Feeding Mystery Snails

[KymH]

Hi!
I am new to the hobby. I have a 37 gallon cycled tank with 3 mollies, 5 platties, and 2 mystery snails. My question may be stupid... but should I be feeding the snails?
I was under the impression that they eat algae in the tank -- but should I feed them anything else? I've read that they like blanched vegetables -- like cucumbers, for example. If I feed them cucumber, do I dice it small or put a chunk in the tank? Will they eat all of it -- or will I have to pull some of it out of the water if they don't eat it all?

Thanks for your insight!
Kym

 

[ColdKoi]

If your tank is dirty enough, they can probably survive without supplemental food, but even in that scenario I would still give them another source of nutrition

My sails have a pretty good ‘grazing wall’ (I leave the algae on the back of the tank), as well as they will come and nibble on algae wafers and pellets I drop in there for the plecos.

They also get veggies a couple times a week. Usually a couple peas will get gobbled up pretty fast between them. When I do cucumber I throw in slices, one will probably be lots, you may have to do a half slice depending whos snacking on it. I have 3 bristlenose, 3 mystery snail and 5 Cory that munch out on basically anything that hits the floor. 2 slices is usually lots for them, I’ll have to pick out some remains in the morning usually

 

[Danio8]

I just let mine munch on the algae growing on the walls. I drop in a third of a Pleco wafer about every week and he eats it.

 

[shellyx]

I keep mystery snails and I always feed them, blanched veggies, spinach, kale , courgette and broccoli I also feed algae wafers, hikari crab cuisine which is good for calcium. I don't have to remove their veg as they eat it all up in 24hrs.

 

[ADsnail]

My tanks are pretty free of algae because the nerite snails eat it, so I supplement all the snails with an aquatic food (Gourmet Blend #50!) bought on ebay. Just a tiny ice cream spoonful every other day. It has all sorts of pellets, bits, and sticks that contain everything from earthworm protein to spirulina algae. If you supplement like this, sinking pellets/wafers etc are the way to go so they come across it as they travel along the bottom. In fact, if you designate one spot as the "kitchen" and always drop it there, they'll make the rounds regularly to pick up some nutrition because they'll know where to go if they're hungry.

The veggies - slices, about 1/8-1/4 thick. Blanching them breaks down the surface wall of cucumbers, zucchini, etc and makes them more available to aquatic creatures. Blanching is quick and easy. Boil a bit (1/2 inch) of water in a pan and place the slice of veg in for one minute. Remove and let it cool.

I find that skewering the blanched slice with a chopstick will keep it from floating in the tank. I barely punch the chopstick through and then bury the tip in substrate, leaving (hopefully) the slice as close to the substrate as possible so they'll come upon it while chugging along the bottom. It's recommended to remove the veg after 24 hours, but I've found that mine don't even begin to be interested until about 24 hours have elapsed. Then, they can't stay away from it and eventually eat every bit, within a couple days. I do this about every 2 weeks.