Apple snail saves the day?

[Exiled]

Hello Snail Peeps!

I have a 3 gallon Betta Tank complete with bio-wheel filtration, fake Bonsai tree, sand bottom and medium compact bulb..... Moses the Blue betta gets frequent (twice a week) water changes due to the fact that green hair algea is becoming a problem in the tank as well as his snobby attitude towards his food which means lots of uneaten amounts of it on his floor. I am considering getting an apple snail -- specifically a Pomacea bridgesii.
For all you experienced snail-buffs out there---will this snail take care of the uneaten food and hair algea situation?

And moreover -- who is kind enough and (overrun enough) to donate one of these critters to me?

Anything else you can tell me about these snails is much appreciated.

All the best,
--Lee

 

[Bangin]

In my experience, the apple snail will not live just on fish droppings/mess. I feed my apple snails two slices of zucchini every other day. Once you see how much they devour, you'll understand why they can not live on plants/algae/droppings alone.

 

[BlueIce]

http/www.applesnail.net/

 

[thellama]

yea mine are pigs..

i threw in a like 6 inch piece of cucumber for my 2 apple snails.. it was all gone the next day..

i also caught them trying to eat my malaysian trumpet snails..

devoured 1/2 a tank of moss, and a nice cambomba plant.. they are total pigs

 

[Exiled]

Thanks-- If I get some snails I'll give them extra food.

If I get babies how long will they take to get to the size of a quarter?

 

[smithrc]

Looking for some myself at the moment... have a look on www.applesnails.net great site...

2 out of the 3 main apple species eat plants... one dosn't - thats the one i want!
They all have preditory tendancies and will eat other snails (yeah!)

 

[Teelie]

I've got one large, nearly golfball sized Apple, a smaller pinky nail sized one and one even smaller then that, maybe 2-3 mm across and the big guy has so far ignored the tiny snail even going so far as to pass it by on the aquarium glass. I was hoping it wouldn't munch on that one cause my other tiny one got munched by a female Betta mistaking it for food. Now those are the true pigs of the aquarium. I had to move them to jars because they would eat anything fed to the other fish.

Back on topic, Apples don't eat much algae though they will eat algae pellets and anything else that contains algae in it. They also like carnivore pellets.

 

[Exiled]

The canivore pellet-eating capacity is mainly what I'm after getting the apple snail. I can always scrape algae but siphoning out the uneaten pellets is getting tiring. Is every betta out there as much of a food snob as mine is??

Oh by the way, smithrc, it's the Pomacea bridgesii species that won't eat your live plants. Applesnail.net is a very good site. Thanks to all who mentioned it. (applesnail.net has a discussion board as well)....

So far I've talked to a bunch of people willing to send me smaller-than-a-pinhead-baby-snails but is anyone willing to send me a large one for sale or trade?

 

[William]

Great choice of snail Exiled - that's the one you want! It won't eat plants but will eat algae, it doesn' quite have the same appetite as P. Canulicata (won't grow as big either) but will munch away on most types of algae and most importantly like I already said won't eat plants

I find the golden variant the nicest but there are quite a few, if you have problems locating them I think aquabid.com has a good selection (last time I checked was a few months ago..)

Good luck and let us know when you get one(or three ) It takes a good three months, they are quite slow growing initially.

 

[Exiled]

Thanks William! I forgot all about Aquabid for some reason.