Is a snail ok?
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sinistral
Fish Addict
I have 2 ADF's and a ton of common snails. I didn't get them on purpose; they apparently hitchhiked in along with some of my plants. Having said that I do enjoy having them in the tank. While I was doing a fishless cycle with plants I sprinkled a bit of flake food into the tank, and the snails either fed on that plus decaying plant matter or both.
I don't have any experience with any of the other common aquatic snails (mystery snails, malaysian trumpets, apple snails), so we'll have to rely on someone else's good advice to help you out there
I don't have any experience with any of the other common aquatic snails (mystery snails, malaysian trumpets, apple snails), so we'll have to rely on someone else's good advice to help you out there
sinistral
Fish Addict
I'm *hardly* an expert, but I'm pretty certain that invertebrates don't eat nitrogenous waste. I think that job is left to the plants and denitrifying bacteria.
I don't think plants are a requirement for snails. In fact, I understand that some snails can wipe out planted tanks.
Here's a link that I found just now: snails Kind of a brief document, but it lists some common aquatic snails and what they tend to consume.
I don't think plants are a requirement for snails. In fact, I understand that some snails can wipe out planted tanks.
Here's a link that I found just now: snails Kind of a brief document, but it lists some common aquatic snails and what they tend to consume.
sinistral
Fish Addict
I'm pretty sure they'll help clean the tank, but mainly from dead plant matter or algae. Also, if you have sand Malaysian Trumpet snails can help turn over your substrate and keep it aerated. I like having snails!
sinistral
Fish Addict
I think it sounds like a fine idea! What kind of a snail are you considering? Maybe we can find you a good site with nice pictures and ideas about what to feed the type of snail you'd be thinking of getting.
Mustang5L5
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I have in my tank, tons of Malaysian Trumpet Snails, Pond Snails, Mystery/Apple SNails, Ramshorn snails, etc.sinistral said:I don't have any experience with any of the other common aquatic snails (mystery snails, malaysian trumpets, apple snails), so we'll have to rely on someone else's good advice to help you out there
They are fine with the frogs. My tank is even heavily planted and they only eat the decaying plant matter. They leave the healthy stuff alone. The snails eat mostly the algea but i toss in algea wafers after lights out for them as well.
They keep my tank spotless. If there is excess food on the gravel when the lights go out, it's long gone by morning. They eat everything. If i really want my tank clean, i skip a day's feeding and let the snails work the tank over again. The Malayan Trumpets keep turning over the gravel as well. I haven't had to vacuum my tank in months since they move the gravel around which pushes the mulm down into the gravel out of sight and where all my plants roots are. They take it in and grow nice and healthy. It's really a good cycle. Despite what a lot of people say about snails, they have not touched any of my healthy leaves at all. Even the ramshorns and pond snails which are notorius for it. They do reproduce like crazy, but my fish do eat some of them which helps keep the numbers down.
The other day, my largest snail...a 3" round Mystery Snail was eating a flake when one frog came over and stole the flake for itself.
fishyfeet
Fish Herder
some info on golden apple snails for you
Apple snails are known to be the biggest living freshwater snails on earth.
The most common snail for aquariums being the Pomacea bridgesii.
There are many different species of snails (so be careful what you buy) some will eat all your plants.
Apple snails come in a variety of different colours yellow being the most common colour readily available in the UK, I also have jade, and currently awaiting, blue, ivory, burgundy and my most wanted purple, all these colours are common place and relatively cheap in the states, but with the introduction of new import and export licensing laws in the USA, fines of $2'500 can be given for importing or exporting snails without a licence they can prove expensive to obtain. The colours are obtained from mixing the body colours with the shells natural colour. For instance, body colours are black and white, then for example, blues, are black snails with Ivory shells, the black body of the snail shows through the light ivory coloured shell giving a dark blue colour, Jades are yellows and wild browns crossed.
They are considered vital for some ecosystems, being the main food source for many birds and in particular the main diet for the endangered snail-kite, they can be found in ponds, swamps and rivers in warmer climates, and in Florida where the population is rife they are considered a pest problem.
Many snail species are hermaphrodite, apple snails are not, and need both male and female to reproduce, they lay their eggs in clutches an inch above the waters surface, if you don’t wish to breed them simply remove the eggs. The eggs will take between 2 and 3 weeks to hatch and need to be kept moist, and always out of water, otherwise the embryos will drown, the hatched baby snails can be kept with the adults and will eat the same food straight away.
They thrive better at higher temperatures and should be kept at 65 to 82 deg, and temps below 65 should be avoided, the higher the temperature the faster your snails will move, eat, mate, eggs hatch, etc, incidentally snails don’t do anything fast.
They can tolerate poor water quality but need a ph level of 7 or above for shell development. They can also be a good indicator of low oxygen levels in your water as they will frequently rise to the surface and breathe through their siphon if you have low oxygen levels in your water. (That and dead fish).
Apple snails live peacefully with most fish species and can be used to help keep the aquarium clean of algae, but don’t expect them to completely clean your tank of all the algae, you have to do some of the work.
Although they will eat plants, they prefer soft vegetables and will tackle most varieties they will eat dead and rotting plants above fresh green ones, so thus being a good choice for an aquarium equipped with a collection of water plants. What is more, they will starve to death in the middle of vegetation if you don’t provide them with enough food. Apart from vegetables (I feed mine, spinach, broccoli, cucumber, lettuce, banana) they also do well on any kind of fish food, and love algae flakes and the odd prawn (peeled and shelled), Tesco's finest of-course, to keep your expenses down you can also feed them pond fish food.
I find them very useful in my fry tank, eating left over food, and cleaning the tank, you can see their little pink tongues licking the glass. They do make a small amount of mess themselves, I notice it in my fry tank as its clear bottomed and has no substrate, but in the planted tank I don’t see it at all. They will even feed on insects and other smaller snails and their eggs, so all in all I think every tank should have at least one, not to be mixed with clown loaches though.
The ratio of one medium size snail per 10 lts has been recommended to me but since they can grow to the size of tangerines I would recommend no more than one snail per 25 lts maximum.
Apple snails are known to be the biggest living freshwater snails on earth.
The most common snail for aquariums being the Pomacea bridgesii.
There are many different species of snails (so be careful what you buy) some will eat all your plants.
Apple snails come in a variety of different colours yellow being the most common colour readily available in the UK, I also have jade, and currently awaiting, blue, ivory, burgundy and my most wanted purple, all these colours are common place and relatively cheap in the states, but with the introduction of new import and export licensing laws in the USA, fines of $2'500 can be given for importing or exporting snails without a licence they can prove expensive to obtain. The colours are obtained from mixing the body colours with the shells natural colour. For instance, body colours are black and white, then for example, blues, are black snails with Ivory shells, the black body of the snail shows through the light ivory coloured shell giving a dark blue colour, Jades are yellows and wild browns crossed.
They are considered vital for some ecosystems, being the main food source for many birds and in particular the main diet for the endangered snail-kite, they can be found in ponds, swamps and rivers in warmer climates, and in Florida where the population is rife they are considered a pest problem.
Many snail species are hermaphrodite, apple snails are not, and need both male and female to reproduce, they lay their eggs in clutches an inch above the waters surface, if you don’t wish to breed them simply remove the eggs. The eggs will take between 2 and 3 weeks to hatch and need to be kept moist, and always out of water, otherwise the embryos will drown, the hatched baby snails can be kept with the adults and will eat the same food straight away.
They thrive better at higher temperatures and should be kept at 65 to 82 deg, and temps below 65 should be avoided, the higher the temperature the faster your snails will move, eat, mate, eggs hatch, etc, incidentally snails don’t do anything fast.
They can tolerate poor water quality but need a ph level of 7 or above for shell development. They can also be a good indicator of low oxygen levels in your water as they will frequently rise to the surface and breathe through their siphon if you have low oxygen levels in your water. (That and dead fish).
Apple snails live peacefully with most fish species and can be used to help keep the aquarium clean of algae, but don’t expect them to completely clean your tank of all the algae, you have to do some of the work.
Although they will eat plants, they prefer soft vegetables and will tackle most varieties they will eat dead and rotting plants above fresh green ones, so thus being a good choice for an aquarium equipped with a collection of water plants. What is more, they will starve to death in the middle of vegetation if you don’t provide them with enough food. Apart from vegetables (I feed mine, spinach, broccoli, cucumber, lettuce, banana) they also do well on any kind of fish food, and love algae flakes and the odd prawn (peeled and shelled), Tesco's finest of-course, to keep your expenses down you can also feed them pond fish food.
I find them very useful in my fry tank, eating left over food, and cleaning the tank, you can see their little pink tongues licking the glass. They do make a small amount of mess themselves, I notice it in my fry tank as its clear bottomed and has no substrate, but in the planted tank I don’t see it at all. They will even feed on insects and other smaller snails and their eggs, so all in all I think every tank should have at least one, not to be mixed with clown loaches though.
The ratio of one medium size snail per 10 lts has been recommended to me but since they can grow to the size of tangerines I would recommend no more than one snail per 25 lts maximum.
Tempestuousfury
Fish Aficionado
They should be fine together, as long as you can feed all of them appropriately.
However, if you have 2 snails you'll have a heck of a time clenaing out eggs and babies.
However, if you have 2 snails you'll have a heck of a time clenaing out eggs and babies.
Mustang5L5
Fish Crazy
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How do you sex apple snails? Is it possible?
I have 5 of them. 4 are about 1" in diameter and 1 is 3" in diameter. Also, will different color varieties interbreed? I have 2 golden/white body and 3 brown shell/black body. This is the only snail species in my tank that won't breed.
Everything else multiplies like crazy.
I have 5 of them. 4 are about 1" in diameter and 1 is 3" in diameter. Also, will different color varieties interbreed? I have 2 golden/white body and 3 brown shell/black body. This is the only snail species in my tank that won't breed.
Everything else multiplies like crazy.
Well to update everyone I've been doing tons of research on snails and I think I'll put a mystery snail in my tank. I might wait a little while but I'm way too impatient. So I will try to wait but we will see. Thanks for all the help!
Thanks for all the help!
fishyfeet
Fish Herder
Mustang, course they will breed, if you have a male and a female, but they lay clutches of eggs above the waters surface, as they hatch the little ones will drop into the water, they may they be eaten by your mts,s if you dont want anymore apple snails, destroy the clutch, if you do, lef nature take its course.Mustang5L5 said:
Its hard to distinguish the difference between male and female since the reproductive organs are under the shell, but if you watch them one snail (the male) will clime on top of the female, to fertile her they will become joined, for probably an hour so not hard to miss.
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