Mystery Snail Question

mykidsmylife

mykidsmylife

Princess of Peons
Aug 26, 2005
925
0
0
Indiana, U.S.A.
Okay..tonight I couldn't resist and I got 4 Mystery Snails for my daughters 40 gallon tetra/guppy/cory tank. We got one black, one gold, one blue and one pearl.

Here is the questions. Are they go to breed like guppies? Or not so much? It doesn't matter much one or the other. My loaches in the 75 would love to help me out with a snail over-population.

Question #2- Do they climb out of their tanks and escape? My son would really like one or two in his tank but he doesn't have a hood (don't worry..no jumpers). Do I need to put saran wrap over possible escape routes on my daughters tank?

They are really cute guys. I can't believe I didn't think to look at them until now. Is there any major dietary issues that need to be met? They have some algae to clear up and I feed algae and sinking wafers.

Thanks all.
 
My answers only come from personal experience... as for breeding... YES. Prolifically! leaving the water level down an inch or two gives them more places to deposit eggs.

Snails crawl up the tube, into filters, and lay eggs everywhere. Every once in a while some would crawl onto the light on the hood and fry themselves there. So, yes... they do sometimes do suicidal things. I never found any OUTSIDE of the tank, tho!
 
Wonderful little things arnt they??? I regret very few things in aquaria, but one thing I do regret was buying into the "anti snail" sentiment and not giving them a chance years ago.
Anywho, to answer your questions...
No, they donot breed like guppys... Mature apple snails lay eggs above the water line in a "clutch"...Looks like a long, pale raspberry... This is easily removed with a credit card if you dont want babies...If you do want babies, they will hatch in 14-21 days... And yes, they make great loach food.

Yes, they need a cover... Even a piece of white styrofoam cut to fit will work... Snails aint picky... Snails are highly sensitive to ammonia and nitrite though, so keep an eye on those numbers.

They do benefit greatly from veggies that are high in calcium as well as a pH that is 7.0 or higher...any less and their shells errode- leading to death.. Checkout www.applesnail.net for some feeding and housing advice... Great site and some really nice snail people there! Enjoy your little guys... Wait till you see them surfing on bubbles and "parachuting"... Your kids will get a real kick out of them :)
 
Wow guys. Thanks so much for the quick info. I will come up with a hood for son so he can get some. I am fascinated by them. She is sound asleep and I keep sneaking in and sitting on her bed to watch them. CUTE!!! I will keep a close eye for calcium. I know that broccoli is suppose to be high in calcium are there others? Is there some kind of vitamin supplement I should offer them? I know the calcium in my water may not be too great (water softener).

So what is the difference between an Apple snail vs. A Mystery Snail??
 
Ahhh... perhaps I misunderstood your post... when you said "like guppies" I took that to mean "prolifically" (sort of the aquarium version of "like rabbits"). But did you mean "live bearers" or something other?? Pixie was right... I believe I misunderstood your post, sorry for the confusion!
 
I've never had my mystery snails reproduce. Most fish will eat the eggs anyways. One reason they're so popular is that they reproduce very much, and is very easy to stop.

One of my favorite aquarium animals, very amusing to watch, and definetly get some bubbles for them, they have fun with bubbles.

They have a tendancy to sometimes uproot or eat your plants, no matter how much marketing will tell you they only eat dead plants. My snails would love to "sleep" (they're primarily nocturnal) in the middle of a small bunch of plants, and uproot them occaisionally.

They also love fruits and veggies, i've fed them lettus and Carrots, and they would much on it for days.
 
CoverMe said:
Ahhh... perhaps I misunderstood your post... when you said "like guppies" I took that to mean "prolifically" (sort of the aquarium version of "like rabbits"). But did you mean "live bearers" or something other?? Pixie was right... I believe I misunderstood your post, sorry for the confusion!
Click to expand...

You were right CoverMe. I meant it as in "like rabbits" but it's nice to know they aren't livebearers too! :)

Ha...never thought about that confusion when I posted it.

Thanks again for all the help
 
I've had some large mystery snails for several months now, and they never laid eggs. I guess I should expect to see them sometime in the future, huh?

Someone else asked if there are any snails which don't reproduce like rabbits (or guppies). I don't suppose there are any?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom