I have several ramshorn snails in my invert tanks. Most are muddy to yellow brown. I got some super bright red ones from a friend and I want them to pass on their beautiful color. Is it possible to selectively breed these guys or do they breed too fast? Right now I'm removing brown ones whenever I see them but I know there are eggs and juveniles hidden in the tank.
Selective Breeding Ramshorns
- Thread starter blue2fyre
- Start date
I think that if they breed with the normal colors their babies will revert to the normal color... If you manually pull the normals out of one tank, add the reds, & diligently remove any normals, you may preserve the reds.
My basic ramshorns are different shades of brown, not yellow - well some have those golden leopard spots...
My basic ramshorns are different shades of brown, not yellow - well some have those golden leopard spots...
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Yeah I use to have some nice brown ones but as time has gone on they have become this gross kind of yellow ish color and the body is almost grey.
I'm just going to keep removing all the brown ones I see and leave the red ones. I'll add some more reds if I come across them.
I'm just going to keep removing all the brown ones I see and leave the red ones. I'll add some more reds if I come across them.
Without knowing the genetics, I would guess that the red is recessive. However brown/red crossings would carry red genes.
I would concentrate your reds in one tank and clear out as many of the browns as possible. When you start getting offspring, I would clear another tank as much as possible. I would put the brown offspring(who may have the red gene) in that tank. If reds appear in future generations in the second tank, I would start removing the browns from that tank.
I would concentrate your reds in one tank and clear out as many of the browns as possible. When you start getting offspring, I would clear another tank as much as possible. I would put the brown offspring(who may have the red gene) in that tank. If reds appear in future generations in the second tank, I would start removing the browns from that tank.
The red coloration is recessive.
I did the experiment with browns versus reds about a year ago. Started out with all browns and then a red popped up. I put red in a little two gallon tank and let it self. I got all reds.
then took a red and a brown and put them together in another 2 gallon that I have. The offspring were all browns. However the next generation was a mixture of mostly browns and a few reds.
I did the experiment with browns versus reds about a year ago. Started out with all browns and then a red popped up. I put red in a little two gallon tank and let it self. I got all reds.
then took a red and a brown and put them together in another 2 gallon that I have. The offspring were all browns. However the next generation was a mixture of mostly browns and a few reds.
To update on this. I have been removing all the brown ramshorns and I haven't seen any in a week. My 3 super reds have been getting busy the last few days so I'm hoping to see eggs soon. I've been overfeeding the tank a little to encourage breeding. I found some tiny baby snails that look a little red but I can't tell yet if they are in fact reds. At what size do ramshorns start breeding?
Hi Blue2fyre
Yes! You can selectively breed for redder snails! It will take a bit of time! Be very diligent when removing any unwanted colors! Also if I may add! I think the reason your Ramshorns are turning grey and yellowish is a lack of calcium for shell building! Mine started to turn grey and when I added a few empty seashells they started to "graze" on them and their shells and colors returned to normal!
opcorn: I'm doin' this too.