Apple snail abuse!

[PerenGee]

Hey all, I've got another question lined up for you. So I've added my first fish (3 small Comets) and a golden apple snail to my tank. They're all doing fine and the levels in the tank look pretty good. The snail was roaming around and being very active for the first few days but starting yesterday I noticed the fish were picking on him/her. Today, after taking a closer look, I've found that they have completely bitten off the snail's antennae and it seems to only move around in sort of a defense mode with the shell down over its head.

I've become quite fond of the snail so I'm pretty concerned. I'm thinking I should move the snail into my girlfriend's Betta bowl (1G, Java fern, no filter) but I wanted to know if there's any reason why I should leave the snail in the tank. I feel pretty bad that I didn't catch it earlier, so I want to do what's best for the snail who btw I plan on keeping longer than the comets. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cheshirecatxx]

Thats sad. =[ snails are cool. too bad i have to feed mine to my puffer.

 

[jo3olous]

how do snails benefit the tank again? I think I want some... do they consume any bioload at all?


...OOOOO will my loach eat them? lol

 

[PerenGee]

from what I've read, apple snails (sometimes sold as mystery snails) munch on algae and fallen flakes or food. Some have said that they eat all the plants in the tank but mine only liked to climb on them. I don't know about your loach...but I'm thinking a lot of fish might try to eat a snail.

update: I was watching the fish and the snail last night and eventually they all started picking on the snail together so I felt like I needed to put a stop to that. I put the snail in the betta bowl and while I don't know what happened while I was asleep, they seemed to be getting along just fine, and all is well right now. I'll keep monitoring them...

 

[jo3olous]

yea fish like eating snails, usually they wont though if it cant fit in their mouths, hmmm... well GL with that 0_o

 

[Rayneuki]

My Kribs murdered my snails. :[ one day I found a shell with nothing in it... the next the other snail was floating and they were eating the insides out.

 

[MissFishy]

Apple snails and mystery snails are actually different things. Apple snails can grow as large as baseballs, mystery snails stay smaller. Both can be kind of messy with waste. I recommend mystery snails to clean up extra food on the bottom of a tank. I've loved all the snails I've had. If it is getting picked on, you can always move it to your betta bowl. Make sure you keep doing water changes in the betta bowl to keep the water clean and make sure your snail gets some food, an algae wafer every couple days would be perfect.

 

[jaciealexa]

my apple snails got eaten, as soon as i moved all my fish into a bigger tank, just noticed they weren't movin and discovered the shells were empty, i think that my zebra loaches ate them, but my fighters have never bothered them. gud luck wiv them they r kinda cute but i dont think i will get any more lol

 

[jediinthedark]

Loaches LOVE snails. So adding them to a tank with loaches in it is a quick way to loose a snail.
Snails eat anything from food to algae in a tank. They contribute little to the bioload by themselves, but if you get an infestation the bioload can become unstable.
Any fish can pick on a snail, but most do not. Goldies may or may not - it depends on the fish. Bettas may or may not. Again depends on the fish. I've had snails with each, and had different results every time.
Personally I'd move the snail to the Betta tank. It's going to die where it is, it may live with the Betta.

 

[PerenGee]

it's been a while but here's an update: The snail and betta were doing fine but I moved the snail back to the tank a few weeks ago. Since then the last and meanest of my goldfish (for cycling) has died. The snail is now on the move whenever I take a look. He (maybe she) is happily conquering the tank and often climbs up the intake of the filter and then jumps off to land on the gravel. He/she seems pretty happy; the tentacles are long and fully extended. Currently the only other tank mate is a mandarin orange shrimp, but I'll be adding in other fish and many more plants soon. I've learned my lesson and now I'm paying a lot of attention to what kinds of fish and inverts can live peacefully together. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Surprise_Clown_Loach]

Lol. I added 5 snails to my tank (two weeks now I believe) And to add to my tank oddities, the Clown loach hasn't eatten all of them... Yet.

Two went missing almost immediatly. 3 are still crawling around.

(Maybe it's something in our water! :O County is druging us to be more calm and submissive!) Haha.

Glad to hear your snail is doing better! Now, where is a picture of this snail?

 

[PerenGee]

As per your request here are some pictures:

foraging

roaming after munching on an algae flake

food coma in some microsword after said munching

I tried to take pictures of the shrimp but I couldn't get any good angles. Also, could anyone tell me just by looking at these pictures if it's a male or female?

 

[jo3olous]

wow those are awesome pix, so crisp. what kind of camera do you have lol?

 

[PerenGee]

haha thanks, actually I'm only using a Canon A620 which I should add I dropped in the sand. Anyway, I used manual mode with macro turned on. I've been trying to get a good picture of the snail for a long time, believe me I got lucky this time. Not all the pictures look like that. I wish I had a good DSLR

 

[PerenGee]

Yet another update for those who care: the snail's been doing poorly. I think the pH of my tank is too low for the snail's shell to handle. It's got little indentations all over that have algae growing in them I think. Also, the Gourami I added in a few weeks ago has been pretty vicious to it. I've moved it back to one of my gf's betta tanks. *sigh* poor little guy...

 

[Kalavek]

I think the pH of my tank is too low for the snail's shell to handle. It's got little indentations all over that have algae growing in them I think.

I've never heard of this. Hopefully someone else has, I'd like to know what causes that.

 

[PerenGee]

Well I've read of it happening to shrimp but instead of algae it's tiny bacteria. I just assumed the same thing could happen to a snail. Either way, its shell still has what would appear to be algae growing on it. You can sort of see it starting in those pictures above. Also, the lines that are on the front of the shell in the pictures up there are now black. Although these are some rapid changes, I'm more concerned with its change in activity and reverting back to its scared, defensive mode.

 

[MissFishy]

Snail shells can definitely be fragile. They need calcium in the water in order to keep their shells nice. From the pics, it looks like your snail has already had some issues with his shell since it has lines in it instead of it being smooth. You can buy supplements for your water to help it out. I've loved all my snails, they are very cool to watch.

 

[homebunnyj]

Water of low pH and low mineral content, being acidic, dissolves your snail's shell into the water. Add enough calcium to the water, and the snail shell won't dissolve.

You can raise the hardness of your tank by putting some crushed oyster shell or crushed coral in a nylon stocking and putting it in your filter box or laying it in the tank where there's good water flow. You could also put a hunk of limestone rock in your tank. This will serve to increase the mineral content of your water (calcium carbonate, increasing gH and kH) as well as to buffer your pH, helping to prevent sudden dips that could stress your fish.

Using this method is superior to buying liquid or powder additives, as it produces a much more stable situation, plus you don't have to mess with it all the time since the shell or limestone or coral dissolves gradually.

 

[PerenGee]

Well crap. The snail died sometime yesterday. I'm not sure if it was from the continual abuse and fear of being picked on, or the frequent changes of location. Either way, he had a big meal before dying. I'll miss that snail a lot