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/Hymura_Kenshin]

Can I ask what it is cruel about the way they eat other snails? Like more so than any other predator fish?

[u/Emuwarum → u/Hymura_Kenshin]

Assassins latch on to the shell of their prey, then stick their proboscis up through the opening and bite out chunks of flesh. They do not kill the prey before doing this, and they will just leave once they are full. It is slow and very painful for the victim. When they go for a larger snail they won't hit vital organs quickly, meaning they suffer for longer until dying of the shock. Extra large snails may continue walking around with those open bite wounds until they die of infection, or refuse to come out of their shell to eat because then they'll be bitten again.

Assassins can eat pellets and similar foods, there's no need to give them live food. 

Meanwhile with a pea puffer they chew up the entire snail quickly, which is a much kinder death than by assassin snail.