Title: SNAILS!
Description: What Types?
Description: What Types?
jdizine - April 14, 2006 06:55 PM (GMT)
So What Type of Snail/s Do You Have?
Pond Snails, are a football shaped snail. They usually get about 1/4" long and are very dark in color. They are hermaphrodites and they will lay eggs. They eat live plants, algae, and leftover debris, etc.
Ramshorn Snails, are round and the whorl stays within its shape, much like a flattened coil. Most common ones get to be about 1/4". They are hermaphrodites and lay eggs on everything. Rocks, plants, etc. They eat algae, left over fish food, and do very little damage to live plants. They are very well known to eat the dead off your plants though! Which I find helpful.
Trumpet Snails, are coned shaped. They usually stay under 1" in length. They are hermaphrodites, or a cloneing snail and give live birth. Wow! They eat everything but your plants. They stir your gravel for you, they are mostly nocturnal and you will not see them too much during the day.
Mystery Snails, or Apple Snails, are the largest of snails. One being the Pomacea bridgesii, or brigs snail. They get about the size of a golf ball. They eat plants, and leftover food. They need both sexes to breed. They will lay eggs at the water line of the tank. The second type is the Pomacea canaliculata, or the cana snail. These snails can get as big as a baseball. They need both male and female to breed also. They too will lay a clutch of eggs at the water line. They do not disturb live plants, but must be fed a good calcium of a diet. Collards is the best and highest in calcium, but lettuce, brocolli, spinach, etc. is a good diet too. Both of these two snails species need a good variety in their diet as well. They love sinking shrimp pellets.
All of these snails, are messy.
* require alot of water changes to keep down the ammonia levels. Keeping the substrate clean of fecal matter, is going to be a must to keep your tank in pretty and clean conditions.
* a variety of foods in their diet. If fed too many greens, they will grow their shells too rapidly and the shells will start to crack or split.
* will live longer in lower temps and shorter in higher temps.
* like a hardier water at around a pH of 8.
* are very disease resistant. If something seems to be wrong it is most likely the water conditions, or lack of calcium.
* if you want to keep snails from becoming a problem issue. Clown loaches love them, as well as other fish such as cichlids, etc.
* wash your live plants in a potassium permanganate solution, if snails are not welcome in your tank. They usually end up in tanks this way in the first place.
* if treating your tank with meds, make sure it is safe for snails if you wish not to harm them.
Shown Below: These are 3 snails that had a very unhealthy diet, and the difference of their shells when on a healthy diet was introduced.
This is ol' Blue
This is buck
and finally... Hazzard
Pond Snails, are a football shaped snail. They usually get about 1/4" long and are very dark in color. They are hermaphrodites and they will lay eggs. They eat live plants, algae, and leftover debris, etc.
Ramshorn Snails, are round and the whorl stays within its shape, much like a flattened coil. Most common ones get to be about 1/4". They are hermaphrodites and lay eggs on everything. Rocks, plants, etc. They eat algae, left over fish food, and do very little damage to live plants. They are very well known to eat the dead off your plants though! Which I find helpful.
Trumpet Snails, are coned shaped. They usually stay under 1" in length. They are hermaphrodites, or a cloneing snail and give live birth. Wow! They eat everything but your plants. They stir your gravel for you, they are mostly nocturnal and you will not see them too much during the day.
Mystery Snails, or Apple Snails, are the largest of snails. One being the Pomacea bridgesii, or brigs snail. They get about the size of a golf ball. They eat plants, and leftover food. They need both sexes to breed. They will lay eggs at the water line of the tank. The second type is the Pomacea canaliculata, or the cana snail. These snails can get as big as a baseball. They need both male and female to breed also. They too will lay a clutch of eggs at the water line. They do not disturb live plants, but must be fed a good calcium of a diet. Collards is the best and highest in calcium, but lettuce, brocolli, spinach, etc. is a good diet too. Both of these two snails species need a good variety in their diet as well. They love sinking shrimp pellets.
All of these snails, are messy.
* require alot of water changes to keep down the ammonia levels. Keeping the substrate clean of fecal matter, is going to be a must to keep your tank in pretty and clean conditions.
* a variety of foods in their diet. If fed too many greens, they will grow their shells too rapidly and the shells will start to crack or split.
* will live longer in lower temps and shorter in higher temps.
* like a hardier water at around a pH of 8.
* are very disease resistant. If something seems to be wrong it is most likely the water conditions, or lack of calcium.
* if you want to keep snails from becoming a problem issue. Clown loaches love them, as well as other fish such as cichlids, etc.
* wash your live plants in a potassium permanganate solution, if snails are not welcome in your tank. They usually end up in tanks this way in the first place.
* if treating your tank with meds, make sure it is safe for snails if you wish not to harm them.
Shown Below: These are 3 snails that had a very unhealthy diet, and the difference of their shells when on a healthy diet was introduced.
This is ol' Blue
This is buck
and finally... Hazzard