Breeding Golden Apple Snails?

[DoN_WoN]

i have 4 apple snails in my 5 gallon tank, i want to breed them and ive read that they lay the eggs above the water level, so i lowered the water level and feed them a little more..is that all i do??

what do i do when they lay the eggs?

[jackiomy]

Absolutely nothing. LOL Just wait and make sure the clutch doesn't get too wet and let mother nature take care of it.
That is a lot of snails for a 5 gallon though. They need 2.5 gallons per snail to handle the bioload, snails poo alot and IMO Golden ones grow even larger than normal brigs so you might want to upgrade to a larger tank if you want to keep them healthy.

[DoN_WoN]

Absolutely nothing. LOL Just wait and make sure the clutch doesn't get too wet and let mother nature take care of it.
how do i make sure it doesn't get too wet? just keep the water level low as it is now?

[snoopy65]

Yep. Bridgesii are sexual specific, so if you do not have both male and females, they will not have viable clutches.

[DoN_WoN]

Yep. Bridgesii are sexual specific, so if you do not have both male and females, they will not have viable clutches.
i think i have both, i have 2 bigger ones and 2 smaller ones, i heard the females are slightly bigger..idk

[BettaFishMommy]

yep, lowered water a couple inches below the top of the tank and feed em lots, but don't let your water quality go downhill - do water changes often (i would do 50% twice weekly, with a gravel vac on one of those twice weekly changes, on that small a tank with that many snails).

is this 5 gallon tank cycled? i would not advise trying to breed anything in a tank that is not cycled, due to the increased ammonia/nitrite. do you have an API freshwater test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? if not, get one.

have you noticed two snails sorta 'wrestling' with each other lately? that is them breeding, and a male and a female are needed to make apple snail babies. eggs should appear above your water line soon, within a week i would say. do nothing to the eggs unless you see them getting really dry, then lightly mist them with some tank water in a little spray bottle. it could take up to 4 weeks for the eggs to hatch, have patience! mine took almost that long the first time.

but the first thing to do before any of the snails have a chance to lay eggs is move them to a bigger tank. 5 gallons is not enough for the 4 adult snails, never mind the babies. snails make a lot of waste, especially if you are overfeeding to make them breed. i would get at least a 10, preferably bigger, to breed your snails.

what filter are you planning on using for your baby snail tank? if it is a hob (like an aquaclear), you will need to modify the intake tube so that lil snails don't get sucked up. get a filter sponge and cut a 'tunnel' down into one side of it and shove it on the intake tube of the filter, so that the lil ones don't go for an 'impeller ride'.

babies get fed the same as their parents, algae wafers, left over flake, pellet fish food, veggies, snail jello, etc. they do not need anything special.

if you have any fish in the tank you plan on breeding the snails in, i will give you a heads up that the fish might get rather plump after the snails hatch out, since lil tiny escargot is very appetizing to fish. the male betta i had in my snail tank was so grateful for his smorgasbord......lol. but don't worry, snails lay so many eggs that you will have lots that will grow up and not get eaten.

anything else you are wondering about, just let us know!

[DoN_WoN]

yep, lowered water a couple inches below the top of the tank and feed em lots, but don't let your water quality go downhill - do water changes often (i would do 50% twice weekly, with a gravel vac on one of those twice weekly changes, on that small a tank with that many snails).

is this 5 gallon tank cycled? i would not advise trying to breed anything in a tank that is not cycled, due to the increased ammonia/nitrite. do you have an API freshwater test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? if not, get one.

yes the tank has been set up since January, i have an API liquid test kit too

have you noticed two snails sorta 'wrestling' with each other lately? that is them breeding, and a male and a female are needed to make apple snail babies. eggs should appear above your water line soon, within a week i would say. do nothing to the eggs unless you see them getting really dry, then lightly mist them with some tank water in a little spray bottle. it could take up to 4 weeks for the eggs to hatch, have patience! mine took almost that long the first time.

yess they "wrestle" a lot!! the last 2 days ive been watching my tank they are doing it!! hehehehehe

but the first thing to do before any of the snails have a chance to lay eggs is move them to a bigger tank. 5 gallons is not enough for the 4 adult snails, never mind the babies. snails make a lot of waste, especially if you are overfeeding to make them breed. i would get at least a 10, preferably bigger, to breed your snails.

once they lay the eggs im taking them out and my friend is gonna take them for his 4+ tanks :)

what filter are you planning on using for your baby snail tank? if it is a hob (like an aquaclear), you will need to modify the intake tube so that lil snails don't get sucked up. get a filter sponge and cut a 'tunnel' down into one side of it and shove it on the intake tube of the filter, so that the lil ones don't go for an 'impeller ride'.

im using the Red Sea Nano Filter..i like it alot its small and doesn't give off a lot of current

babies get fed the same as their parents, algae wafers, left over flake, pellet fish food, veggies, snail jello, etc. they do not need anything special.

if you have any fish in the tank you plan on breeding the snails in, i will give you a heads up that the fish might get rather plump after the snails hatch out, since lil tiny escargot is very appetizing to fish. the male betta i had in my snail tank was so grateful for his smorgasbord......lol. but don't worry, snails lay so many eggs that you will have lots that will grow up and not get eaten.

lol i have a betta in there..this is an experiment so well see

anything else you are wondering about, just let us know!

hmm.. oh yea once the snails hatch what happens to the egg embryo thingy? take it out?

[DoN_WoN]

hmm.. oh yea once the snails hatch what happens to the egg embryo thingy? take it out?
oops i didn't know how to quote each paragraph so i typed after each of your paragraphs with my answer to your statement.

[DoN_WoN]

already lowered it!!

is this 5 gallon tank cycled? yep been set up since January.

They are wrestling like every day!!! haha

im not keeping the baby snails im giving them to my friend (smartdog126) for his 4+ tanks :)

im using the Red Sea Nano Filter i like it its small and gives off little current

i have a betta in the tank so its an experiment to see if he'll eat them


one more question..after the snails hatch what do i do with the Embryo thingy?? take it out and discard it?

[jackiomy]

What is an embryo thingy?

[DoN_WoN]

What is an embryo thingy?
the thing the snails are in?

[snoopy65]

The clutch will be dried up pretty much. I crumble it in the tank, just in case there is a straggler snail baby in it.

[DoN_WoN]

The clutch will be dried up pretty much. I crumble it in the tank, just in case there is a straggler snail baby in it.
will that do anything to the tank, cause ammonia or anything?

[Lupin]

What exactly are we talking about? The brigs or canas? GAS refers to canas. Canas will need at least 5g per each snail. They're not difficult to breed. Slightly overfeed, change water with slightly warmer temperature and then leave a few inches room above water line. You can try protein based foods to encourage them to breed.

If you cannot handle all the eggs, chop the clutch into your desired number that you can raise enough number of baby snails as your space permits.

[Lupin]

will that do anything to the tank, cause ammonia or anything?
As to this, no.

[BettaFishMommy]

i would still cover the intake of your filter with something, like a sponge or fine netting, so that the babies don't go into the filter, possibly clogging the impeller and causing problems with the filter. it is not the output flow of the filter i'm talking about here, but the possibility of snails going into the filter via the intake tube. i ran an aquaclear 20 on my first 10 gallon snail tank and ended up with lots of babies in the filter because i didn't cover the intake tube.

i would give the babies a little while between hatching and giving them to your friend, to give them a little bit of time to grow and develop. moving them right after hatching would cause a lot of casualties, IMO. give them a week or two, perhaps.

even though you are not keeping any of the babies, it is still a good idea to get a bigger tank for the adult snails and the betta. 5 gallons is not big enough for that bioload.

the 'embryo thingy' or what i call the husk, can be removed and thrown away after the babies hatch out. you may want to freeze it first to make sure any straggling babies do not hatch out in the garbage. i don't crumble mine in the tank or anything, since there are enough snail babies to worry about and making sure i get the last few stragglers is not a concern for me.

[smartdog126]

okay so what im understand is just bassicly lower the water how much from the top?? and feed them daily (once) and thats it and if they get dry just spray em with tank water one mist of spray (im the one taken the snails/ fish store to! lol)

[DoN_WoN]

okay so what im understand is just bassicly lower the water how much from the top?? and feed them daily (once) and thats it and if they get dry just spray em with tank water one mist of spray (im the one taken the snails/ fish store to! lol)
for ur 10 id lower it about 3 inches..and you NEED a cover! idk about daily just more than usual...

what did u mean by "(im the one taken the snails/ fish store to! lol"?

[RodInCALIFORNIA]

that 5g tank is too small seriously

[smartdog126]

yeah... i kinda think so to i got 3 in my 10 u have 4 in a 5...

[smartdog126]

yea i no im giving them to the pet store soon like within a week prob

[DoN_WoN]

that 5g tank is too small seriously
once he breeds them he is going to transfer them to his 10 gallon to grow, then sell when they get old enough, if they get to big he also has a 29 to grow even more...

i have a 5 gallon with a betta and 4 or those same Golden Apple Snails, ive had them since january or so and there fine, i do weekly water changes so its all good, witha filter

[DoN_WoN]

so now that i have 2 tanks...im going to breed my snails in my 5..i see them "wrestling" like all the time so ima lower the water level today and see what happens

[smartdog126]

WOW u are going to lower it?

[DoN_WoN]

WOW u are going to lower it?
still thinking

[JuanitoW]

If you worry about nutrient problems, put the 5g next to a window that has direct sun. Put duckweed in the tank, alternatively you can put something less noxious like hornwort or water sprite. Problem solved! You'll have tons of algae: green algae, hair algae, spot algae, you name it! Cleaning with a razor once a week is worth the piece of mind that excess nitrogen is taken up.

That's how I keep my ridiculously overstocked tanks healthy. I don't even mention how many shrimp/fish/snails I have in my 30G in fear of backlash :P

[smartdog126]

yea well i kinda cant move my tanks... lol aand itsharder to breed snails then i thought lol... still no eggs

[RodInCALIFORNIA]

all my different types of snails breed like crazy. I had 14 clutches of briggs hatch this month and a few hundred giant ramshorn eggs hatch not to mention the regular common ramshorn who are just as busy. But I have 10 55 Gallon tanks I use for my snails. the large goldfish help keep my common ramshorn populations under control they eat them like crazy at times. the briggs and giant ramshorns are in no fish tanks since I have alot of local people always wanting some of them and have no problem finding homes for them.

[BettaFishMommy]

smartdog, have patience. female briggs can hold eggs for quite a while. as well, they will not lay the eggs if they don't feel the spot for laying is exactly to their liking. just give them time, you'll get eggs, provided you have both a male and female snail.

JuanitoW, snails need more than just algae to thrive.

RodinCalifornia, are you sure you're not a black market snail dealer? hahahahaha!!!!

[RodInCALIFORNIA]

Shhhhhhhhhh yes I am a dealer............luckly I dont have anyone else in my area with these snails so I have no problem getting them homes. our LFS never has any snails except the pond snail pests. I sell to them but I get store credit and they sell me supplies at there cost so it works out. For some reason the LFS cant get any good snails or they dont really try doesnt matter kinda glad they dont so they always buy mine.

[smartdog126]

im not 100% sure its a male and a female all i no is i showed my friend what is so called "wrestling" and he said yes thats wrestling so i guess if they wrestled that means its male and female i have 3 so one has to be a male and one has to be female...

[snoopy65]

A male Bridgesii will "mount" male or female. Just because they are "wrestling" doesn't necessarily mean you have male and female.

[smartdog126]

what u mean mount?

[snoopy65]

He will "attempt" to copulate with any other Bridgesii snail.

[RodInCALIFORNIA]

mount = do the nasty :)

[smartdog126]

are you not able to say sex??