New arrivals

[Red Tailed Wonder]

Hello all,

Well iv'e just got back from my vacation!
I ran down to my LFS and fell in love with these guys. Ok i'll tell you what they are..... Golden Apple Snails! I got two of these guys and they are so cute. Im pretty familiar with them but can anyone tell me about them?

Thanks in advance


flagfish

[dorkfish]

Be carefull with what fish you put with the snails. I had three golden apple snials about a year ago. Well my buenos aires tetras decided to take care of my snail "problem" for me...

[Red Tailed Wonder]

They are quite big, about an inch. I dont think my gouramies are gonna bother them.

thnx flag

[dorkfish]

They are quite big, about an inch. I dont think my gouramies are gonna bother them.

thnx flag

I'm not worried about the gouramies, they don't bother snails. Just giving you a heads up because some fish do eat snails and I rarely if ever see info in species profiles saying that the fish in question can and will eat snails, with the exception of puffers. So, be careful with future additions.

[Red Tailed Wonder]

I can add more? lol

Well i was thinking maybe a couple more female platys?
Ideas anyone?
Also what should i feed them? There is a bit of algae in the tank, if that helps.


thnx Flag.

[Red Tailed Wonder]

Dorkfish are you definetely sure my gouraies wont bother them? I just caught one sucking on the snail. I couldnt tell if he was sucking the flesh or the shell though.


thnx Flag

[rosita]

Flag, I bought two "mystery" snails at end of May. One blue, one yellow. The blue one died soon after, at longest point shell measures 3/4". I keep his shell to measure how much bigger the apple gets. The yellow one has continued growing--I realized it was an apple snail when he went past the one inch mark rather quickly. He is now 3 inches and growing. I saw one at a lfs they had that was the size of a baseball--they're said to grow to size of a softball. So be prepared. Mine is in with my Black Diamond cichlid (paratilapia polleni) who has no fishmates as he's supposedly a pretty aggressivespecie although shy--and has a huge mouth. He'll poke at the snail, who just tucks in. Seems to work for the two of them

There are a couple of websites devoted to apple snails--

http://www.applesnail.net/
http://fishpondinfo.com/snail2.htm

[Tommy Gun]

I have a very large apple snail in one of my tanks right now. The current residents I have with it are two peacock snails (working on their new home), a rainbow shark, a CAE, and about 30 platties of various sizes (breeding them). The snail is about the size of a tennis ball right now and does a great job cleaning off the glass and decorations of algea.

They are relatively easy to care for if you can keep your water quality decent. I sometimes feed algea wafers or discs to supplement its diet since it can eat algea faster than it can grow in my tank.

There is one problem with these snails though, they can breed like crazy and it is hard to stop them. If your tank gets over run by the babies, it is equally hard to clean them out. I had a 10 gallon one time that got ran over by snails and so I took it down for about a month and a half. I put it back up and guess what?!?!?!?!? Yup, some babies had survived somehow. Keep in mind too that some snails are asexual, meaning they can breed without having to have a partner.

Basically you will be ok if you stay away from fish that like to eat snails such as puffers and clown loaches, just to name a couple. My platties pick on the snail sometimes, but usually because some food has gotten stuck to it. I also have had a bristlenose pleco in the tank with the snail and it kept it nice and clean on the outside.

Other thank that, I would just stress keeping your water clean and healthy. Feed algea tabs maybe once or twice a week and be sure to break them up a little because they can tend to get stuck in the snail if it should happen to 'close up' really fast.

[Red Tailed Wonder]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I have some Bottom feeder tablets, can i feed them to my snails? Aswell is it possible to sex them? Would they eat chopped courgette or cucumber?

Sorry for all the questions! :duh:

thnx in advance Flag