I am thinking of getting a snail.

[Jspigs]

I am thinking of getting a snail but I have some questions.
I first wanted to say that I probably won't be getting a snail for a little while because I'm in the middle of a fishy cycle (due to my LFS not telling me about fishless cycleing or any kind of cycling for that matter).
I have a 2.5 gallon Betta tank with a preset heater, a Red Sea Deco Art Nano Filter with extra bio-media, and an aerator. This is my only tank and it is the one the snail will go in.
My questions are:

1. what snail species will survive in a tank that occasionally gets as hot as 84*F.

2. Which of these species (if multiple) has the lowest bio-load and is easiest to care for?

3. Which of these species would be compatable with my male Betta?

4.what would I feed a snail?

I am worried about my Betta trying to eat a small snail and instead choking on the snail so please take it into account that I want a snail to big to fit into a Bettas mouth.

Please comment.


P.S. I know NOTHING about taking care of snails so any other advise is welcome.

P.P.S. The whole snail thing might not happen if I can't convince my dad to let me get one so we will see what happens:).

[Reframer]

I wouldn't do it becuase they have very high bio loads and the tank is too small, if you upgrade to a 5 then you can.

[Jspigs]

I wouldn't do it becuase they have very high bio loads and the tank is too small, if you upgrade to a 5 then you can.

Sigh... okay it's something for the future then.

[thebrandon]

You could get a trumpet snail lol

[msjinkzd]

1. what snail species will survive in a tank that occasionally gets as hot as 84*F. The only snail I would recommend for that tank size and for that specific water temperature is the clithon corona. Its also called a spikey nerite. They stay about pea-sized to slightly larger and can tolerate warmer temperatures.

2. Which of these species (if multiple) has the lowest bio-load and is easiest to care for?

3. Which of these species would be compatable with my male Betta?same as above

4.what would I feed a snail? the species I am recommending is an algae eating species. They do best in a well established tank. They can often be supplemented with blanched zucchini and some will even take kens vegetable sticks.

I am worried about my Betta trying to eat a small snail and instead choking on the snail so please take it into account that I want a snail to big to fit into a Bettas mouth. This snail does not have a very visible face so the betta probably won't bother it. Alos, because of its spikey shell, I doub tyour betta will even bother it. In fact, I keep that particular species with betta and also with discus because its able to tolerate the temps and is less vulnerable to a fish which can be nippy.

Please comment.


P.S. I know NOTHING about taking care of snails so any other advise is welcome.

P.P.S. The whole snail thing might not happen if I can't convince my dad to let me get one so we will see what happens:).

Comments above :)

[d1anonly22]

get a pond snail. if you got any ponds or creeks or rivers around go out and start looking on the plant live. if you want to see what they look like check out my pics. a couple of ponds snails are perfect for that size of tank. they stay small and arent as messy as other snails.

[psyche]

I would go with msjinkzd suggestion :)

Most species of pond snail can self fertilise so you will get an overpopulation issue unless the betta eats them.

You might try a nice red or pink ramshorn, the are pretty and easy to look after, but it would depend how "picky" the beta is.

[Jspigs]

okay it's decided once the tank is cycled (and I can convince my dad to let me get a snail) I will get a spikey nerite snail. Now I have a couple of questions about spikey nerite snails:

1. Where can I get one?

2. I don't have any algae, will pieces of algae wafer work?

Please comment.

[msjinkzd]

there are several of us who sell them online, they are probably going to be pretty hard to find locally.

they might eat algae wafers, mine never have. They prefer kens veggie sticks or blanched veggie. I can always send you a sample of the veggie sticks when the time comes if you want to try them.

here are some examples of what they look like:
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff170/msjinkzd/kali003.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff170/msjinkzd/updates529003.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff170/msjinkzd/updates529005.jpg

[thebrandon]

Also check out the stickies at the top for snail jello

[mmm_unit]

look in the buyer/selling forums. there are people selling nice snails for a good price.

i'd recommend a nerite snail as they are nice to look at and you can choose from a variety of them. That and i've seen them in a small beta tank (1 gallon) at my LFS and they look fine.

As a very big plus, they do an excellent job eating algae from your walls. Got on 1 month ago and haven't done any scrubbing since then. I used to do it every 2-4 weeks.

[DoN_WoN]

lol i have about 150 ramshorn snails and about 50 MTS in my 2.5 tank with RCS and its fine

[Davy]

the petsmart i work at has tons of blue ramshorns in the tanks, im sure theyll just give you sum if you want em. thats how i got mine.

[Jspigs]

Okay I have some more questions.

1. Does a clithon corona snails diet have to be supplemented with calcium?

2. My room faces north so the sun does not shine directly in. How would I encourage algae to grow in my tank (for my snail to eat) other than having the window shades open?

3. What other advise would you give on how to care for a clithon corona?

Sorry I keep asking questions, I just want to make sure that I get all the information I need before I get my snail:).

[msjinkzd]

1. Does a clithon corona snails diet have to be supplemented with calcium?They will graze on calcium pills, but it seems to be less important than it is with species like apple snails which grow really quickly. More important is to have your tank hardness up (higher pH) which prevents erosion.

2. My room faces north so the sun does not shine directly in. How would I encourage algae to grow in my tank (for my snail to eat) other than having the window shades open?It should just naturally happen. Another option is to culture algae seperately on something like a rock to add to the tank. You can do this in a windowsill (or outside if its warm enough) and a bucket by adding a pinch of food and letting it get some sun.

3. What other advise would you give on how to care for a clithon corona?
They are really easy and neat little snails :)

[Jspigs]

Thank you all so much for all of your help:D. Thanks to all of you I have all the information about snails that I need to get my first snail:woot:. Now all I have to do is convince my mom and dad to let me get one:dance:. Although convincing my mom and dad to let me get one may be difficult, I will let everyone know how it goes:).

[Jspigs]

I was able to convince my parents to let me get a snail:D:D:D:dance::dance:!!!!! So now I am going to get a liquid PH test kit to make sure my water is not too acidic for a snail and as a little experiment I am also bringing a sample of my tank water for my LFS to test to see if we both get about the same results (I doubt the results will be exactly the same). Wish me luck with the PH :).

[Jspigs]

Well according to the petstore guy (who actually knew what he was talking about) my ammonia is to high and my cycle is delayed (he does not know why the cycle could be delayed). So I can't get a snail yet :(.