Buy tiny snails online?

[J-P]

Just walk outside and scoop some up. Quarantine them for a few weeks and you're good to go. It would be risky if you did this all the time, but since your first culture will probably last forever, it's fine. Really. I did it. No problems. Try to find snails from a body of water with no fish for even safer chances.

but how would you know that the snails aren't passing parasites between generations?

 

[knifegill]

Because very few parasites that can complete their life cycle in snails alone will infest a fish. Once the adult parasites have died off and their offspring have all failed to find suitable hosts, the danger has passed. I waited two months and tested the culture by adding a clean male guppy. He went a few weeks without showing any signs of parasitic infestation and that was good enough for me. Sure, sure, a few parasite species could have probably slipped past this protocol. And I could win the lottery tomorrow.


Pet store snails are just as likely to contain parasites as wild snails. The safest bet would be to take a few snails from a known healthy culture and start with that. But it would have been a hassle, so I just got some from the same place I collected my daphnia and scud culture starts. It's a giant puddle by the railroad and has tadpoles but no fish. Great spot. Never had a problem with anything I catch there.

 

[J-P]

very cool to know... I have never bought pet store snails.. only the made sure the egg sacs were on the plants, thus parasite free.

thanks for the info! we all learn every day

 

[J_69]

Yes, good info guys