Snail Question

[Dwohlge1]

I don't have any algae yet really. My tank probably doesn't have enough nitrate yet. I think picking up some alga wafers is a good idea

 

[Shadowraven]

Smaller snails will eat detritus if nothing else is available. Why else would you suddenly get an explosion of them when you overfeed your fish? Larger snails will too to some extent.

They are like any other critter living in your tank though. They will always prefer fresh or quality food to anything else. If you want to keep a larger snail alive you will have to supplement. I've found that they like the wafers pretty well. Remember that we put them in the tank a lot of the time for algae control, right?

 

[Dwohlge1]

I picked him up some algae thins today. Gave him a couple, hope the goldfish don't eat em. I am gonna hold off on getting the second one till I start getting some algae build up.

Thank you all for the help.

Oh, what does it mean to give someone rep?

 

[siva]

It adds to their reputation score which you can see by the green boxes under your post count. To give rep the button is right below that. You can give rep to ppl who you've found knowledgable or helpful, etc.

Ah I never really see my snails eat off the floors. Maybe they are just too well fed on algea to go after more unappealing scraps. Shrimp are pretty good on scraps though but, even better of course, is the darling little corydoras

 

[Shadowraven]

I picked him up some algae thins today. Gave him a couple, hope the goldfish don't eat em. I am gonna hold off on getting the second one till I start getting some algae build up.

Thank you all for the help.

Oh, what does it mean to give someone rep?

Let us know how he's doing and how he likes his algae treats!

BTW, that is a beautiful snail you have there. I have never seen them come in blue before.

 

[Dwohlge1]

Let us know how he's doing and how he likes his algae treats!

BTW, that is a beautiful snail you have there. I have never seen them come in blue before.

Thank you. The goldfish ate the wafers so I put two more in a decorative house and put the snail in with them. This allowed him to eat in peace. He devoured them both so he must have enjoyed them.

 

[Shadowraven]

Thank you. The goldfish ate the wafers so I put two more in a decorative house and put the snail in with them. This allowed him to eat in peace. He devoured them both so he must have enjoyed them.

That's using your head!

Yeah goldfish are not only epic creators of bioload, they will effectively vacuum the floor of any tank they are in. If it wasn't for their size they would be good scavengers in regular aquariums. But they get waaay too big.

 

[dkpate]

I have a blue one too, love her!!! Well, her shell is blue/green, and her body is black with orange markings that shimmer.
Have you gotten to see your snails snorkel? I think that is one of the coolest things ever.

 

[Dwohlge1]

No bit I googled snail snorkel, looks pretty crazy

 

[siva]

Yeah when I got mine in the mail and put them in the tanks they headed right for the top with their snorkels completely extended...they wanted fresh air!

 

[dkpate]

Here's mine.

 

[Dwohlge1]

Wow that's crazy. I got a golden mystery snail for my 10g I saw his snorkel yesterday but it wasn't like that.

 

[xfactor6699]

How big will that mystery get

 

[Mr. Limpet]

How big will that mystery get

I've heard a Mystery snails shell can get as big as a tennis ball.

 

[Dwohlge1]

I looked them up before I got the first one. One person had a picture of one that was 1 3/4 in long. Most people report the can get a little bigger than a golfball.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I looked them up before I got the first one. One person had a picture of one that was 1 3/4 in long. Most people report the can get a little bigger than a golfball.

Yep, that's what I heard for most aquariums and mine seemed to have doubled in size the last couple weeks lol. The link below shows one about the size of a baseball.

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug_M3.jpg

 

[Dwohlge1]

Wow that guy is huge!

 

[siva]

The species the vast majority of us have will grow to the size of an apricot. There is a species that will grow the size of a grapefruit but it's not the common ones we see all the time

 

[Mr. Limpet]

The pic in that link I posted is a mystery snail and I remember seeing a link that said they can get as big as a tennis ball, just can't find it now. But just like some fish growing well beyond the norm, I'm sure these are rare too.

 

[siva]

Yes some do. The one we all have, I'm pretty sure, are briggs (Pomacea bridgesii), the kind that is popular in tropical aquariums due to their warm water requirements. They are native to South America. You'll often see them in shades of purple, ivory, pink, blue, gray, or black. Their body color is either ivory with pink freckles or gray/blue with orange freckles. These grow to the size of an apricot. There are other types of apple snails that can tolerate cold water and grow to the size of a grapefruit but those aren't commonly found and are really only suitable for ponds.