courtnee
Aquarium Advice Freak
I am a sucker for our apple snail. He may not move around all the time or as active as the other fish but he is by far the silly guy in the tank. He has been through hell to get where he is today being a happy snail and he has made it through it all, the only one to make it through my learning process!
I wanted to start a thread about their behavior, worth some good laughs and even learning! Share stories please!
Ill share mine. Ours is a golden apple.
When I first got the snail I had no idea what I was doing. My 6yr old just wanted a snail. She had a betta in a 1gl tank in the living room for 8mo Mr Moo Moo that was very healthy and active. We found some enjoyment out of him and I finally caved after my daughter kept begging and begging for a snail. The idiot I am, I go get a apple snail for less then a buck at walmart and a goldfish and another 1gl tank. Goldfish live in bowls right? 1gl is fair enough.
We get home and set them up and put them together. All is well. I start to find interest in our new pets and start to read. GOLDFISH GROW THAT BIG? I scream. Hmm what kind of snail do we have.... OMG THEY GROW HOW BIG? I go out and buy a 10gl tank as I had the funds to do so. I figure it would give me sometime for a larger upgrade seeing I would need a large tank. wow.
Set up the 10gl tank and throw them in. Gary the snail seems to come more alive with more room. We laugh at him crawling over the bridge in the tank, how he lets air bubbles into his shell and pushes them out. Im watching him grow like crazy too. He sure wasnt the size of a pea anymore.
The Goldfish starts to act sick. Now what did I do. I learn about the cycle and panic. I start doing massive water changes and everything else I can do to save my daughters fish and snail. I start testing and understand now what I am doing. NitrItes are off the charts even with water changes and it would not come down. I pull the Goldfish out and stick him back in the 1gl changing his water everday. To much damage ay this point. The snail at this point has grown to big and I ask my sister to snailsit for me while my tank cycles. She has a established tank.
I read up on her pictus cats and alge eaters and if Gary will be okay with them. I feel comfortable they will be ok together and transport Gary across the city to my sisters. We get him use to the water temp and let him loose. The pictus cats of course would not stop racing up to him and checking him out. He didnt care. He came out of his shell and just plowed his way through them and did his own thing. We leave and go back home. I realize I felt like I was leaving a pet behind and missed him and so did my daughter! I realized at this time how attached I had gotten.
A week later my sister calls with a Gary update
Sister: "Your snail is demented"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Sister: "He found the airstone in the back of the tank"
Me: "Yeah he likes to sit on it and gather bubbles"
Sister: "Listen....."
I hear a clink.... clink .... clink
Me: "what is that?"
Sister: "Gary riding the air bubbles, he has been doing it for 20 minutes and I thought he was dead, so I read on the Internet how to check of a snail is still alive, pulled him out and touched his door and he was alive so I put him back in, he crawled right back to the airstone and started to ride it again, going in circles and hitting the side of the tank"
Me: "Help him, knock him out of the current, I dont want him to break his shell or something"
My sister removes him like 3 times only for Gary to go back to his game of playing in the current. He did this for two days in a row. He finally got over it LOL
A few weeks later the goldfish dies the day the 10gl cycles. I was upset I couldnt put him back in his "home" it was so close. I figure we still have gary. I go get Gary and bring him home and he does well going back to his home. I try some pictus cats and everything I put in the tank dies, except the snail. I finally leave the tank sit with just Gary in it.
Time for a 55gl, the more I learn the more I realized a larger tank would be easier to take care of. I set up the 55gl and FISHLESS cycle this time. I get it cycled and about two weeks ago I put Gary in the 55gl tank. He felt like he was the king of the tank. He spent about a hour just checking it all out. He found his fav spots to stick to and hide. We spent the first couple of days playing "Where is Gary" but now we know where he likes to hide. I had to work for a few days (12hr shifts) and waited to get my pictus cats until my day off. I go get two babies throw them in there. They of course had to "play" with Gary. They like to nudge him with their noses and check him out. They dont nip at him or be mean to him. He just wakes up and crawls to an area they can not get to. I drop in his little chunk of alge waffer and he will go on his side, wrap his foot around it and just love it for a good hour. Ill feed the pictus cats and Gary will wake up even ACROSS this huge 55gl tank and cruise over there and just sit right on the pellet and eat it. The cats of course swarm around him frustrated. I laugh. He is half dollar size already and the bully for sure. Gary is addicted to tropical sinking pellets!
We have a little sign in the tank that is always tipped over because well Gary likes to tip it over. I just leave it tipped over, I got sick of fixing it. Gary will crawl on the decorations and when he gets to the end just falls off and we laugh as he gets back upright to continue his adventures.
Gary also loves to go into the fake log and sit right in the middle on the gravel like he is trying to upset the cats. They love to swim through there like a good past time and Gary just sits in the middle and the cats have to go find something else to do. He eventually gets bored and leaves the log and goes somewhere else. The cats go back to swimming through it.
I have another fake stump the if they cats are hiding in it, Gary who isnt fitting as well as he use to (was in the old tank) crawls in there and kicks the pictus out. lol
This is so much fun I am buying another one. I feel more comfortable in my ability to care for them now and have learned so much. I think back to how I started and how much I learned. I am so happy Gary made it through it all because he is so happy now and so are we!
I wanted to start a thread about their behavior, worth some good laughs and even learning! Share stories please!
Ill share mine. Ours is a golden apple. When I first got the snail I had no idea what I was doing. My 6yr old just wanted a snail. She had a betta in a 1gl tank in the living room for 8mo Mr Moo Moo that was very healthy and active. We found some enjoyment out of him and I finally caved after my daughter kept begging and begging for a snail. The idiot I am, I go get a apple snail for less then a buck at walmart and a goldfish and another 1gl tank. Goldfish live in bowls right? 1gl is fair enough.
We get home and set them up and put them together. All is well. I start to find interest in our new pets and start to read. GOLDFISH GROW THAT BIG? I scream. Hmm what kind of snail do we have.... OMG THEY GROW HOW BIG? I go out and buy a 10gl tank as I had the funds to do so. I figure it would give me sometime for a larger upgrade seeing I would need a large tank. wow.
Set up the 10gl tank and throw them in. Gary the snail seems to come more alive with more room. We laugh at him crawling over the bridge in the tank, how he lets air bubbles into his shell and pushes them out. Im watching him grow like crazy too. He sure wasnt the size of a pea anymore.
The Goldfish starts to act sick. Now what did I do. I learn about the cycle and panic. I start doing massive water changes and everything else I can do to save my daughters fish and snail. I start testing and understand now what I am doing. NitrItes are off the charts even with water changes and it would not come down. I pull the Goldfish out and stick him back in the 1gl changing his water everday. To much damage ay this point. The snail at this point has grown to big and I ask my sister to snailsit for me while my tank cycles. She has a established tank.
I read up on her pictus cats and alge eaters and if Gary will be okay with them. I feel comfortable they will be ok together and transport Gary across the city to my sisters. We get him use to the water temp and let him loose. The pictus cats of course would not stop racing up to him and checking him out. He didnt care. He came out of his shell and just plowed his way through them and did his own thing. We leave and go back home. I realize I felt like I was leaving a pet behind and missed him and so did my daughter! I realized at this time how attached I had gotten.
A week later my sister calls with a Gary update
Sister: "Your snail is demented"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Sister: "He found the airstone in the back of the tank"
Me: "Yeah he likes to sit on it and gather bubbles"
Sister: "Listen....."
I hear a clink.... clink .... clink
Me: "what is that?"
Sister: "Gary riding the air bubbles, he has been doing it for 20 minutes and I thought he was dead, so I read on the Internet how to check of a snail is still alive, pulled him out and touched his door and he was alive so I put him back in, he crawled right back to the airstone and started to ride it again, going in circles and hitting the side of the tank"
Me: "Help him, knock him out of the current, I dont want him to break his shell or something"
My sister removes him like 3 times only for Gary to go back to his game of playing in the current. He did this for two days in a row. He finally got over it LOL
A few weeks later the goldfish dies the day the 10gl cycles. I was upset I couldnt put him back in his "home" it was so close. I figure we still have gary. I go get Gary and bring him home and he does well going back to his home. I try some pictus cats and everything I put in the tank dies, except the snail. I finally leave the tank sit with just Gary in it.
Time for a 55gl, the more I learn the more I realized a larger tank would be easier to take care of. I set up the 55gl and FISHLESS cycle this time. I get it cycled and about two weeks ago I put Gary in the 55gl tank. He felt like he was the king of the tank. He spent about a hour just checking it all out. He found his fav spots to stick to and hide. We spent the first couple of days playing "Where is Gary" but now we know where he likes to hide. I had to work for a few days (12hr shifts) and waited to get my pictus cats until my day off. I go get two babies throw them in there. They of course had to "play" with Gary. They like to nudge him with their noses and check him out. They dont nip at him or be mean to him. He just wakes up and crawls to an area they can not get to. I drop in his little chunk of alge waffer and he will go on his side, wrap his foot around it and just love it for a good hour. Ill feed the pictus cats and Gary will wake up even ACROSS this huge 55gl tank and cruise over there and just sit right on the pellet and eat it. The cats of course swarm around him frustrated. I laugh. He is half dollar size already and the bully for sure. Gary is addicted to tropical sinking pellets!
We have a little sign in the tank that is always tipped over because well Gary likes to tip it over. I just leave it tipped over, I got sick of fixing it. Gary will crawl on the decorations and when he gets to the end just falls off and we laugh as he gets back upright to continue his adventures.
Gary also loves to go into the fake log and sit right in the middle on the gravel like he is trying to upset the cats. They love to swim through there like a good past time and Gary just sits in the middle and the cats have to go find something else to do. He eventually gets bored and leaves the log and goes somewhere else. The cats go back to swimming through it.
I have another fake stump the if they cats are hiding in it, Gary who isnt fitting as well as he use to (was in the old tank) crawls in there and kicks the pictus out. lol
This is so much fun I am buying another one. I feel more comfortable in my ability to care for them now and have learned so much. I think back to how I started and how much I learned. I am so happy Gary made it through it all because he is so happy now and so are we!
