Golden Inca Snail?

[FishyWater2525]

Hi!

I recently went to the pet store to check out some fish and see if they had any snails. I did come upon some, but I didn't exactly know what they were, so I didn't purchase any. Their label said they were Golden Inca Snails.

Can anyone tell me what a Golden Inca Snail is? How big do they get? How do I care for one? Would I be able to put one in my 20g with some Dwarf Cories? Are they relatively hardy and easy to keep? Sorry for so many questions...

If it helps any, my pH is 7.4 and the temperature is 76 F. The tank has been running for 4 years and is definitely fully cycled.
The current inhabitants are some Black Skirt Tetras and a Molly, though I plan to add some Harlequin Rasboras, Dwarf Cories, and maybe a Dwarf Flame Gourami.

 

[tnfinfan]

It's just a gold mystery snail with some marketing applied to make it seem extra fancy. Look up mystery snail or Pomacea bridgesii for an abundance of information. I bought one for the kids' amusement. It might eat a little algae -- nowhere near as effective as the nerites. But, it doesn't eat my plants either. It enjoys the wilted greens I rubber band to a rock very much.

 

[Fishfur]

Your tank will suit a snail like this quite well. They are just Mystery snails by another name, as tnfinfan said. Max size is roughly a golf ball, or very slightly larger in some cases. Don't eat live plants, DO eat dead plants, veggies, biofilm, leftover fish food, algae and whatever else they find, including anything dead they find. Total scavengers, in other words.

You may want to provide a calcium supplement, either a vacation fish feeder block, [ you can make your own with Plaster of Paris and fish food ], or calcium pills, even Tums have been used. I like to add spirulina powder to the blocks I make for mine.

Fun to have around. Have two sexes, so you need both for fertile eggs, which are laid above water and thus are easy to stop hatching if you don't want them. Females may lay infertile eggs too, and rarely, a fertile batch will come from an apparently single female, who has stored sperm from an earlier mating for some length of time.

They have to leave the water to clutch, so if you want eggs, you need to leave some space above water for them, two or three inches bare glass. If there isn't any, they may fall out trying to find a place to lay eggs, and they cannot climb back up.