Which snails reproduce fastest

[ralphie16]

I would like to start feeding my puffer some live snails. I have a 29 gallon tank with some reef friendly fish and figured I can purchase a number of snails and hopefully they will reproduce. I have read threads in which people mention at night they have tons of sails come out of nowhere. Well I think those snails would be the best for me since they seem to reproduce so much. Does anybody know which species would be best suited for me? The intended purpose is not a cleanup crew but supplementary food for my puffer.

Are they cerith snails by any chance?

[Paintbug]

the ones you mention people talking about are probably Collonista snails. they will reproduce like crazy in the tank, but they are tiny, real tiny. theres only a few snails that can reproduce in the tank. Collonista snails is one of them. the other ones that can dont reproduce often or have enough survivors to keep a puffer fed.

if you do a search on Ebay for Ilynassa Obsoleta(be sure to check the little Title and description box). theres several people there selling them by the hundreds. if you have room to set up a small tank, with a 2-3" sandbed you can keep them in there. they like colder water so you probably wont even need a heater. feed them some flakes to keep them fed. and they should stay alive, atleast long enough to feed the puffer. :D they may even reproduce some in the tank.

some snails like ceriths have been captive bred, but they take specalized tank setups, and are not exactly easy to keep alive.

[ralphie16]

Thank you for the detailed response. Most appreciated :-)

[mike89t]

My columbellid snails reproduce like mad. They are often mistaken for Strombus maculatus by online retalilers.

I started out with 5 of these and now I have over a hundred in less than a year. At night they spread out over the glass and clean the algae off it.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rs/images/image012.jpg