Small Snail Ethics

[Dragonmommy]

I do think calcium may be my problem as some of the shells seem quite weak. How would I increase the calcium safely?

 

[fishisme]

when i had snails, i had 2 and they didnt ever have babies... and now i only have one... i wana get more so they have babie snails.... they are mystery snails so will they have babies like crazzy? lol send some snails this way. but i live in canada

 

[daveedka]

The Apple snails of all types breed far less profusely than the smaller hitchhikers. They have to lay thier eggs above water, and the eggs must stay moist. additionally they are male and female if I understand it correctly and have to mate each time they lay eggs. Pond snails ramshorns and MTS do not have this requirement, nor will the eggs drown underwater like the apple snails.

As far as calcium additions there are several different ideas in the article and subsequent additions.
Dave

 

[fishisme]

oh ok... they go to the top of the tank for air.... i was wonder why they poke that thing above water. i gona get some snails like that

 

[Roan Art]

I'm sorry but I can neither believe this or picture it. If there was enough food and calcium both in the tank to create this scenario, then the snails were definately not the cause of the dead fish. If anything they helped prolong the fish's life span in some way or another. The amount of calcium it would take to grow a colony of snails that dense is not a trivial matter by any stretch. The amount of food that needs to be present to get snails to produce that well is not trivial either. So the idea you are describing could only be achieved with an extremely heavily fed and fouled tank, with high calcium additions. I have tried for quite a while to create massive quantities of snails. it is difficult to do in clean tanks. I don't keep dirty tanks as a rule, so I will admit I don't know what can be done in that regard, but I still doubt there would be enough calcium. Even in some of the nastiest tanks I have seen there is a limit to snail reproduction.

I have a hard time believing that as well. I think she was kinda exaggerating, fishyaddict. I've been trying to breed snails as well -- I have a pufferfish -- and as Dave pointed out, it's not that easy unless you want to foul your tank.

Dave,
I thought ramshorns didn't eat plants? Are there any other snails that look like rams that do? I've been culling all my new plants for snails and plopping them in my "snail tank" and got two that look like rams. They ate my java, though

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

If you buy plants and don't want snails, soak them for 24 hours in a mixture of alum and water. The alum will kill any hitchhikers.

Or you can do a bleach/water dip, but most aren't brave enough for that

Actually, you really should QT "unknown" plants for at least 3-4 days in a fishless tank in case some fish parasites have hitched a ride on them. It's not uncommon for plants to have ich on them if they come from an ich infested tank. If you know the tank they were kept in was fishless and not connected to any system that houses fish, then you're fine.

I do bleach dips, instead.

Roan

 

[Iguanamom]

When I discovered snails on plants I purchased, I was ambivalent about them. If they lived and didn't cause trouble then fine. If they died that was fine, too. In the end, my paradise gourami made a quick meal of all of them and none survived to reproduce. That was one happy gourami though.