Fish murdering Ramshorn snails?

Allison Reed

Sushi Lovin' Aquarist
Dec 3, 2002
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Vancouver, wa
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came home today to find the closing "door" on the foot of my snail on the other side of the tank as the empty shell. the only inhabitants are another snail, oscar, 3 balas and a pleco.

Uhhm...did it get MURDERED?
The body is nowhere to be found.
 
the litle hard flat thing on the end of their belly-foot. When they retract it helps sheild their opening. I found that all by itself away from the tank. THAT little door thingi.

Edit: My snails are HUGE. Im serious. They are the size of plums, nearly.
 
well, all the fish are about 6 inches. And im guessing it WAS a murder now...no sign of any body, and the shell is there, but completely empty, and intact.
Oh boy..I dont even know why! I feed them well, ( and sometimes more than I should! )
and they ahve great tempermants. And they've lived with the snails forever.
 
Haven't you ever done something just to see if you could do it?;)
 
Originally posted by Allison Reed
the litle hard flat thing on the end of their belly-foot. When they retract it helps sheild their opening. I found that all by itself away from the tank. THAT little door thingi.
That'd be the operculum. :D Collecting sea shells comes in handy sometimes (these 'doors' are prized to have along with the shell of any good specimen).
Also, I'd guess your Oscar had a nice tasty treat... I've seen them attack snails before. They are only successful if they catch the snail off guard with its 'door' open though, so maybe your snail was just slow on the defense :p
 
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