What snails are best for beginners?

[SilverFlame819]

Okay, so I'm setting up a tank for my friend's 12-year-old daughter. She's wanted fish FOREVER, and her mother has finally agreed. I've been thinking it would be more fun for her to have a snail than a pleco (or a snail in addition to a pleco?)... Anyway, here are my requirements. Please let me know if such a snail exists! :)

* Not asexual (or at least cannot procreate in freshwater)
* Survives well with an absolute minimum (or complete lack) of calcium supplements
* Is not known for climbing out of the tank

Comments are appreciated! :)

Thanks!
Angela

[supersudo]

* Not asexual (or at least cannot procreate in freshwater)
* Survives well with an absolute minimum (or complete lack) of calcium supplements
* Is not known for climbing out of the tank


* Freshwater Nerite Snails

* no snail can exist without calcium... however, if you have hard water in your area, there is no need to supplement

* every snail has climbed out of water.. but my Ruby/Tracked Nerite snail has never gone completely out of the water line since i've had him since feb.

[mmm_unit]

try a rabbit snail, although i don't know how much algae they eat.
or you can try a horned nerite, i've heard from jerry that they don't crawler out of the water and match all of your other requirements.

[BioHazard]

All snails are going to need some calcium supplementation, IMO. Apple snails are pretty tough, and would be a good beginner snail. They are sexual, so as long as you only get one, you will be good.

[blue2fyre]

I think a nerite snail is what you are looking for. Though they might crawl out so make sure you have a top. Rabbit snails are also neat but might eat some plants. They also can breed in freshwater but only have 1 baby once a month if you have both genders.
I think another snail that is a lot of fun and easy to find is a brigg snail. Usually they are called mystery snails. They are easy to find and pretty cheap. You need both genders for them to breed so keeping one would be fine.

[Reframer]

Can you give us some info such as the size of the tank and your water's GH and PH? Do you have a water softener?

[Freezekougra]

Adding on to an above comment, snails need calcium for their shells so unless you have hard water(check a tap water report) you should add some kind of supplement. I make plaster of paris pucks...a 4.4lb carton of plaster of paris costs $6 at home depot, all you do is add water and fish flakes and stir, then let it harden and drop it in your tank :D Or you can just try veggies high in calcium like collard greens

[Ratlova30]

I like malaysian trumpets, they'll reproduce but very slowly.

[SilverFlame819]

Well, it won't be living at my house, but at her house. Utah water is pretty hard, but the color it pops up as on a test kit doesn't tell me much of anything. "Moderate" is listed as 50-120, and "Very Hard" is listed as 250-425. I always guesstimate the hardness somewhere between 200-400. The pH at my house is usually in the 7.2 range straight out of the tap. Neither of us has a water softener. It is a 10-gallon tank. We set it up today to cycle. I just bought stuff today to make myself some Snello for the Briggs I have coming for myself, but would like her tank to be as low maintenance as humanly possible (I don't want her to have to make it, and I don't want to be a supplier for the lifespan of her snail). I currently do not have a heater running on her tank (house stays at 70 in the winter, and about 75 in the summer) and have decided on fancy guppies, cherry shrimp, and a couple dwarf frogs for her, so they would be tank companions. I do have a heater she could have for the tank if I ended up adding something that required one, but would like to stay away from them, to keep the tank as simple as possible, since she's never owned fish before. I wanted to put some different invert species in the tank to give it some variety, but wanted them to be easy (like cherry shrimp and dwarf frogs)... I'm not trying to make it too overly complicated. If a snail brings the complication level up too much, I'll just stick with a simple small pleco. :)

[blue2fyre]

I don't think there is any pleco species that would do well in a 10 gallon though. One way or another the snail will need food of some sort. I feed my snails zucchini and other veggies. Those are pretty easy. Most snails will eat whatever food the shrimp are getting as well.

[jpappy789]

I've found brigs to be very easy...if the water is naturally hard than it shouldn't take more than routine feeding and water changes. You shouldn't need to supplement calcium much, and some veggies are a good source anyways (I think Msj has an article somewhere on that). Lower the water line and IME they wont be tempted to leave the tank since that will give them a place to lay the clutches, which are easy to remove so long as you spot them. They just need to be crushed and can then be fed to fish if you like. Of course, you could always get just one ;)

[Reframer]

Pomacea bridgesii/diffusa aka mystery snail comes in a rainbow of colors. 1 should be fine in your tank setup. It will eat leftover food, diatom, algae, etc. keep the temp under 78F though.

[huffmagx]

I would concur that all snails need calcium but she doesn't have to make "snailo" she could just occasionally drop a calcium tab into the water. The guppies will also benefit from this helping to prevent bent backs in the babies and the snails will eat it. You can also purchase commercial fish food with calcium added ( I use reptile sticks and Kens Fish veggie sticks both have calcium added) I would recommend doing the calcium tabs a day or so before water change day so anything that is not eaten can be sucked out at water change.

As for snail species I'd keep a couple of species good variety and more fun.
MTS are great and should be added but aren't always visible they like to hide in the substrate. They do breed in FW but not incredibly fast if not over fed.

Apple snails ( briggsi) are great they come in cool colors are have a bit of personality so more fun for the child to watch they are egg layers above the water line though so will come to the top of the tank IE" You need a top
Nerites eat a good bit of algae and don't reproduce in FW though they do lay eggs in FW they just don't hatch, they come in a variety of colors/patterns and will come to the top of the water and rest but mine haven't come out.

[SilverFlame819]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have owned 10-gallon tanks my whole life, and my plecos have always done great... Right now I have some bushynose plecos. They have only grown to about 5" max and are fit and active and happy with great color... Sometimes I feel like they do such a good job that I need to supplement them so I drop in something for them to munch on, but even without supplements they're fine.

Everyone is mentioning Briggs, but all the articles I've read on Briggs say they have a tendency to jump ship... Which is fine for me, as I'll have fully enclosed lids. But the tank that I got for her has the open spaces at the back of the hood for a heater and filter, and I'm concerned one may make a break for it. This is the kind of girl who has to have elaborate funerals when her hermit crabs die and goes into mourning over them... So I'm trying to find less suicidal snails. :)

She DEFINITELY will not be getting a pair of them, if she was to end up with a Briggs. :) I'm thinking more along the lines of a Nerite, I think...

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! :) They also help since I should be receiving my first snails here shortly as well, and I'm a nervous new mom! Today while shopping for stuff for her tank, I stopped to get gelatin and baby food (and we read labels for 15 minutes trying to find the best kind with the right amount of calcium)...

I hope it's as fun as I think it's going to be. They're super cute! :)

[Paloma]

Okay, so I'm setting up a tank for my friend's 12-year-old daughter. She's wanted fish FOREVER, and her mother has finally agreed. I've been thinking it would be more fun for her to have a snail than a pleco (or a snail in addition to a pleco?)... Anyway, here are my requirements. Please let me know if such a snail exists! :)

* Not asexual (or at least cannot procreate in freshwater)
* Survives well with an absolute minimum (or complete lack) of calcium supplements
* Is not known for climbing out of the tank

Comments are appreciated! :)

Thanks!
Angela
My recommendation is a Mystery Snail. They are so beautiful when they get big and they don't bother anyone. I have several of them in my tank in addition to a pleco, and nothing else because they are so harmonious and I prefer a tank where no one is eating anyone or nibbling on anyone. If you don't get a male and a female, you won't have babies, but don't put them in with goldfish or any other aggressive fish because they will get tortured by them.

[Joshmac8]

Im gonna suggest Malaysian Trumpets as well!