Does a snail need open space?

tetramoon13

tetramoon13

AC Members
Jun 14, 2006
280
0
0
53
Milton, NH
What I mean is, does a snail need open air space at the top of the tank? I wish I could remember the site, but I read somewhere that if snail doesn't have an inch or two of space above the water line, it will stress out and die. I have provided this for a mystery snail that I have in a 5 gal, with a pair of adf's, but the snail spends all of its time below the water line, and the current made by the bio wheel is like a waterfall, so I would rather fill the tank if it's not really necessary.

Thanks in advance,
Chris
 
I have wondered about the same thing for awhile but i've noticed that in my 10g, my snail is just fine with 1/2 inch of space. He goes up to the top about mid day and then he is patrolling all night! :joke: So i think you don't need an inch or more towards the top. But i'm no expert!
 
So here's your answer....yes and no.

Snails (most not all) need a couple of inches above the water line to crawl out of and lay eggs. Snails will often times leave the water for no apparent reason, maybe just to explore, or if the water conditions are poor. Lids are a good idea if you have snails that like to explore. About a year ago a found a clutch of eggs on my wall about 2 feet above the aquarium. I never found a snail outside of the tank. They are escape artists so be careful.

Since you only have one snail I doubt that it will need to crawl out of the water to lay eggs but if it is a female it may still come out and lay an infertile clutch.

My best advice would be to leave enough room for the snail to just fit it's body out of water if it needed too. For example if the snail is 1 inch leave it an inch. I'm sure the snail would prefer more room but it sounds like your heart is set on filling up the tank a little more and it really won't hurt the snail.
 
ok sounds good...I think I may take a small piece of sponge and just block the outflow a bit so the current isn't so strong. The adf's have a difficult time swimming in that area, and have been avoiding that half of the tank. I will leave some space for the snail, thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom