Blue Ramshorn Snails ?? Anyone?

[sirena]

Hello! I am on the hunt for blue ramshorns. Does anyone have any? I will PAY!! I've been searching like crazy. I did a search on here and it seems like they went through a popular phase around 2008, then again about in 2011 or so, and now zip. I just ordered some off AquaticArts but they were a slate color and even with great imagination, not blue. I wasn't excited by the color if you know what I mean. Even so, that was the only place I have found them anywhere online. Nothing on Ebay, nothing on Aquabid.. I just posted here in the classifieds but figured the best place would be to ask invert people

 

[Kannan Fodder]

Mine are a brownish color, with a rare red one every now and then. Have never seen blue ones. It's also been my experience that "blue" in terms of animals usually means "grey" - except fish and birds.

 

[sirena]

Thanks for your response. I do see what you mean, such as with dogs and cats and other animals. In old posts here on the forums if you do a search, in past years people have had blue ramshorns. There are still old pictures on the posts. I'd love to find some like that.

The ramshorns I have are pale pinks, reds, orange, the aforementioned grays (supposed to be blue), some brown leopards, and and brown.

 

[Kannan Fodder]

I got curious and looked the up. Saw some pictures that were obviously photoshopped, but some were a distinct bluish color. The pink ones are interesting, but something in my 180g is eating the snails, so I'm debating on larger mystery snails instead of ramshorns. Have never seen blue ramshorns, but will inquire about them at work and see if we can order them.

 

[sirena]

Thanks Kannan, I can't wait to hear what you find out. If you look at Alpha Pro Breeders site, he used to have them; I contacted him and he currently does not have them. The ones I got from Aquatic Arts actually are not too bad, after a weekend in my tank (the ones that lived, only 3 out of 11). They have kind of a periwinkle color and plum bodies. Quite different in contrast to the typical browns and reddish colors. I'm on a mission now

 

[The Dave]

Pink ramshorn snals are really just albino snails. Ramshorn snails are one of the few snails to contain hemoglobin, when their shells are clear as a result of being an albino, it is easier to see the hemoglobin. I got a bunch of pink ramshorn snails on line and made a tank just for them. They breed like crazy and soon you start to see ones with spots, ones that are yellowish, and blues, and dark brown / black. They reproduce so fast that you will quicky be able to produce all sort of different color strains.
Here is a great video that I made about them. It really shows how beautiful and graceful they are. Most people do not appreciate them.

 

[sirena]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for your post. Since my original post, I've continued to work on different colorations of ramshorns in 5 different tanks. I have red (doing the best, very very red), pink, orange, brown leopard, and blue. The blue ones in their own tank, I mentioned, to start the thread, are doing the least well, sadly. These blue ones are not really like others I've seen that people say are blue. They are more of a periwinkle, with a purplish interior, and a plum body. After I'd had them in their tank a few days, their colors came out and they were very nice but .. they aren't doing as well in their own tank as the others that I have in with fish. I've lost quite a few. I'd take tips anyone has. The tank is well cycled. It has java moss, good filtration, and I've been feeding invert food but perhaps they need veggies instead? I feed invert food to my other snails so I was used to invert food, and the ramshorns in my other tanks have access to whatever the fish eat, generally a good assortment. Ramshorns are quite new for me, I've only had them for the past couple months. I was really trying to get this blue colony to take off. Thanks.

 

[Tifftastic]

If you've had a look through the invert threads there used to be quite a few ideas on making snail food. I believe they were stickies, but I can't remember. Its really simple to make and I had really good luck with feeding it to my snails.

Basically, you can either take baby food or veggies that you've boiled and blended yourself. You mix it with some gelatin and add some reptile calcium powder. You can then cut it into small blocks and freeze it. I found the one that worked best for my snails was:

Sweet potato, zucchini, kale, peas (shelled), carrots, cucumber and spinach. I boiled everything except the cucumber, and then blended it together, I usually only made roughly 1/2 cup of veggie puree. I used 1/2 cup of the water from the boiling process as the water for the gelatin, added it all together with a tablespoon of calcium powder and stuck it in the fridge. Once it was solid-ish I cut it into blocks that were roughly 1 cm x 1 cm and wrapped them in foil, pressing the foil down between each of the blocks to try to keep them separate, then put them in a freezer bag and froze them. I fed a block every two days and my snails shells began looking amazing! The great thing is my fish loved them too and ate the leftovers.


Edit: found the link! I based it off of recipes in here.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/threads/a-couple-more-recipes-for-snail-food.135871/

 

[The Dave]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for your post. Since my original post, I've continued to work on different colorations of ramshorns in 5 different tanks. I have red (doing the best, very very red), pink, orange, brown leopard, and blue. The blue ones in their own tank, I mentioned, to start the thread, are doing the least well, sadly. These blue ones are not really like others I've seen that people say are blue. They are more of a periwinkle, with a purplish interior, and a plum body. After I'd had them in their tank a few days, their colors came out and they were very nice but .. they aren't doing as well in their own tank as the others that I have in with fish. I've lost quite a few. I'd take tips anyone has. The tank is well cycled. It has java moss, good filtration, and I've been feeding invert food but perhaps they need veggies instead? I feed invert food to my other snails so I was used to invert food, and the ramshorns in my other tanks have access to whatever the fish eat, generally a good assortment. Ramshorns are quite new for me, I've only had them for the past couple months. I was really trying to get this blue colony to take off. Thanks.

Hi sirena, there's something called snail Jello that you can make which is loaded with calcium and most snails seen to love. Another item, is to use something called cuttlebone, it is sold in pet stores for birds to rub their beaks on. I think it is essential if you keep snails. They rasp at it and it supplies calcium. It comes from the cuttlefish and it's pretty much pure calcium. As far as the food goes, ramshorn snails are not very picky. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on expensive foods. As long as you put cuttlle bone in the tank it will supply all of the calcium they need.
Your issue is with the blue snails in specific, and I think that is more a problem of genetics.
When you select just a few individuals to start a population, you start with a very small gene pool. The blue snails are either inbred, or just a weak strain. The best solution in your situation is diversify your gene pool by purchasing blue snails that are unrelated to your snails. Perhaps, from 2 different places, as far apart from each other as possible.
Then, introduce them to your population to broaden the gene pool. . . .
Then get them to multiply as quickly as possible to make up for whatever deaths may still occur. In order to increase the pop. quickly keep them very warm, well-fed (fish flakes are fine), and give them plenty of calcium (cuttlebone) and clean water.

I hope this helps. . . Goodluck and keep me updated.

 

[myswtsins]

I have used snail jello and cuttlebone, they are great. I agree diversifying the gene pool always helps. Curious where did you end up finding the blue rams?