I had a major snail problem in my giant tropical wetlands vivarium, and so I sent Mother Nature’s best snail-eaters to deal with the outbreak within the tank. The dwarf pea pufferfish explored their home and immediately began to hunt for snails. The result was quite a sight! Hope you enjoy this Episode 9, Season 4 of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series. Ant love forever!
I Added Pufferfish to Hunt Down Pest Snails in My Wetlands Vivarium
This is Hydromeda, my giant tropical wetlands vivarium, home to a growing ecosystem of aquatic creatures. It’s a personal biological project of mine to study the workings of ecosystems of wild tropical wetlands.
But as amazing as Hydromeda’s waterworld was, there’s been a sudden emergence and population explosion of a certain invasive aquatic species that I knew was on the brink of getting out of control: Bladder snails, every aquarium hobbyist’s nightmare.
They can completely take over a tank, and indeed, they were now seen everywhere in Hydromeda. It actually freaked me out to see how many snails there suddenly were.
But AC Family, I had just the solution to control this unwanted snail explosion, and I think you are going to love them!
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The creatures of the wetlands had no idea—a new species was about to join their aquatic community. Neither did the small bladder and ramshorn snails that were now all over the floor.
It had just passed the fish’s feeding time, so the fish were extra hyper at the moment, but the real feeding would be coming for some other new fish that were waiting in their holding bags in acclimation.
“Will you look at that?” said the puffer as it stared at all the colorful fish swimming below.
“No doubt, we’re in a weird place,” said the other, as they hovered together awaiting their release.
These are young Dwarf Pea Pufferfish, one of the smallest pufferfish in the world. They are quite cute and hunt for small creatures in and around aquatic vegetation.
They are beautiful fish, but beyond their cuteness and beauty, my plan for them was to feed on the snails or at least help keep them under control.
Seeing as they’re still babies, they’ll only be able to consume the smallest of snails and newborn shrimp.
When they’re older, they’ll be able to eat the adult bladder snails!
But at this small size, I was interested to see how good they would be at helping us control the bladder snail population.
I had no idea that watching them hunt and feed in Hydromeda was going to be such a trip!
AC Family, before I let these two out, let me know: What should we name this pair of pufferfish?
Leave your name suggestions in the comments.
Alright, let’s release them!
“Woah! What’s going on?”
“I don’t know!”
I almost lost them in the masses of fish.
One instantly disappeared into the darkness of the driftwood.
The other also began to scope out the shadowy areas of the driftwood at first, then the Java ferns, and then when it was ready, the puffer decided to emerge into the vast new world of its new home.
It was checking out the moss and could sense that food was all around.
Suddenly, it began to pick at something in the moss—some microscopic creature, perhaps.
Back to checking the wood and tasting more things from the moss.
It amazed me how intelligent this fish seemed.
By the way it was looking around and its facial expressions, it almost appeared as though I could see the fish thinking and that it was super self-aware.
“Hello! Anybody in there?”
I continued to watch the puffer explore its new home in search of food.
I couldn’t wait for it to find its first bladder snail.
Soon, the pufferfish found the edge of the tank, and my heart began to race as it came closer to ground level.
This was where many of the snails were hanging out!
I’m pretty sure the puffer could sense this too!
And then suddenly, the puffer found its first batch of bladder snails.
“Well, what have we here?”
It was actually two snails—a small one hitching a ride on a larger one.
Now, the puffer knew this snail group was much too big for it to eat at his size, and he was still too small to crack into that shell, but he knew inside was some tasty snail meat.
He decided to go for the larger snail but had to wait for just the right angle and moment to go in for the swipe, and when he was ready…
BAM!
The snail let out a bubble of air in shock!
I wasn’t sure if the puffer had managed to get a mouthful of snail meat, but from the looks of things, the snail was not happy.
The puffer studied his kill and decided to leave.
“Ooh yeah!”
A shrimp landed on the snail and attempted to feed.
This, to me, meant that the puffer had indeed wounded the snail enough for the smell to attract nearby scavengers!
BAM!
Oh, looks like he managed to successfully eat a tiny Ramshorn snail back there!
What a predator!
Miraculously, the large snail was still alive and began to race away while it still could.
The smaller snail decided it was time to abandon ship and leave this larger snail as it was bleeding and attracting predators and scavengers.
It was from this day forth that none of these bladder snails would be safe, and they could no longer proliferate in Hydromeda without limits.
I finally spotted the other puffer.
He was out checking out the snails beyond the driftwood, towards the mossy rocks.
He too was curious and interested in wandering his new home in search of potential food.
And then he spotted his friend and raced towards him.
“Hey, there you are.”
“Hey!”
“Hey, this place is huge, and there’s a lot to see.”
“Yeah, lots of snails!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yup!”
“Alright, chat later. I’m heading back to look for some!”
“Alright, see ya!”
“Byeee!”
As I watched the puffer explore his lush new home, I began to wonder what it must be like for this baby pufferfish.
I mean, it was born in some breeding tank, then transported here to Hydromeda, where it was further expanding on its worldview.
It was clearly an intelligent animal, and I swear it could see me and deliberately came up to the glass a few times to check out my camera.
This thing was definitely sentient and smart—a young Dwarf Pea Pufferfish, small in stature yet large in curiosity, in a vast, lush world that stretched as far as its tiny eyes could see.
I began to wonder if we were like this pufferfish, and some larger Creator of Worlds who put us here was watching us explore our world, in search of our highly prized “snails.”
I sat and watched the pufferfish hunt for snails all night.
Over the next few days, I did see a few injured snails.
See that lifeless snail being dragged by the other?
It seems these two were mating when the puffer took a big bite from them.
What a thing to still be attached to your dead lover!
One thing I did notice, however, was that the floor was definitely more snail-free now!
So, it seems adding the puffers was effective.
They take some time to grow, and when they do get to their full size of about 3.5 cm, they’ll be able to literally crunch on the adult shells of the bladder snails and truly control them.
But for now, it seems these babies will be effective at curbing the explosion.
They’ll also be able to pick off shrimp, but we already have so many shrimp in the tank.
They’ve had no predators, and by the time the puffers are fully grown, the shrimp will be ready for a culling.
But guys, the time for Hydromeda is nearing the Great Connection Event, i.e., the building of the great cave bridge that will be installed on the ceiling, connecting Hydromeda to the vast lands of Pantdora, my rainforest floor vivarium.
Now, many of you have been wanting an update on Pantdora, so it’s time to check up on our OG vivarium now, and I know you guys will truly love this update.
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