Oh no not another!

[PaulieFish]

And my filter might of claimed another life in my fish tank.. this time.. my mystery snail. I went to check my beautiful tank and I see him on the end halfway sucked in.. I turned the filter off and slowly pulled him out. He did however put his little protector over himself, so he MIGHT still be alive. He is chillin at the bottom now wrapped in his shell. Oh I hope he survives..

I am thinking of somehow putting a makeshift sponge on the end, because this would be the second life the filter took.

 

[BigJim]

What kind of filter are you running? Unless you're dealing with tiny critters, a filter isn't usually strong enough to suck anyone in, unless the critter is ailing already.

 

[PaulieFish]

What kind of filter are you running? Unless you're dealing with tiny critters, a filter isn't usually strong enough to suck anyone in, unless the critter is ailing already.

Aquaclear 110, it has a pretty big opening and the sucking power is pretty decent. I guess my mystery snail was crawling acrossed it and got stuck. The other fish that got stuck was dieing, so that wasnt a surprise, but my poor MS

 

[Viper]

Your snail is probably alright, just scared. Turn the lights off for a little bit and maybe put some food right next to it. I just dosed my tank with aquarium salt and my snail got curious and went over and touched it. It instantly retracted into it's shell completely. I hadn't seen them retract completely into the shell before. Give it some time and it should be fine.

 

[PaulieFish]

Your snail is probably alright, just scared. Turn the lights off for a little bit and maybe put some food right next to it. I just dosed my tank with aquarium salt and my snail got curious and went over and touched it. It instantly retracted into it's shell completely. I hadn't seen them retract completely into the shell before. Give it some time and it should be fine.

I am hoping, but he is very mangled.. he could of been stuck to the filter all night, and i saw some of his tentacles in the filter. I put him in the fry breeding net because all the fish were attacking him when i had him at the bottom. So, we shall see if he is up and moving in the next couple of days.

 

[PaulieFish]

HIS ALIVE!! I think barley but ALIVE!!! He hasn't moved for the past day and a half but today. I put food next to him and his little tentacles came out!! The only thing I am worried about is his shell looks like there is a crack in the back.. I do not know how that happened.. but he is away from the other fish regardless.. ALIVE!!!!!!

 

[glassbird]

If I may make a suggestion...use some plastic craft mesh (it comes in colors and I use the black) to form a large tube around the intake to your filter. Put a circle at the bottom and at the top, and cut a hole in the top circle just large enough to stuff the intake tube thru it. I use nylon fishing line to tie mine together, but small zip ties might work, too. Basically, you are building a protective cage to keep critters away from the intake.

A sponge filter over the intake sounds like a good idea, until you discover that it needs to removed and squished clean constantly, or risk a clogged sponge and an inop filter...

 

[dkpate]

They also make little things to go over the intake that look like the socks you put inside lanterns. You could also try a piece of new pantyhose (never been washed OR used)
When I got my snails (Dec 26th), their shells were terrible, they were the size of a fireball candy, and some were missing part of their tentacles. Well, they all grew back, I use cuttle bone in my tank to make their shells nice, and the one I have left is the size of a golfball. (I will hold her in a second and take a pic to show you and then post it ).
I just read yesterday that they will sometimes be dormant for days inside their shells.

 

[dkpate]

Destroyer (LOL)

 

[dkpate]

And here is when I first got them. You can see how terrible their shells were.

 

[glassbird]

Wow! Great snail! Is that an apple snail?

The problem with pantyhose or those "covers that look like the socks that go into a lantern" (are they called mantles?), is that both let an unwary critter get too close to the suction. Once the suction has them, it is too late. By keeping the critters at a distance, even just an inch or two, the suction is dispersed over a larger area and they can easily get away.

This picture is of a craft mesh "egg" that I used to keep goldfish fry out of danger. The eggs only come in white, but for this tank I was not concerned with appearances. I use a black craft mesh tube (with plastic plants sewn to it with fish line for additional camouflage) in my display tank to keep fancy goldfish fins from getting sucked and damaged.

A primitive early version involved a juice bottle with multiple holes drilled into it, covered with pantyhose. This was perfect when the fry were very small, but it did look funny.

 

[dkpate]

The little mantel things would only keep the snail or fish from getting torn up, but they shouldn't be stuck on there in the first place if they are healthy, ya know what I mean?
She's a mystery snail. Thanks!

 

[PaulieFish]

Guys what a great idea, depending if i get paid today (didnt check bank account yet) I might head over to the craft store and see if I can find myself one of these. Not only will it stop my fish from getting stuck but my darn PLANTS near it too! I do worry about appearance, but once my plant grows in that corner (been cutting and replanted so it forms a bush to cover the whole corner) I wont be too worried . Its a new tank and only been running a couple months. So needless to say I understand it wont look amazing right away.

Thanks so much for the advice guys. He is crawling on the side of the closed in net I put him in. And your snail crawls on you!!! So jealous. I go near mine and he sucks into his shell.

Also where is a good place to get cuttlebone? LFS? I remember I use to give them to my birds when I had them for their beaks I assume its the same thing.

 

[dkpate]

You can find the mesh and cuttle bone at Walmart. Just grind up the cuttle and sprinkle a little in there every week after a pwc. (Yes, it is the same stuff you use for birds).
My snail goes into her shell when I pick her up too, but she is pretty curious and will come out of her shell after about 30 seconds.
I am glad to hear yours is doing okay! That's great!

 

[jessibell]

wow they are beautiful creatures! I never thoight a simple snail could be so cool.

 

[dkpate]

They really are cool! I like to just sit there and watch her go all over the tank, they are actually pretty fast and they have to touch EVERYTHING.

 

[Jason7894561230]

I know how fast are they! I was so surprised about how fast mine moved around the tank when i got him! He is now big but not that big and has brown stuff growing on the shell is that bad?!

 

[dkpate]

What kind of brown stuff? Like algae?

 

[Jason7894561230]

Yeah i think so i mean he is old like four years old

 

[dkpate]

They just get algae. Read this article, it's a really good one:
www.applesnail.net