Dwarf crayfish and snails

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:15 pm

Will any species of dwarf crayfish eat MTS, ramshorn, or nerite snails or eggs?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:42 pm

My cajuns seem to be cleaning out the baby pond snails and baby MTS. They don't seem to bother eggs though.

Terran · Post by **Terran** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 3:17 pm

Mine seem to eat some of the smallest Red Ramshorns that I have...but they seem to do so in a very infrequent and opportunistic manner...

Because despite them feeding on an occasional snail the snail population is still explosive....

I was half hoping that they would control or reduce the population but they seem to have little effect....

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:04 am

At first I thought the same thing, but it was just the snails growing up that was fooling me. After the bigger pond snails went to feed our turtle, I pretty much stopped seeing them.

Terran · Post by **Terran** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:14 am

Sweet....Ive been trying to eliminate my Ramshorns from that tank anyhow....hehe...!!

If I ever need a few I can always add some from the other tanks that have them...

(Though I swear I thought Ive seen snails make it from young to adulthood)

lampeye · Post by **lampeye** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:31 am

IME, they'll attack pond snail, but only halfheartedly, and only eat them if hungry. My current batch seems to give them a poke or two then move on.

Ghost shrimp, IME are VICIOUS with snails.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:24 am

lampeye wrote: Ghost shrimp, IME are VICIOUS with snails.

This thread gets pretty complicated. I think we should have it in the "other inverts" section as it is snail related and not specifically shrimp or crayfish related. I'm getting dizzy with it weaving from one forum to another.

Yes, ghosts are great snail eaters, but in my experience don't play well in the sandbox with other shrimp. They would likely have the same effect on baby crays. Same goes for Triops which are excellent small snail eater once they get to be about 2" or so.

The Fisherman · Post by **The Fisherman** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:48 am

The crays that I have kept cleared out all the Ramshorns and pondsnails in the tank in no time at all.

-John

Post by **Mustafa** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:57 am

Most crayfish will eat snails...the bigger the crayfish, the larger the snails they tackle. My dwarf crays also eat all kinds of baby snails, including MTS. They also tackle semi-adult to adult pond snails once in a while if they feel like it.

FISH WORLD ERIE · Post by **FISH WORLD ERIE** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:50 pm

If you crush their little snail bodies it makes eating all the easier.

Gregor Samsa Mendel · Post by **Gregor Samsa Mendel** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:30 pm

FISH WORLD ERIE wrote:If you crush their little snail bodies it makes eating all the easier.

True. I have also found out that snails can be trained. The cherries in my mini tank have been eating so much ramshorn escargot lately, that the remaining snails all drop to the bottom of the tank the moment my fingers break the water surface.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:22 pm

That is interesting how you have condtioned them; stimulis (fingers=harm) and response (drop=safe). Who knows, you might find some use for this

FISH WORLD ERIE · Post by **FISH WORLD ERIE** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:21 pm

Yes indeed. When they drop to bottom it becomes even easier to crush their little snail bodies. My tool of preference for this is a thick dowel rod. It crushes them real nice. Everyone in the tank swarms when I do this.

Yum Yum Yummy

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:30 pm

I've been occaisonally crushing the larger ramshorns to feed to my trio of patzcuarensis. If they will eat small ones, I don't have to worry about them going hungry. There are loads of baby ramshorns and MTS in the tank. Much easier to catch than shrimp too.