Help newbie setup freshwater snail aquarium

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
VenomousSnailz

VenomousSnailz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 24, 2020
17
8
8
Hey everyone, back in the day I kept
Black & Gold Diamond Piranha
Oscars
Marbled Goby & other Goby species
Many types of Cichlids

But today I only keep reptiles. Boa Constrictors, Gargoyle Geckos, Leachianus Geckos, Standings Day Gecko, Leopard Gecko & Blood Pythons. I intend to add a starter aquarium to venture back into the aquatic world but honestly I don't remember anything at this point and due to some neurological issues I have serious memory problems at this point and I believe that plays a part in me not knowing things I should know or remember really.

Anyways I'm looking for generally the basics and intermediate knowledge, how long to cycle, what to use in terms of best brands for filters and other vital equipment, what to do (example, water change procedures and how long) basically anything aquarium related I'd say I am now a total noob with. But I have you guys so hopefully I'm not totally lost ?

Seriously though I know nothing. But I want to start with an Assassin Snail aquarium setup naturally since I love the ocean Cone Snails and predatory snails in general.

How would I go about this? I assume an overly large tank wouldn't be needed... yet lol. What size aquarium would you recommend etc? If you were going to start from scratch.

Any hints and tips are much appreciated and definitely will be noted and put to good use!

Thanks,
Mike
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: tlindsey
I'd go for a 2.5. Get a good sponge filter on there, and a small layer of sand. Introduce a variety of snail species (bladder, MTS, ramshorns), and feed them to proliferation. Plants optional but recommended. Once they've sufficiently exploded, then add in a couple of assassin snails and watch them get to work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VenomousSnailz and tlindsey
Should be a cycled tank and can upto 2 months to cycle. I’d go with a bigger tank, maybe 10g or bigger, to help with dilute the waste. Since high protein diet is preferred. Water should be hard to maintain the snails shells. As ichthyogeek mentioned add some snails and the assassin snails. They’ll be easily fed this way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VenomousSnailz and tlindsey
VenomousSnailz said:
Hey everyone, back in the day I kept
Black & Gold Diamond Piranha
Oscars
Marbled Goby & other Goby species
Many types of Cichlids

But today I only keep reptiles. Boa Constrictors, Gargoyle Geckos, Leachianus Geckos, Standings Day Gecko, Leopard Gecko & Blood Pythons. I intend to add a starter aquarium to venture back into the aquatic world but honestly I don't remember anything at this point and due to some neurological issues I have serious memory problems at this point and I believe that plays a part in me not knowing things I should know or remember really.

Anyways I'm looking for generally the basics and intermediate knowledge, how long to cycle, what to use in terms of best brands for filters and other vital equipment, what to do (example, water change procedures and how long) basically anything aquarium related I'd say I am now a total noob with. But I have you guys so hopefully I'm not totally lost ?

Seriously though I know nothing. But I want to start with an Assassin Snail aquarium setup naturally since I love the ocean Cone Snails and predatory snails in general.

How would I go about this? I assume an overly large tank wouldn't be needed... yet lol. What size aquarium would you recommend etc? If you were going to start from scratch.

Any hints and tips are much appreciated and definitely will be noted and put to good use!

Thanks,
Mike
Click to expand...
Welcome to MFK
 
  • Like
Reactions: VenomousSnailz and kno4te
Thanks everyone! For the warm welcome but also the valuable information.

I decided to do a mix of Kno4te & Ichthyogeek ideas:

- 10 gal with a sponge filter and small aeration device
- Sand bottom with some live plants, cycle for 2 months with either Ramshorn's or Bladder snails
- Add assassin snails along the way

From there eventually I want to build an impressive collection of freshwater snails with my ultimate goal being to eventually keep a cone snail even if it means having to venture into saltwater. I somehow doubt it is easy to acquire one regardless of where you live though. Although I am researching if there may be any freshwater cone snails? As that is my dream and likely easier to acquire. If none are known to exist I'd love to discover one lol.

on another, related note and a... thought provoking question...
Funny enough I see that assassin snails are related to cone snails on the tree of life and eat and hunt like they do, plus I have seen and read about other species of snail found in brackish and freshwater that are related to cone snails and behave similar. Would it be reasonable to assume they have a harpoon with venom as well? I mean I have watched videos of assassin snails eating and the prey does not appear to succumb to any venom or toxic affect but on the other hand people that actually keep them have described how prey does sometimes appears to become paralyzed or immobilized and how they have seen them hit prey with some sort of jab via the proboscis. Some speculated they don't jab with a harpoon but instead release a toxin like "boxfish" do. I am still learning and getting back into this so been reading about boxfish and how they do that, anyways just some thoughts and would love to hear input on that.
 
Just keep in mind that the assassin snails aren't going to play nice with the other snails in your collection. I recommend mystery snails, rabbit snails, and nerites going forward. You can also get a lot of really nice saltwater snails (ninja asterinas are pretty cool).

As for the cone snails....why? I get that they're pretty, but the whole "they harpoon you and you're going to die unless you get immediate medical attention" thing is a lot. They're also going to be hard/expensive to acquire (because they're venomous). Are you sure you don't want to look into predatory whelks and bumblebee snails instead? Or Nassarius snails?
 
  • Like
Reactions: VenomousSnailz
ichthyogeek said:
Just keep in mind that the assassin snails aren't going to play nice with the other snails in your collection. I recommend mystery snails, rabbit snails, and nerites going forward. You can also get a lot of really nice saltwater snails (ninja asterinas are pretty cool).

As for the cone snails....why? I get that they're pretty, but the whole "they harpoon you and you're going to die unless you get immediate medical attention" thing is a lot. They're also going to be hard/expensive to acquire (because they're venomous). Are you sure you don't want to look into predatory whelks and bumblebee snails instead? Or Nassarius snails?
Click to expand...

I imagine I'll end up having many setups especially as I downsize my reptiles a bit. I like to imagine a tank for a bunch of species as you suggested and a predatory snail tank featuring assassin snails etc

As for the cone snails, I've read they don't need huge aquariums as evidenced by the way they are kept in research facilities and by a few private people I've seen, and are still impressive animals and very beautiful as you said. Also, low feeding requirements and water quality would be the biggest concern I imagine alongside creating or buying tools to always have on hand so you never have to directly interact with the Cone Snail. I have worked at various zoos and dealt with worse so I am not really worried about dealing with them. Plus you can already get various other dangerous things which, mostly don't or won't kill you besides an allergic reaction to the venom, but there are things like toxins from coral/frags which I actually just read an article about and they claim those can be straight up deadly on the same level as any of the other top 10 or 20 most venomous animals. Plus I eventually want to get into the scientific field of discovering medicinal properties from venom & Cone Snails happen to be the most promising resource for such things. Example is the drug Prialt / Ziconotide which is 1000x more powerful than morphine and is not addictive. The only drawback is it currently needs to be injected into the spinal canal. But that can be solved and other drugs for epilepsy and cancer are being found in them. It's just cool to imagine being able to keep them and maybe figure out breeding them and then I have my own research colony once I get through school, and can then use what I have and more acquisitions for my research & my own joy, but most importantly for the benefit of medical advancement.

It probably won't ever happen as I am in Canada, and Imagine the only ones coming in are hitchhikers on live rock or what have you and would need connections to know it even happened which I currently do not have lol

And of course I would be more than thrilled with Bumblebee snails or others if its completely impossible to get the Cones but it really would be nice to have everything

Also some depressing news... Especially right in 1st thread but In terms of keeping something dangerous... Unfortunately I almost certainly have brain cancer, like to the point that if it isn't cancer in any way, THAT would be a true miracle. So regardless, I don't think it would matter much if I did slip up and take a hit, it would probably be a better end than whats heading for me anyways really. That goes against my further plans beyond simply keeping them (research etc) unless I can pull through. But even still, I would be just as careful knowing I'd die in a year versus 75. Either way it's a dangerous animal to be treated with respect but thankfully how it is, slow etc it's arguably easier to work with than any other venomous creature IMO

on a light-headed note the lack of any antivenin for them excludes having to warn nearby hospitals etc since it would essentially be a case of supportive therapy (respiratory etc etc) the knowledge of an venom playing a role likely wouldn't help any aside from knowing what systems and organs are going to be affected.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom