. A healthy adult cherry shrimp is safe by all three; a molting one and every shrimplet is not.
Will assassin snails eat mystery snails?
Aquarium Breeder answers directly: eventually, yes, and it adds that larger snails are taken if the assassins gang up. Aquarium Source limits the prey to snails smaller than themselves and AquaticMotiv puts bigger snails on the safe list. One source against two, and our record refuses the pairing with our own nerite snail record rather than allowing it.
Do assassin snails eat planaria?
Aquarium Breeder is the only source we hold that addresses it and its answer is no, this is a forum myth. Nothing in our other three sources supports or contradicts it.
What is the assassin snail size when fully grown?
One to 1.2 inches, 25 to 30 mm, which is the span all four sources support. Wikipedia gives 0.7 to 1.25 in and says aquarium specimens tend to be smaller. AquaticMotiv gives 1 to 1.25 in, Aquarium Breeder 2.5 to 3 cm, and Aquarium Source about one inch with two inches reported as quite uncommon.
How many assassin snails do I need?
No source publishes a dose for pest control. The only number anybody gives is Aquarium Source’s 6 or more in one tank, and it gives it for breeding. The same page asks for 10 gallons plus 5 gallons per two snails, so six snails is a twenty gallon tank by its own rule. One or two is a tool; six is a breeding project.
What tank size does an assassin snail need?
Ten gallons, and all three care sources say so, which is unusual on this site. Aquarium Breeder calls 10 gallons optimal, AquaticMotiv asks for a minimum of 10 for a small group, and Aquarium Source asks for 10 plus 5 more for every two snails.
Are assassin snails asexual?
No. Wikipedia: sexes are separate, not hermaphroditic, and males and females are indistinguishable in appearance. Aquarium Breeder calls the species gonochoristic and says breeding needs a male and a female. That is why two sources can say the population will not run away with you, and it is the difference between this snail and the pest snails it eats.
How long do assassin snail eggs take to hatch?
Our sources disagree by a month, which is the dispute on this record. Wikipedia says usually within a few weeks, AquaticMotiv 3 to 4 weeks, Aquarium Source about a month, and Aquarium Breeder 46 to 58 days at optimal temperature. The eggs are identifiable either way: Wikipedia describes clear, square capsules with a single egg in each.
How do you get rid of assassin snails?
No source we hold publishes a method, and this record will not invent one. What two of them publish is that the problem is smaller than it sounds: Aquarium Source says they will not overpopulate because they reproduce very slowly, and Aquarium Breeder says that unlike bladder snails they do not breed out of control. Both statements rest on the fact that the species needs two sexes to breed at all.
What do you feed an assassin snail once the pest snails are gone?
Meat, in the form every source names. Aquarium Breeder: frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp and brine shrimp, plus sinking carnivore pellets. Aquarium Source: bloodworms, brine shrimp, snail eggs and leftover flakes, on a diet it calls protein-based foods only. AquaticMotiv: frozen or live bloodworms, brine shrimp and daphnia. What no source offers is a food that keeps working on its own, because Anentome helena is a carnivore and does not graze algae, so a cleared tank makes the keeper the food supply.
How long do assassin snails live?
Two to five years, and our sources split into two pairs. Aquarium Source says 2 to 3 years on average with reports of upwards of 5, AquaticMotiv says 2 to 3, and Aquarium Breeder says up to 5. Wikipedia publishes no lifespan. It is the longest lived of the four snail records here: our nerite and ramshorn snail records carry 1 to 2 years and our rabbit snail record 2 to 3.
What can live with an assassin snail?
AquaticMotiv publishes the only list: community fish, larger shrimp and bigger snails on the compatible side, and small snails, aggressive fish, goldfish and loaches on the avoid side. Read against our own records that makes the cherry shrimp a caution, the nerite snail a refusal, and both of our loaches a problem, though our kuhli loach record carries a source saying that species is not known for eating snails.
Where are assassin snails for sale, and what should I check?
This site sells nothing. The one check any of our sources publishes is AquaticMotiv’s: inspect the snails on arrival, and look at shell condition and activity level. Aquarium Breeder gives the reason the shell matters, that snail shells are 95 percent calcium carbonate and the species wants GH above 6, so a pitted shell is a water report rather than a cosmetic flaw.
The prey on this record now has a record of its own. All three of the care sources here name ramshorn snails as food, and our ramshorn snail record is the animal they are describing: a flat-coiled Planorbidae snail of 0.7 to 1 inch, hermaphroditic, so any two of them are a pair, and able to thrive with no additional feeding. Its own sources name the assassin snail back, so the pairing is refused from both sides, and the temperature bands meet from 75 to 78 °F. The two records also answer the reproduction question in opposite directions, which is why one of them is a pest and the other is a tool: this species needs a male and a female, and that one does not.
What an assassin snail needs that a nerite does not
Three things our sources ask for, and the first one is prey.
- Pest snails, or a plan for when they run outit is a carnivore and it does not eat algae
- Sand or fine gravelit hunts by burying itself and ambushing
- Hard water, above 6 dGHone source: snail shells are 95 percent calcium carbonate
Every item our records ask for is gathered on the tank setup topic.
Nothing here is a paid link. It is the shortfall between what this record asks for and what a boxed kit contains.
How this record was compiled
- By
- Verified
- Sources
Wikipedia, Anentome helena, Aquarium Breeder, Aquarium Source and AquaticMotiv
- Conflicts
Printed above: one source gives the eggs 46 to 58 days to hatch and three give them three to four weeks
- Blanks
Growth rate stay empty until a source we trust states them
- Not recorded
A growth rate, because nobody publishes one; and a way to get rid of them, because no source we hold publishes a removal method, only two saying the population will not run away with you and one saying the babies spend weeks buried in the substrate where nobody can see them