I bought two small snails and added them to my tank and now they are gone. They were never very active in fact I never saw one of them come out of its shell but they both had a snail in it when I added them to my tank. Did something eat them? I have 2 juli cory cats, one Aeneus cory cat, 1 pleco of some kind (my husband bought it so who knows what kind it is), and a small albino clawed frog (about 1 inch or so big). I know a frog will eat small fish when its bigger could it have eaten the snails?
Where did my snails go?
- Thread starter aw82797
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Fluff
Aquarium Advice Addict
What type of snails were they? Mystery snails are notorious for leaving the tank. Perhaps check around behind the tank or under the lid even.
QTOFFER
Aquarium Advice Addict
Check inside the filter. Snails love to go in there for some reason. 
If they're not there, they may have burrowed into the gravel or gotten out of the tank. Check around, they can live for quite some time out of water, so long as they don't completely dry out. Some catfish will suck snails out of their shells and eat them. I also think frogs may try to eat them too.
If they're not there, they may have burrowed into the gravel or gotten out of the tank. Check around, they can live for quite some time out of water, so long as they don't completely dry out. Some catfish will suck snails out of their shells and eat them. I also think frogs may try to eat them too.
Fluff
Aquarium Advice Addict
Well, if you found the shells empty, then, they may have died and gotten cleaned up. Or, it's possible your pleco. I've lost mystery snails to plecos rasping on them. Hard to really say who the culprit is, if there is one, without actually catching them doing it.
G
Guest
Guest
my pl*co doesnt eat snails
Thank you guys anyways I guess it will just be a mystery. They are not in the tank unless they are out of there shells in there. I cleaned the tank and filter today and they are not in the filter or in the gravel unless they are under the main decoration in the middle of the tank. something must have eaten them. My pleco is the biggest fish in the tank and I did seen him sucking near the shells a couple days after I introduced them. If they died then I guess something ate them. Oh well.
Fluff
Aquarium Advice Addict
Rudy,
Plecos aren't really picky and most will eagerly take a meaty item when available. I'm not saying the pleco killed them. Chances are that he just cleaned them up. Who knows. I have 20 plecos and I find they are like puppies. They act without thinking and sometimes the end results are not always nice. I've had bettas appear with round holes in their sides from plecos doing the unthinkable, as well as witnessed the damage that can be done to snails. Some of it depends on the species but not as much as it does on the individual pleco.
Snails don't leave their shells. So, yeah. I suppose it will remain a mystery.
Plecos aren't really picky and most will eagerly take a meaty item when available. I'm not saying the pleco killed them. Chances are that he just cleaned them up. Who knows. I have 20 plecos and I find they are like puppies. They act without thinking and sometimes the end results are not always nice. I've had bettas appear with round holes in their sides from plecos doing the unthinkable, as well as witnessed the damage that can be done to snails. Some of it depends on the species but not as much as it does on the individual pleco.
Snails don't leave their shells. So, yeah. I suppose it will remain a mystery.
