Nursery Tank Setup

[Tampa-Terry]

How to fatten up a runt ... or a snail that's "under the weather" for $1.37!!!

I have some baby Canas that are a fraction of the size of their bigger brothers and sisters. Try 1/20th the size!!! Where they're about the size of the last digit of your pinkie, their brothers and sisters are bigger in diameter than if you touched your thumb to your middle finger.

I didn't want to set up another tank (or Rubbermaid container, as the case may be), but I've been wanting a way to separate the runts and make sure they had access to all the food they could ever want, and I also wanted to make sure they didn't have to compete for it.

Here's the solution I came up with ...



I bought a Sterilite container from Wal-Mart. Cost was $1.37+ tax. I had a suction cup at home and put it through one of the holes and attached the container to the inside of my aquarium. It's right at the top of my tank, right at water level. Then I took 16 of the runts from the nursery tank and put them into my new handy, dandy "runt-grow-out container" and added a plentiful supply of peas and collar greens.

Cleaning is easy. I just pour a little water into the container and it flushes everything out the holes.

I'll get pictures later today, but it takes up very little room in the tank, and doesn't interfere with my putting the top on the tank. It's a cheaper and more flexible solution than the nursery nets sold in the pet stores.

[PaulaO]

What is the size of the container?

Cool idea, by the way!

[Annie Anderson]

Wonderful Terry! spoiled baby snails=lucky baby snails

[Tampa-Terry]

The Sterilite Ultra containers come in all different sizes. I actually bought 3 different sizes to see which one would work best for my situation. The one in my 20g tank is 11 inches long by 7 3/4 inches wide by about 5 inches tall.

Annie actually provided me with some really useful information. She told me that the reason some of the snails in a clutch get really big and some are small is that the big guys secrete a hormone or substance that inhibits the growth of the other snails in the tank and that it's a survival mechanism. That way if all the big guys get wiped out (like by a big ole snail-eating predator bird), the little ones will kick into gear and ensure the survival of the species.

Now I know why I have runts and monsters in the same clutch!!! (grin) Thanks, Annie!!!

[badflash]

When any of them get to be pea sized, pull them out and the others will grow to take their place. Works like magic.

I find that when ever I move them to another tank they get a growth ring. The smaller they are, within reason, when you move them to the final grow-out area, the better they will look as adults. Try to keep the water parameters constant or you'll get more growth rings.

[Annie Anderson]

You're welcome Terry, but the info was from Badflash. He's the brains behind the information. I just passed it on.

[Tampa-Terry]

Badflash, I just thought that was the coolest piece of information, about why I had monsters and runts in the same clutch. Do you have any more information on the subject or the hormone/substance that they produce, so that I can read up on it a bit more?

You're right about the growth ring. I have on striking female (Tuxedo). She has a dark shell and a thin light (growth) ring from when I pulled her out of the nursery tank. She looks like she's wearing a tuxedo, which is why I named her what I did. (grin)

Does anyone know whether the male Canas get bigger or the females?

[pbgroupie]

IMPE with bridgs and canas the females are bigger.

[Annie Anderson]

my two cana girls--Clipsta & Shelby--are bigger than the male, Sheldon. My son named them all--I wonder how long he'll be able to come up with shell and twirly names . I don't know where Clipsta came from--it's actually supposed to be spelled Klipsta btw .

[Tampa-Terry]

Here's a couple of pics that show how the container fits in the aquarium. It's worked pretty well for me, with only an occasional escapee that I have to hunt down and put back into confinement. (grin)

A turkey baster is a useful tool for keeping the snails' play pen clean.









Here's a better shot of 'em eating some snail Jello I made ...





Hey, Pollux, notice Speedy & Dizzy hanging out together in the first pic? (grin)

[Pollux]

yes . the babies are so cute

[Annie Anderson]

It's funny Terry, but when I say that picture with the little white snail pressed up against the big cana, I was going to ask you if they were Speedy & Dizzy. They are the cutest snails the way they always have to be together. I've seen and read how thorough-bred race horses like to have another animal in their stall with them--a chiken, cat, dog, donkey, goat--and they won't go anywhere without them. And they do love each other

[Tampa-Terry]

I have a friend who stables horses. One of her "rescue" horses is blind. It had a nasty personality. You couldn't enter the stall without fear that the horse would do its best to stomp you into the sawdust. They also raised goats and slowly introduced the horse to the goat at feeding time. When they were done eating, they'd take the goat out. But over time, they let the goat stay in the stall longer and longer after eating. The two are now inseprable, and the horse no longer has a nasty personality ... just so long as his companion goat goes wherever he does.

[Annie Anderson]

What a lovely story Terry--thank you for sharing it with us