Do Apple snails eat plants?

FishFanMan

FishFanMan

AC Members
Jun 13, 2013
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Naperville, IL
I wanted some bigger snails to eat algae in my algae infested tank and so I bought 15 marble sized ones and they are doing a fantastic job. But I came across one website warning they are not for planted tanks because if algae is scarce, they will eat the plants.

Is this true? I've noticed these guys burrowing themselves into my PFS. Are they munching on roots? If so I need to donate these ASAP!

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Yes, apple snails will eat plants. I'm assuming a Cana here...and as the name implies, they get huge and their appetite grows to match.

Mark
 
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My apples don't eat my plants except for one which is a cana snail, i just make sure they're well fed :)

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Like the others have basically pointed out, there are different species of snail that go by the name "apple snail", some of which are plant safe and others not so much... http://applesnail.net/ should help you figure out what kind you have.
 
Ok, I'll check out the site. I have the white round ones.

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Canas will, diffusas will not. They don't make the best algae cleaners though compared to nerites or ramshorns. Sometimes my snails burrow under the plant roots when they want to be left alone. Are there any fish that are bothering them?
 
Ok, I finally got a good look at them and based on their shape they are diffusas. So glad they will not eat my plants. I've had them for couple weeks now and have not seen them eating my plants. I don't see my fish bothering them too much now. At first I think the fish were curious but they seem to ignore them now and I don't see the snails in the sand much anymore.

It seems the ramshorns do a bit better job with algae like you said Chickadee. I don't have a lot of large ramshorns so I bought these to eat some stubborn algae on my plants. I'd rather try this than to remove the leaves. The good new is that I don't see much new algae growing! Been tweaking a few things to control algae in couple of my tanks.
 
That's good, they were probably just a little shy at first. Diffusas are unable to rasp raw plant fibers. That's why if you give them veggies they should be boiled a bit first. They'll also eat fish food, shrimp pellets, sinking wafers, etc. I love to watch mine eat!
 
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