Loaches Online Forum

Im trying to set up a 10 gallon to raise pond snails to feed my clown loaches.

Anyone have experience with this?

Ive noticed alot fo the snails shells turning white and ive found a few dead, i feed lots of plant material and algae wafers. The water is slightly filtered.

Id like some points or tips.

All the malaysian trumpets i put in there died, is it because i left it bare bottom? I have some driftwood in there also.

I've done this in a 10 gallon sort of by accident when I left my quarantine empty and running for a while. It was overrun with pond snails in just a couple of weeks.
If the water is not hard enough the snails have trouble developing their shells properly. Try adding some crushed coral. You can just drop in in as a substrate, 1/4 in. thick, and stir it up when you do a water change, which I am assuming wouldn't need to be very often.

I used to raise snails for my puffers.

Basically, lots of food and weekly water changes will help them breed. You don't really need filtration, but something like an airstone or small filter will help. Some people change the water using old tank water from another tank. I never found this necessary. Don't leave food rotting in there. Any kind of wafer or fish food is fine. I used to use whatever my fish didn't really like to eat.

A barebottom tank works best, as it's easier to clean. Warmer water makes the eggs hatch faster (up to about 78F).

For the shells, I used to put a 1" piece of cuttlebone (the stuff in the pet store you give to budgies).

Snails are sensitive to copper and quite a few meds, so you need to be careful with that.