Talvari
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2011
- Messages
- 732
So I've kept Mystery Snails in the past. Most recently, I had on in my five gallon tank for about 5 months. The 5 gallon is a heated, filtered Betta tank and the snails only other tank mates were one crown-tail Betta and a few shrimp. The snail did amazing... He cruised around the tank and kept what little algae that did grow at bay. I fed tropical flakes once a day, did algae wafers three times a week, and once a week I put a piece of blanched collard green in there, which the snail loved. I also constantly had a small, pea sized piece of vacation feeder in there as a calcium supplement.
In the five months, the snail went from the size of a dime, to the size of a half dollar. His shell was thick, crack free, and had a great color.
I maintained pristine water quality...(That being no ammonia, no nitrites, and less than 10-20 ppms of nitrates. I use the freshwater masterkit) I do about 50% every week. I only change my filter pads when they start falling apart. In the five months that I had that snail, I had yet to even change the filter out.
One day... I noticed that he was in the same spot as the day before, and the day before that. I know that they go through "slow periods" so I picked him up to make sure he was okay... And he didn't move. Even when I gently touched his plate, he didn't pull it back in. In fact... It slid out a little. So he was definitely dead.
Ive had customers who describe a similar situation, too, and I never really know what to tell them, except that I had a similar experience.
Now here is the real question... Do snails just up and die for no reason? Do they just have that short of a life span? I don't really know much about snails, so please enlighten me.
In the five months, the snail went from the size of a dime, to the size of a half dollar. His shell was thick, crack free, and had a great color.
I maintained pristine water quality...(That being no ammonia, no nitrites, and less than 10-20 ppms of nitrates. I use the freshwater masterkit) I do about 50% every week. I only change my filter pads when they start falling apart. In the five months that I had that snail, I had yet to even change the filter out.
One day... I noticed that he was in the same spot as the day before, and the day before that. I know that they go through "slow periods" so I picked him up to make sure he was okay... And he didn't move. Even when I gently touched his plate, he didn't pull it back in. In fact... It slid out a little. So he was definitely dead.
Ive had customers who describe a similar situation, too, and I never really know what to tell them, except that I had a similar experience.
Now here is the real question... Do snails just up and die for no reason? Do they just have that short of a life span? I don't really know much about snails, so please enlighten me.
