# They're heeeeerrrreeeeee!



## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Sooooo.... weeks and weeks ago, I found hundreds of Assassin Snail eggs around the 20g tank. I've been checking on the eggs each day and today finally noticed some babies!!!

Since they are starting to show the beginnings of brown stripes on them, I'm guessing they are a few weeks old already and have been hiding in the gravel up until now.

Please excuse the algae spots on the glass - I've not been scrubbing the glass that close to the gravel lately, to avoid squishing any babies that may be hiding there.... and please excuse the fuzziness of the pics... our camera isn't the greatest. *blush





You can see the striping better in the second pic. You can also see all of the eggs that are left on the lava rock! Lots of babies yet to come! Hopefully the parents don't eat them.... I'm thinking that because I'm always dropping pest snails in for them to eat from my other tank, they are happy Assassins and figure this tank is a prime place to lay eggs because they are supposed to be slooowww breeders, lol. If they survive, I shall be taking them to the LFS near my place and either selling them, or trading them in. I'm keeping the parents though - kinda' got attached to them. 

Oh, here's a pic of two of the four parents 'making more' Assassin bebehs!



Here's a link to a short vid of some of the babies.... sorry, Ricky the frog kinda' video bombs it and hogs the spotlight... but it's funny 'cause he's adorable with his staring eyes! XD

Baby Assassins video by holly12777 - Photobucket


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

cute!!


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

thats so cool lol


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Congrats holly, now if mine would just breed I would be a happy camper


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

So has it transitioned from one snail problem to another? Once my 4 have done their job, not sure I will keep them.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Aww,congrats!They are adorable little things,mini ninjas haha!


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I've heard Assassins eat other stuff when they don't eat other snails. Is this correct?

I have also noticed my 4 Assassins burrowing in the substrate after my MTS. Just an observation.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Yep, like shrimp.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Yep, they will eat the meat protein in algae wafers, blood worms, left over 'meaty' fish flakes.... and baby shrimp, so I've heard.

I just toss in 4-5 pest snails each week. They must feel it's a "plentiful and safe" place to breed..... lol.

Got a better pic of one of the babies today. This one has nice striping already! You can see one of the big pest snail shells it's parents already killed near it, lol.



Nah, they won't be pests! When/if they reach adult size (meaning if the parents don't assassinate them first) I will be selling or trading them into my local LFS. There's always something I need for the fish: carbon, nitrazorb, water conditioner.... credit will be nice.


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

dibs on some =)


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

that is awesome I love my snail and the fact that you get to see the whole mating process is awesome.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

cuute!


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Joe, if I'm allowed to ship over the boarder, then you can have some! XD (Not sure if I need a special license to send to the U.S....)


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## Bob-O (Jan 28, 2012)

I put four assassins in my tank a couple months ago. I started seeing eggs the first week, but finally spotted my first baby this morning. Great way to start the day. =)

If you're looking to breed them, I suggest a planted tank around 75F with plenty of snails to eat. I got them to take care of pond snails that came in on plants, now I collect trumpet snails from my friends tank so they have plenty of food (and the trumpets keep the sand moving). They will dig after snails in the substrate as someone mentioned before, and I've counted about 30 eggs on plants, rocks, wood, whatever.

My assassins are still in my 55 gallon while the 90 gallon cycles for a while after a heater exploded, but the pond and trumpet population is blowing up in the 90 gallon... and I've never been happier to be invested with snails. =) Can't wait to unleash the assassins!


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## danjsinclair (Nov 16, 2011)

Well done!!!
Keep us posted (and get a better camera! Ha ha ha)
Dan


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Lol, I'd LOVE a better camera! But, that will have to wait until we have money... *sigh

The population boom has slowed down now that my pest snails in the other tank are dwindling down. There are still some eggs to be hatched, and I still see some mating, but there are definitely not as many eggs as when they first started breeding. A few babies went to a friend in town, and a bunch still have to be sent to Susankat when the weather is warm (and will stay warm, lol.)


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## fishboy (Jul 15, 2012)

congrats!


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