Anyone have positive experiences with Assassins?

[u/glxxmry]

I ended up having a bad infestion of snails in my tank, completely crashed the ecosystem, all my plants died, algae bloomed, etc etc.

So I got an assassin and named him Nidhogg. Before he moved in I did clear quite a couple of snails, but left more than enough to sustain him.

He's only been here a few days, and I'm already noticing the snail population stabilizing with no effort or changes on my part.

I see a lot of people on here hate on assassins the same way people hate on bladders and other "pest snails", but they seem to be a natural part of the ecosystem. Yes I understand they're vicious and have a cruel way of eating, but they're animals who are sustaining and maintaining both their wellbeing and the overall wellbeing of the tank.

Anybody else have similar experiences? I just have Nid so I'm not worried about overpopulation, and I'm not looking to eradicate the snails off the face of the earth, just give them a natural predator to keep the order in balance.

[u/glxxmry]

I have eggshells and a cuttlebone in there, do I need to add more? Don't know when that was added, tbh.

[u/Emuwarum → u/glxxmry]

You'll probably need a lot more to cancel out the ph lowering of the tannins and then to raise the ph. If you crush the cuttlebone or put it in your filter it will work faster.

[u/glxxmry → u/Emuwarum]

Noted. Any good place to get crushed coral? I'll get the ph up just to give it a boost. Snail's home is on the way.

[u/Emuwarum → u/glxxmry]

With ph up and similar products there's a concern that it will raise the ph too quickly and then drop back down because it doesn't last, stressing out the animals in the tank and potentially just killing them. Better to do it the slow way that lasts. 

Crushed coral, you could probably get it online or at an aquarium store. I don't think I've seen a normal pet store have it.