Want a snail but don't know much about them.

Tommy Gun said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjFMi5i-2GI


Here is a video of my apple snail cleverly named banana. I really love this snail and it serves a dual purpose as a great glass cleaner! The snail currently resides with some bala sharks and tinfoil barbs. I have even had it in a tank with a few rainbow sharks who never bothered it, even though they were fiercly territorial in the tank.

The snail does have the drawback of being able to have TONS of babies at a time. The LFS where I bought this snail also sold me another one, lying to me when they said it wouldnt be a problem. I did have a smaller tank get over run by the snails and four clown loaches couldnt take care of it. I finally had to take the tank down for two weeks or so and even still, I had a couple survivors.

I suggest that if you were going to purchase a snail, ask for one that has been by itself for a while or quarenteen it until you know it isnt pregnant or about to lay eggs. This way you can be sure you wont get over run. Dont let this discourage you though! Snails are great for a lot of reasons and trust me, unless you have fish that love to eat snails like loaches or puffers, they can close up in that shell faster than you may think. Mine has survived a lot of picking on by other fish who were curious about it. Now I even move the snail from one 55 gallon tank to another so that it will clean up the glass when my pleco or algea eater gets a little bit behind. They are also great at keeping decorations clean since they can get into all the nooks and crannies!
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that tank looks OS. VERY OS.
 
overstocked. how big is that tank? looks like a 55 or an 75 to me, and even if it's bigger than that, you'd need around 1-2,000 gallons to comfortably house all the balas in that tank, considering you need a 300 gallon for just three.
 
Ok, thanks for answering that probrably dumb question. Yes, it is overstocked, not exactly right now I dont think, but for the future it is. This is another story about how a LFS will say pretty much anything to make a sale and so that is why I have so many. I am working on a 300 gallon tank right now in my basement, but my brother (the lucky moron!) just bought a 900 gallon tank for 500 dollars from some guy who was getting divorced and couldnt keep it in his new apartment. So, yes, I have plans for them that do not include killing them or keeping them in an unhealthy situation.

I am thinking hard about getting into either salt water with the tank in the video or possibly just cichlids since I havent had any of them yet. I am open to any suggestions though on what may be a cool way to stock this tank! I have one tank with the usual type fish such as mollies and platties and so I am thinking of getting something a little more 'odd' or different as long as it isnt the complete extreme or something over my skill level to keep.
 
Guys and gals,
Here's the link to the thread on dwarfpuffers.com regarding the ban of snail sales (see icecubez189's post on page 2)
http://dwarfpuffers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3824

From what I gather, there is no such ban, especially where FW aquarium snails are concerned. I think they're mostly worried about the inter-state transport of large, invasive snails that could muck up local waterways. Responsible pet owners would never release animals from your tank into the wild, anyway!
 
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Hey, I finally got the snail. It is a Mystery snail. I just got him and just need to ask you a question. Right when he entered the tank, a long wormy neck like long thing peeked out and it squished back to being small and went back in his shell. What was that? Do you guys have any idea what I'm talking about.

Also, he is under the cave right now hiding. Is it just that he might be a bit scared? Oh and one more question, whats Sponge Bob's Snail's name.
 
He is still under the cave for some reason? Someone answer please.
 
Tetras_Rule33 said:
a long wormy neck like long thing peeked out and it squished back to being small and went back in his shell. What was that?
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I think that was the antenna. They have their eyes on long stalks and they can retract them (pull them back into the shell).

Spongebob's snail's name is Gary. I love that snail. I nicknamed my cat "Gary" because he crawls up my back just like the snail does to Spongebob.

I don't know why your snail's hiding. I've never really seen mine do that. I know Malaysian trumpet snails tend to hide in gravel during the day if there are predators, but I've never really heard of mysteries hiding. From what I hear, they're very personable (even outgoing) snails.
 
I agree with Plah about the antenna. As for the reason he is hiding. Imagine being picked up by a hand that doesn't look like your hand and is at least 5 times your size (thats just the hand) then being placed in a bag, driven to a strange place, put in a new tank with new fish that you aren't sure are friendly or not. Sounds a bit scary eh? Well your poor girl or boy is just scared as to be expected. Give him or her a few days to settle in. And just for reference, IF he/she starts floating, it DOES NOT mean he/she is dead.

Spongebob's snail is named Gary :D I have a canas snail (golden) named Gary as well :P LOL Then I have 2 other canas snails! BTW Saray, your boy or girl (do you know what he/she is?) is beautiful!! I just love these giants! I have two male goldens and a beautiful brown female canas (Looks like Saray's Brown)!
Just so anyone who wants to know, canas DO eat live plants. Matter of fact, they can mow down an entire tank over night if not WELL fed.

Anyways, Tetras,
Just give your little guy/gal time to settle in and don't forget to feed him/her a good diet with high calcium to keep his/her shell looking good. And no pH below 7.0 at minimum to protect the shell and ultimately the snail's life.
 
I came home from the movies tonight (The Descent, really good go see it, lol) and i saw him on the glass. So he is moving around now and the fish are used to him now. They looked a little creeped out when he came in. That little intena that came out, to the fish probably looked like the alien from the movie Alien coming out of a stomach, lol.

So the snail seems pretty good, maybe I'll have pictures soon to show you guys him. Oh about that, what happened to the Post pictures of your fish thread?
 
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