our new snail... Apple, comp., sys.  8/11/2009 Hi. Thank you for taking the time to read this, <Happy to help.> We set up an aquarium for my daughter about a week and a half ago. <If your daughter is a minor, then you're setting up the aquarium *for yourself*. Always remember that. Children make very poor guardians of animals, so the responsibility for any animals you buy rests squarely on your shoulders.> It is a 6 gallon, Marineland. <Too small for Goldfish or indeed any other fish except Bettas.> It has a carbon filter and a BIO-Wheel. We have a small Fantail & a small Black Moore, we got a snail on Sunday. <This aquarium isn't acceptable for these fish. They WILL get sick and they WILL die prematurely. So let's cut to the chase here. A 20-gallon tank will be fine while they're small, up to about 10 cm/4 inches in length, but you need a 30 gallon system for these two Goldfish once mature; see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/goldfish101art.htm As for the snail, it's an Apple snail, and won't live more than 6-12 months in an aquarium. Wild snails aestivate in mud for part of the year, and without this resting phase, they seem not to live for their normal lifespan in captivity. When they die, they cause massive pollution. They mix poorly with fish. Fish nibble at them, damaging their "antennae", allowing secondary infections to set. Millions of Apple snails are sold to inexperienced shoppers, and the vast majority of them die for one reason or another. There's a great Apple snail site, here: http://www.applesnail.net/ Take a look at the needs listed in the Quick Guide section. Since you'll be taking the Goldfish out of the woefully inadequate 6 gallon tank, you might elect to dedicate that tank to the needs of Apple snails. They make interesting pets, and when kept in groups, breed quite readily. Rearing baby Apple snails isn't easy, but with luck, you'll get enough to keep a steady population going.> The lady at the pet store checked the door to make sure it was alive. We have never had a snail before & thought it would start moving around by now. It has not moved around the tank at all & I have not seen the whole body come out. <Often, they start moving, and then the Goldfish buffets them, and the snail goes into it's "scared" mode again. As I say, you can't usually keep Apple snails and Goldfish together. Many have tried, and most of them failed.> I saw the siphon come out this morning & it did go from being totally closed up to being part way out of the shell. I read a LOT of the other FAQ's & did not see anything about this kind of behavior. Do you think it is okay? <No.> Or did we buy a dud? <Apple snails tend to be either healthy or dead. You're at the tip-over point perhaps where a healthy snail isn't able to move about and feed, and yes, after a few days, it will die if it can't act normally.> We do not have any live plants, so I put a piece of zucchini in the tank next to it & it didn't do anything. The fish pick at it like it is gravel.... It moves in & out of the shell a bit, but never all the way & it doesn't go anywhere. <Just as I said.> Is there another site you could direct me to, I looked at the ones I saw on your site, but I didn't see anything that looked like my issue...... Thanks a lot for any advise! Ariel <Well, your first priority is to rehome the Goldfish. You CANNOT keep them in a 6-gallon tank. Period. End of story. If you ignore my advice here, they WILL get sick and the WILL die. Assuming you do this in the next day or two -- the only responsible course of action, really -- then your Apple snail may well recover of its own volition if left in the 6-gallon system.> Here is a picture of what it looks like right now. Sorry in advance for any spelling or grammar errors, I used my spell checker & tried really hard to make it nice, but I am not very good at such things. :) <Thanks for taking the time to write to us properly. It's appreciated. Good luck, Neale.>

Apple Snail Question 05/27/09
Hi there. Nine days ago, we purchased two apple snails for our new pond (the guy at the pet store said this was fine), we soon learned this wasn't good at all.
<Does depend where you live; if you happen to live in the subtropics or tropics, then Pomacea snails can adapt well to pond life. But they aren't at all suitable for ponds in the temperate zone, and even in warmer parts of the world they do need a "resting period" lasting some months. Personally, I don't rate Apple snails as particularly good pets, and the overwhelming majority of them die within a year, never reaching anything like their full size.>
In our crash course on water care and snails we lost one and surprisingly the other is still alive. We put in a new, bigger pond and placed him in there to get him out of the old toxic water and he started moving up and down the sides (it's about a 200 gallon pond).We were so happy that he was still alive that we bought a ten gallon tank for him and got him to other apple snails for company.
<They actually couldn't care less about company... more important you provide optimal conditions for one snail than try to house a bunch of them under less than perfect conditions.>
Well, the first day we put all three in the tank, he was partially out of his shell and wasn't moving for about twelve hours, and he appeared to be defecating and producing excess slime. We got worried and read that you should remove the snail immediately from the tank if they appear as if they are dying.
<You should certainly remove a dead snail from any aquarium, yes. But removing one that's merely behaving oddly isn't a good idea. Periodically shedding mucous and producing copious faeces are both normal behaviours.  Unless the snail is constantly shedding mucous, small amounts aren't anything to worry about, and like all herbivores, the more fibre-rich their diet, the more solid waste they produce.>
We put him in a 1.5 gallon tank with a filtering system and there are times he's floating on the bottom or in the middle of the tank and the next day he'll be sucked to the side.
<See, this is the thing. Conditions in a 1.5 gallon "tank" aren't tenable for an Apple snail, and really, such "tanks" are useless. Buckets are bigger! So, buying such a tank is a total waste of money. On top of that, because water quality WILL be less stable and likely less good in such a tank, moving from the 10 gallon to the 1.5 gallon will simply make a bad situation worse. Much better to identify the problem, and them act accordingly.>
Many times my husband has told me to just put him in the freezer, but I can't.
<And shouldn't; freezing animals is not a humane way to kill them. While I admit it's hard to empathize for a snail, what makes humans (potentially)
special is our ability to see what's cruel from what's humane. If you must euthanize a snail, use a humane method as described for fish. In any case, snails tend to be either "healthy" or "dead", so if the snail is active, there's hope! Put the snail in the right conditions, with the right water quality, and at the right temperature. In other words, an 8-10 gallon aquarium, with hard (10+ degrees dH) water at pH 7.5 to 8, with no salt, and at a middling to low temperature around 22-24 C. Ammonia and nitrite should be zero at all times, and the snail must have access to air, so allow a good couple of inches space between the waterline and the hood. For at least three months of the year, keep the temperature lower so the thing can go dormant; ideally, remove it from the water and keep in damp soil at around 18 C. Do note that Apple snails are neither tropical nor coldwater animals, and can't be kept indefinitely in either unheated tanks (outside of the subtropics, of course) or tropical tanks.>
Then later on he'll look good and surprise us by how active he is. Any way, he's been in separated for a day and a half now. How long do I wait to put him back, I feel like all I'm doing is testing water on both tanks and the pond. Is he behaving normal? The other two snails have not floated at all yet. I've read they do this but he does it quite a bit and doesn't close all of the way. Is he permanently damaged by being put into the untreated pond water? The nitrites were VERY high as was the ammonia.
<This is what's killing the snail; keep the snail in good conditions and it should pep up.>
He's in stable conditions now. Any info would be a great help. Thanks.
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Apple Snail Question 5/28/2009
Thank you so much, I'm determined to keep them alive. I appreciate your help, I couldn't get useful information anywhere else.
<Happy to help. Do try and track down "Apple Snails in the Aquarium" by Gloria Perrera and Jerry G. Walls; it's the single best book on the topic
published. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Apple Snail Question 05/29/09
Hi again, Thank you so much.
<Well, that's good news!>
He perked right up in the ten gallon tank. He's moving along with the other two as if nothing happened. He must've just been adjusting to the new  environment before or something.
-MaLinda
<Sounds like you have everything under control. Good luck, Neale.>

My apple snail, repro. issues  4/30/09
Hello!
<Hello Manda>
I have three apple snails, two are golden Inca and the other is a mystery snail. My question is this: One male golden and the female mystery both have what appears to be a strange crack on the front of their shells. It
looks like the shell split, and is growing back together. What is this, and should I be concerned? Also, The golden male and mystery female have been mating, or what I call "snex-ing". How long will it take before I find eggs in my tank?
<Ah, this likely explains the "crack". Often when apple snails mate they can damage their mantle (where the shell production occurs), the crack is not actually a crack, it is an area of no shell growth in the same place
where the damage occurred to the mantle. Other causes could be from rapid changes in temperature or availability of food, but considering the mating, I think that is the most likely culprit. If the crack the mantle damage isn't severe, which it doesn't sound like it is, then they should both be fine.>
<As far as the eggs go, make sure you have adequate space at the top of the tank without water against it. About the width of the snail shell is normally enough space, and the eggs will be laid up top on the glass
outside of the water.>
Thank you very much for taking time to read my question.
<Thank you for taking the time to write us, and include all the details even if they seemed unrelated. Those extra details are sometimes the final piece to the puzzle.>
Manda
<Josh Solomon>

Poecilia repro; Mystery fish (Rasbora borapetensis); Apple snail repro, aestivation 03/29/09
Dear Crew, I'd like to ask if my tank is suitable for breeding guppies. I have a 40 gal. tank, 3-4 platies, a few Danios, and 8-10 mollies. Just a few days ago, I recently purchased 4 male guppies and 3 female. I also purchased 5 snails. I do have a separate tank about 35+ gal., but I've never really used it for breeding.
<Well, the 40 gallon is certainly plenty big enough for breeding livebearers, though Danios are very good predators and will take any small fry they can find.>
Every time a get fry in my tank, we don't usually scoop them out. They're pretty good at hiding, and we usually notice them when they're 1-2 weeks old. Up until now, I've never been concerned about the other fish eating the fry, because they get fed about 3 times a day. But now, I'm thinking that I should transfer some of my fish to the other tank, or at least those
I suspect are going to reproduce. Should I? It's never been a problem before.
<Up to you; floating plants will protect some fry, and it's really only a big deal if you actually want to rear the fry and sell them on. If this is the case, moving the fry to a breeding tank as/when you find them is a good idea. If you get a production line going, and have just a single variety of Guppies (or Platy, or whatever) then the offspring should be good enough to
sell. Retailers tend not to want cross-breed fry, e.g., from Black Cobra males and Green Snakeskin females. On the other hand, if all you care about is the occasional fry surviving, then by all means let nature takes its course.>
Also, I was wondering if you could identify my Danios.
<Not Danios.>
When I bought them, my dad thought they were pretty cool, so we purchased 4-5 of them. Now, I'm having a little trouble breeding them, so if I knew what they were called, it might help. I'll attach pictures of the fish.
<These are Rasbora borapetensis, known as the Black-line or Red-tailed Rasbora. A nice fish, gets to about 5 cm long, needs to be kept in groups of 6+, and prefers slightly soft/acidic water (pH 6.5, less than 10 degrees dH). Water temperature should be relatively cool, 22-26 C recommended. Not particularly easy to breed, and certainly not compared to Danios. Rasboras generally are fussy about water chemistry, and won't breed at all if it isn't right.>
One more thing. I'm worried that my Golden Mystery Snails won't reproduce that well. Once, about a year ago, there was some reproduction, but eventually, the snails all died away.
<Absolutely typical.>
What should I do to keep the population alive?
<Allow the Apple snails to aestivate for 3 months of the year. Apple snails are adapted to a seasonal climate, and during the summer rest for three months buried in mud. Kept at tropical temperatures all year long they simply "burn out". This is why you ALMOST NEVER see full size Apple snails in aquaria. Adults can be the size of tennis balls, but the ones in fish
tanks are usually a lot smaller.>
Should I know how to tell the difference between a male and a female to add one or two if there isn't enough for reproduction?
<Sexing isn't easy, though the penis on the male is apparent if you know what to look for. Applesnail.net has some pictures.>
Thanks for reading the questions. I'll be looking for a reply soon! Bebe
<Hope this is soon enough! Neale.>

Apple snail input for WWM and Betta woes <Incomp.>  7/12/07
Hi Crew!
<Greetings.>
This email is mostly to relate my experience in the hope that it might help others facing the same issues, especially since there is not a whole lot about Apple snails on WWM yet.
<There's plenty. Go here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwinverts.htm and go here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsnails.htm and then read the various connected articles as your fancy takes you.>
After reading a couple of comments from Neale about Apple snails not faring so well in community tanks, I began to get worried about mine.
<Sad but true. They don't really mix, and the reason aquarium shops sell so many of them is because they die quickly and people just go on replacing them.>
He's been sharing an Eclipse 3 with our Betta for about 5 months. The temperature is around 80 normally, but in the summer it regularly climbs to 84-86, even with lights off and top door open.
<Way, way too hot for an Apple snail. Anything in the 70s is fine, and a bit cooler in winter if possible.>
But the main problem is that I recently noticed that the Betta was stealing food from the snail. He'd violently push the snail aside to get at the sinking wafers and then parade around the aquarium shaking his prize until it crumbled enough for him to eat (he ate one of our cherry shrimp too in our other tank, but we don't know if the shrimp was already dead or not). And since the Betta eats about anything (pellets, flakes, peas, Nori, sinking wafers, bloodworms, brine shrimp) and actively hunts for anything that falls to the bottom, I'm afraid the poor snail has not gotten much to eat in a while...
<Indeed. The best thing would be to put aside something for the snail the Betta can't eat. Thinly sliced courgette (zucchini) and blanched lettuce (*not iceberg*) would be a good start. The snail will graze this stuff happily.>
Not to mention that the snail is now keeping everything permanently tucked in (I used to enjoy the graceful antennae-waving dance, but now he keeps them where they're safe, under the "hood") and his shell very low over his head like a shield because the Betta kept picking at it... It got to the point where the snail was barely moving around the tank, and I became very worried.
<Unfortunately what you're describing is all too common. If this persists, the snail will starve and then die.>
I've now moved him (actually, if I can believe applesnail.net, it's a *her* because her operculum is concave - I've just referred to it as a *he" for so long I can't get used to thinking of him as a girl) to an unheated, unfiltered bowl that probably contains about a gallon of water - easy to change because there's no substrate yet, just a rock taken from our 10 gallon tank and a few water lentils that the other tanks keep producing in amazing quantity). It's going to be cooler too because there is no motor and no light, and it's uncovered so evaporation will do its job. I gave him plenty of food (found out he likes cucumber, will try other fruits and vegetables along with fish food) and a piece of a vacation feeder for calcium, until I get him either crushed coral or cuttlebone (his shell is very scratched and the new growth is very pale, so I'm trying calcium, iodine and food to see if it will make a difference on the new growth). I'll see how things go. I've wanted a fan shrimp for a long time and this might make a cute companion to my apple snail, if my research proves they're compatible (and be an excuse to get yet another tank!).
<This all sounds dandy. Apple snails are terrific fun, and you do want to have a go at breeding them. it's quite something to see the HUGE egg mass, and when the babies hatch, they're a delight to watch.>
So... Betta and Apple snail, in my case, didn't work out so well. The Neritina might have fared better because he eats algae (never seen him show interest in anything else) and already scoots around like a little tank with everything tucked in, even if everything in the tank ignores him.
<Nerites are generally much more resistant to fish because of their very heavy shells. They evolved in the sea where there are many more snail-eating predators, not just fish, but crabs, mantis shrimps, whelks, etc. Apple snails are a strictly freshwater group, and the diversity of aquatic snail-eating predators is fairly small. In fact the main predator on apple snails is a kind of hawk, the Florida kite if I recall the name correctly. Anyway, be that as it may, Apple snails are not heavily armoured because evolution hasn't driven them that way. When kept in the tight confines of an aquarium, they end up being harassed by fish quite a lot.>
Well, thank you for your time and I hope this can help someone!
Audrey
<It's always good to know when people have furthered their research and made good decisions. I'm sure you're going to have some fun with the Apple snail. There are some books out there about them, including one from TFH called "Apple snails" or something clever like that. A fascinating read, and well worth tracking down. Filled with stuff about their natural history and biology as well as aquarium care. Cheers, Neale>

Re: Apple snail and Betta woes – 07/18/07
Hello Neale, or other Crewmember,
Here are some updates about my snail... and some comments to your email!
> there is not a whole lot about Apple snails on WWM yet.
> <There's plenty. Go here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwinverts.htm and go here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsnails.htm and then read the various connected articles as your fancy takes you.>
Yes, I've read those already. But until Neale started commenting on Apple snails, nothing indicated that I might be having a problem with mine. Those pages kind of say the same thing over and over again, which is really not that much when you remove the redundant information.
> This all sounds dandy. Apple snails are terrific fun, and you do want to have a go at breeding them. it's quite something to see the HUGE egg mass, and when the babies hatch, they're a delight to watch.>
And then they get sold to those people who keep buying them because they keep dying... sad fate :-) My boyfriend would probably frown if I tried to breed them - he wanted to avoid the multiple-tank syndrome, and we're already at 3 permanent wet dwellings... and planning for a 30 gallon brackish system... :-) But it is very tempting.
> <It's always good to know when people have furthered their research and made good decisions. I'm sure you're going to have some fun with the Apple snail.
Thank you. I certainly try. There's nothing worse than the feeling that I'm not providing an adequate environment for my pets - they're so entirely dependent on us!
The snail, by the way, is doing better. He actively moves about the tank looking for food, eats well, has a grip on the bottom of the bowl he hasn't had in a while, and now closes his door entirely shut when we move him (this he hasn't done in months). I will get him a small tank and filter, if only to avoid having to change water daily, which is a real annoyance. How can people stand to keep fish and animals in bowls for any length of time? It's such a hassle!
Thank you again (and big thanks also from the much-happier snail!)
Audrey
<Hello again, Audrey! I'm not sure I get why you think those snail articles say "the same things over and over". They look pretty comprehensive to me. But OK. Anyway, it sounds like you've fixed the snail problem and are enjoying your pet. Please do try and hunt down that Apple Snail book, it really is *that* good, and covers everything from natural history to evolution to breeding. I think you'll get a kick out of learning how cool these animals are. They've very underrated in the hobby, but once you get to play with Apple Snails a while, you appreciate that they're really nice animals. The baby snails, by the way, if you don't keep them make good food for predatory fish like puffers and loaches. In fact a *lot* of fish eat snails, given the chance. So get rid of the babies isn't usually a problem. You can also eat Apple Snails, I'm told. They aren't big here in England (we prefer sea snails of various types, with generally much filthier habits, like whelks) but in their native countries Apple Snails are considered fine fare. So that's another option! You're right about bowls. People buy them thinking they're cheaper and easier, and then find out they're nothing but a hassle as well as a death-trap. The reality is with fishkeeping that the bigger the tank and the better the filter, the easier the hobby becomes. I've certainly had far less problems with 200 gallon tanks than 10 gallon tanks. It's a question of scale, I suppose. Anyway, good luck with it all! Cheers, Neale>

Apple snail odd behavior   5/10/07
I have two apple snails in a 28 gallon bow front tank. There are other residents there also but, the snails are troubling me with the behavior I am seeing. One is slightly larger than the other both are blonde in color. The larger of the two seems to be quite active moving all over the tank very quickly. The smaller one seems very shy and will come out after it has been laying still for a long time. If any of the fish brush against the smaller snail it will close up and lay still for a very long time. Well, the question I have is about the larger snail seeming to "attack" the smaller one. The larger snail seems to come almost completely out of its shell, wrapping itself around the others shell covering it up almost all the way holding on very tight. When I see this happening I separate the two but the larger one will hang on for a moment before I can coax it loose. Is the larger of the two trying to hurt the smaller one?
<Mmm, no... is trying to mate with it>
I have even went as far as moving the small one to another tank where it seems to come out and move around quite a bit more and seems less shy when I have taken it out of the tank with the larger one. My husband and I have gotten on several websites trying to sex the two and find out why this hanging on to each other type behavior is happening. I don't want any of the animals I have in my tank to get hurt especially by another resident of the tank as there is no where for the aggressor to get away from the aggressor except to hide and seem unhappy. I have had these types of snails in the past and have never experienced this type of behavior. Could the larger snail being trying to hurt the smaller one? Is there a mating dance going on?
<Yes>
Is there an easier way to tell which sex they are?
<Not as far as I'm aware>
I feel I am not doing these two justice by not knowing what to do for them to make it comfortable for them to co-exist. I would appreciate any help you can offer to figure this out.
<Best to keep them separated>
I currently have three tanks going and am just a novice at the fish game. I have the 28 gallon, a 29 gallon with a very territorial/aggressive African cichlid who lives alone after killing his mate.
<Do not put snail/s here>
The 10 gallon has a king's crown Betta, a couple of small mollies and two small Rasbora (spell?) and one very young female rainbow angel ram. The African cichlid has only allowed a Pleco to live in his tank without trying to kill it. I really want my fish to live in a happy environment as well as my two little snails. Thanks for listening, my husband just called me a motor mouth so I will end this now. Any suggestions you can make for my snail issue would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks,
Mona J.
<Bob Fenner>

My apple snail has broken her shell   1/19/07
Hi there
<And to you>
I have a big apple snail in an open-style paludarium.  She went mountain-climbing last night, and I woke after hearing her land on the kitchen floor (I've been burgled recently so I'm a bit sensitive to noises in the night).  
<Yikes!>
She's damaged the back part of her shell.  I put her back in the tank and she has moved around since then, not much but she is definitely still alive.
<I see>
She's quite big now, probably about 5cms in diameter.  I was wondering if maybe there was something I could glue onto her shell that would seal it up, but at the same time, wouldn't hurt her.  A little bit of her body is sticking out the hole.
<Yes... I would dry the outside of the shell off a bit, and apply a thin sheen of "super glue" (cyanoacrylate) about the cracked area... even on to the bit of exposed flesh>
Do you have any suggestions?
Thanking you in advance!
Kind regards
Fran
<Am hopeful for a complete recovery. Bob Fenner>

Apple Snail Question  7/23/06
Hello WWM Crew,
<Amber>
  I finally have a question I can't find the answer for. I've read through the snail FAQs and the article on freshwater snails. A lot of them talk about the snail being possibly dead, but not why they were dying, or were dead (I could have missed one on that topic though, sorry if I have). I've had my ten gallon set up now for about, seven months or so, and I haven't lost any fish.
However, it seems to be a death trap for apple snails! I'm so confused. At first I started off with one snail, and I really enjoyed him. Then my friend gave me a large snail she had found in a local fish store as a present. I acclimated him, and everything seemed to go well. Then the larger snail stopped moving, and I didn't think too much of it until he hadn't moved a day later either. My fish were gasping, pale, and obviously very stressed. So, I did the "snail test," picked him up and took a sniff. What a horrendous smell!
<Ah yes... have this chemical memory... Yeccch!>
I removed the snail, checked the water parameters, and changed water until ammonia was back to 0. About a week or two later, my smaller snail followed the same route. I ended up missing my "cleanup" crew and got myself two more snails. I had them for
around... three, possibly four months. They grew somewhat, though not as quickly as my other two snails I have in a 20 gallon and 5 gallon, which nearly doubled in size within a month. These big ones are now the only two snails I have left, my newer two died Wednesday, and Friday of this week. The first one I think died because of a cracked shell, when I bought him he had a slight chip at
the entrance to his shell and I figured it'd heal over and he'd be fine. The crack instead grew with him, though for the longest time it had white/cream shell over it instead of his brown. The white disappeared and you could see through to his foot. I was gone all day and came home to another disaster. Fish gasping, stressed out, and pale... and I just knew one of the snails passed. I
removed the snail and changed the water until Ammonia was 0 again. Then I noticed my other snail start floating around at the top a lot, I've read elsewhere on the Internet this is normal behavior. Though when my other snails did this, they were always inside their shells, not hanging out of the shell like this one (which I read in your FAQs can be a bad sign).
<Yes>
I had a negative feeling, but didn't remove him... unfortunately, which I will remember for next time. Came
home, fish were stressed out, again! Just fantastic! Followed the same procedure, and the fish have fully colored up again, and swim normally. Now I'm snail-less in my ten gallon tank, and really don't want to get any more until I figure out what is causing my ten gallon to be a serial snail killer. I'm considering the swing in Ammonia and Nitrates might have ailed the second snail in the tank, but since I lowered both with water changes, and I didn't lose any fish, I'm not sure. Though, what would have killed the first two snails I had in
the beginning?
<Mmm... the most common causes of Ampullaria/Pomacea spp. death are "poisoning" from too much, too soon addition of metals, sanitizers (and chemicals added to neutralize these by well-meaning aquarists)... second to this source is the absence of readily assimilable biomineral and alkaline content... water mostly that is deficient in calcium and bicarbonate... third is likely a dearth of palatable foods. Oh, and a huge source of loss... likely as large as all others combined, is the poor initial health of these snails from dealers... most are doomed from pollution, starvation, poor "handling">
I have (and always had after the cycle) a water change schedule, approximately 25% once a week, vacuuming the gravel at the same time. I feed my fish and the snails, regular tropical flakes, goldfish flakes, freeze-dried blood worms, broccoli, algae wafers, and Spirulina discs (of course not everything in one day). I don't believe they were starved because they didn't have
a "shrinking/shriveled" foot which I read can signal they aren't getting any food. My ammonia is 0, nitrites 0, nitrates are kept in the 5-10 range, and the pH is currently unknown (getting the kit from a friend soon, I'm out of money sadly and figured the other test kits were most important since you can acclimate inverts/fish to pH if it's kept stable). I've never had to treat with any medicines, and the only thing I add to my water is a de-Chlor, though I'm not sure I have to (I'm on well-water). The temperature is kept at 76-78 degrees
Fahrenheit. I have Neon Tetras, Corydoras, and Pygmy Gouramis (Trichopsis pumilus),
<Good "test" fishes... if these are doing well, so should Pomacea>
didn't know if a fish list would help any, but figured I'd give as much information as possible. Is it possible the snails were just old, despite the small (approx. an 1in.-1 1/2in.) size?
<Not likely>
Is the temperature too high and increasing their metabolism, and lessening their life span?
<Mmm, no>
Or maybe I don't have enough minerals in my water, but I think that'd affect my other two snails too?
<Can become "habituated"...>
Any help is much appreciated! Sorry for all the parenthesis, and long email, but usually you want all that can be provided, so I did try to help with that.
Thanks a bunch!
-Amber
<Thank you for writing so well, completely. I would try these Apple Snails again, but keep them for a few weeks in "one gallon pickle jars" with old tank water, some floating plant material, and no new water, or chemical treatment whatsoever... With such conditioning and "rest" they should be able to make the transition into your main system. Bob Fenner>

Apple missing trap door  6/10/06
Good evening.  I have had a purple apple snail for about 6 months.  When I first received him from a friend I was also given a Ramshorn.  Both snails were about a quarter of an inch across.  The Ramshorn grew more quickly than the apple and in only a month was quite a bit bigger.
<Unusual>
One morning I found the Ramshorn attached to the apple where the door normally is.  Apparently the Ramshorn had eaten off the door on the apple's shell.
<Sounds/reads like a lack of alkalinity, biomineral here... the one snail consuming the other for this>
That was 5 months ago.  The two were immediately separated after the incident and while the apple is still living, active and growing it still has not regrown it's door.  I have been keeping it with a ghost shrimp in a fish bowl and wanted to wait until it was better to introduce it into my main tank.  Will it ever regrow it's door?
<Likely so>
Will the loss of the door eventually kill it even if I keep it by itself?  Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.  
  Trudy
<One can only hope. Please read: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsnails.htm
and the linked files above, particularly "Snail Systems", "Nutrition". Bob Fenner>

Apple Snail's Had A Fall!   6/11/06
I really hope you can help me.... While cleaning my 60ltr aquarium we took our Apple Snails out of the tank and while holding one of the Snails my wife dropped her about 3 and a half feet onto a laminated floor.
<Ouch!>
This fall caused some damage to her shell (Some parts of the front of the shell have broken off) we have removed the really sharp parts of the damaged shell but that is not our main concern. At the moment she is sitting in the tank with her shell partly open with white mucus seeping out, is this a sign that she stressed or is she dying as we don't want to prolong her pain? Could you please advise us as to the best course of action as soon as possible please.
From two very worried snail owners
<Mmm, one can never tell, but these Pomacea snails are quite tough... I do hope yours recovers... I would do my best to keep this system stable (not make too large water changes for instance). Bob Fenner>

Apple snail feeding   1/17/06
Thanks for the advice on Platy's repro.
<Welcome>
I have a question about apple snails. I have an adorable apple snail (speedy) who lives in my 60 liter tank. I had to buy this tank last week
because my 30 liter tank started leaking and I don't know how to fix tanks yet.
<Not hard to do...>
There is no algae in the tank, and I already have a Siamese algae eater (who is always eating - except at night) will there be enough food in
the tank for both of them?
<Maybe... but I'd watch the S/CAE for possible over-aggressive behavior>
I find it difficult to add vegetables for speedy, but an concerned about starving the little guy.
<There are useful sinking wafer and pellet foods that are "green" based here>
Tienie de Coning
(Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa)
<Do a search on WWM re these two species. Bob Fenner>

Plant sticks / golden apple snails / feeding... Synodontis comp., fdg.  7/5/06
Hallo.
I think before I purchased three golden apple snails my plants were looking a little eaten / worn -  some more than others. All I currently have is two
Synodontis nigriventris which I feed every other day with one to two pinches of flakes (morning and evening for example).
<This small African Catfish species can make plants ragged... chew small holes. Generally at night>
To add variety I include frozen bloodworm / peas and greens. I think that I am feeding them enough, better to give too little than too much?
<Hard to so... Mochokid catfishes are so active that they seem to "swim off" any excess food>
I have three plant sticks embedded in the sand - should I stick one underneath each plant, if that's the case then I had better use the others as I have around eleven plants in my 18.6 gallon.
<Mmm, worth trying... though it may be that you have "too many foxes, too few hens"... that the catfish will still be too much for the volume of plant material present>
I expect the snails will accelerate the plant munching though one of the reasons I chose them was because I was informed that they weren't a major problem in this respect.
<Mmm, generally not... though Pomacea/Ampullaria species are individualistic...>
Please advise me.
Many thanks team.
Steve.
<Best to keep your eyes on all, consider moving the Synodontis. Bob Fenner>

Apple Snail Mystery   2/13/06
I was reading some of the messages on your forum hoping to find some information about my problem with an apple snail I have had since early January 2006.  He is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and has taken to giving off tremendous amounts of slime and mucus.  He seems to be otherwise okay. I have separated him from the aquarium (10 gallon) in a bowl by himself.  He doesn't seem to be very active and doesn't appear to eat much.  He is not dead because he does come out and move around some, but not like the other smaller apple snail I have.  Any ideas what the mucus production is about?
Mike (new aquarium owner)
<Could well be "something" chemically about the system is bothering this snail... too high pH, alkalinity, salts... metal... These animals are in many ways more sensitive than fishes to such challenges, changes. Best to treat, store new water before using, and to be very regular re water changes (not add water simply to replace evaporated). Bob Fenner>

Apple Snail  9/27/05
Hi there, <Hi, Catherine here.>
I need some help. We have a 29 gallon tank.  Two weeks ago we put in an apple snail, cute little guy, well I shouldn't say little he's about 2 1/4".  He seemed to be doing very well, moving around lots, cleaning up.  Then about two days ago he started bobbing on the top of the water, for days straight.  He also seems to be changing the color of his shell.  We are very concerned about him and wondered if you could tell us if this is normal behavior? <No, this isn't normal behavior.  If the snail has detached, he is probably dead.  If you are unsure, I would move him to a small tank (even a jar filled with tank water) as a precaution.  If he is dead, he'll quickly pollute the tank.  Unfortunately, there is very little information on treating snail illness.  If your tank has ever had a copper based medication, this could kill him.  He also might have been stressed by the move to the new tank.  Give him a veggie or two (peas, squash) to eat in the new tank and cross your fingers.
Thank you,  Beverly Ventimiglia  <Sorry I didn't have better news.  Catherine>

Dead Snail 7/4/05
Hi my name is SuzAnn and I have two apple snails blonde in color. Anyway one has been floating for three or four days way out of it's shell and teenie weenie bubbles are forming around the front of the snail . The bubbles are in some form of thin slime. Is this snail dying?
< Unfortunately your snail has passed away and needs to removed quickly so its decomposing body doesn't add to the ammonia and nitrate problem.-Chuck>

Snail Questions - 06/19/2004
Hi,
<Hello.  My apologies for any lateness in reply....>
I have a pretty large happy seeming apple snail, not P. bridgesii but one of the canaliculata group (plant eaters as opposed to decaying matter eaters.... she ate a little rotunda plant almost to death before I moved it to the other tank, and nearly killed my wisteria as well :/ but now she has plastic plants).   
<Heh, learnin' the hard way!  At least the snail enjoyed the snacks, I'm sure.  And after you replant, you can give the snail cuttings from the planted tank when you prune.  Yum!>
She's currently living in a 10 gallon tank with varying numbers of her offspring and 3 zebra Danios. (The Danios must eat the eggs & young snails as my tank has not been overrun, but I have seen eggs and baby snails at various times and even a few as big as peas)  
<Mmmm, peas....  Whups, wrong topic, sorry!  It would not surprise me that the Danios might dine on the eggs of these snails.>
This tank was originally home to a Betta,
<Ah, now *he* would dine on very small snails, too.  Another boon to your snails' population control.>
5 Danios, 3 scissortail rasboras, and a Cory.  (The Cory and the rasboras have been moved to the bigger tank that has also, 6 harlequins and an Oto).   
<Corys will eat smaller snails, as well.  Well, not in a separate tank, but if you get overrun, you could consider reintroducing the Cory.>
Two of the Danios and the Betta sadly succumbed to hex, which I treated for multiple times but could not seem to cure in such small fish :(  
<So sad to hear that.  My apologies for your loss.>
I have two questions about this snail (Jaws is her name... it seemed appropriate).  
<HAH!  Appropriate, indeed!  I love it.>
How do I know if she is eating enough?   I feed the Danios every day or two, sometimes three, and about every other time I feed the Danios I throw in an algae pellet or two.  (oh yea, the snail when we got her was about as big around as a quarter, and now is more like a golf ball - she's almost completely grown a new round on her shell since Jan/Feb when we got her!).  
<Sounds like she's eating plenty.  If you have any concerns, you might get her some elodea/anacharis/Egeria and let her munch at leisure, and just replace these inexpensive plants as they are devoured - many folks use this plant as an excellent food source for goldfish; it would taste quite good to Jaws, I'm sure.>
Her newest shell growth seems pretty thick and is a very nice rich golden color,
<A wonderful sign.>
although when my brother fed her an algae pellet every day for a couple weeks she grew a quarter of an inch of pretty thin looking shell :/ that was shortly after we got her though.  
<As you seem to be well aware, it might be best not to use that feeding scheme ;)  Sounds like she's doing great now, though, eh?>
My other question, which I didn't even think about until I was browsing your forums... Should I be concerned if she is getting some flaking on the middle few rounds of her shell?
<I would be concerned, yes.>
She was completely algae covered when we got her (the new shell has been growing in a beautiful gold color and the algae hasn't spread)
<Excellent.>
and now about a pea sized area of her center spirals on the outside is flaking to a creamy white.  
<Possibly a lack of calcium, perhaps even iodine....  the few large-ish snails in my shrimp tanks have very obviously benefited from adding Kent Tech Marine iodine, at a rate of one drop per ten gallons each week (*not* the normal marine dose).>
Also how do I test water hardness, and other nutrient levels necessary for the snail?
<You can test total hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) with test kits available from most fish stores, or can purchase the kits online from online e-fish stores, like some of our sponsors.  Be sure to get kits for freshwater aquaria.>
I don't really have any money to spend on them now sadly (and the next cash I get has to go toward plant food for the bigger tank as half the plants are falling apart and dying)
<Yikes!  You might benefit from reading through our plant sub-web:  http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PlantedTksSubWebIndex/AquariumGardenSubWebIndex.html >
but when I do have the cash I would like to be able to take care of all my animals properly.  
<A good plan, for sure.  Your snail can probably wait for you to get test kits, I imagine her problem is not imminently life-threatening.  I would, however, try the Kent iodine for sure.>
Our town water is usually pretty hard though (leaves hard water stains on all the faucets, etc). That's a good thing for snails right?
<You bet.  Hard water stains usually indicate high-ish levels of calcium and other minerals in the water - certainly good news for Jaws.>
Thanks for any help you guys can give. :)
<Any time, Anna.  Please feel free to let us know if we can help you further.  Wishing you and your inverts well,  -Sabrina>
Anna R. Dunster

Snail Question (Continued)
<Hi, MikeD here again>
Thank you for the information. We will look into your suggestions about either a larger container or a smaller snail.<I assume the last one had indeed passed on?  They make small 2 gallon Aquariums, complete with a light, filter and pretty much most of what's needed. While this may seem like overkill, it's often the beginning of a life long hobby. I got my first tank when I was seven, fifty years ago. **grin**>
We were feeding it the small disks/wafers (that look like a button) as per the instructions, which were every other day. Is that the norm or should we look into other food??<That's one of the things snails will eat, assuming it was an algae wafer. They also eat many marine plants, the green algae that grows on the glass and some even lettuce>
Thanks again.

Apple Snail Info
The other day I bought a large apple snail, and I mean large. But after having him (or her) for about a week he's full of antics and great fun. Climbing all over stuff, and he's very fast for a snail. But I might be interested in breeding them. So my question is, do they actually have male and female sides to the species, or should I just get another snail and they will do their thing?
< Apple snails do have male and female sexes. The difference is very slight but you are suppose to be able to tell from the spiral on the shell. One of the sexes spiral is supposed to be more pronounced.-Chuck> 

Apple snails
Hi all!!!  Hope everything is going okay for you tonight!!!
<So far so good, I'm about to get off work and go pickup my car from the body shop.  WOOO HOOOO.>
I have a quick question for you.  I guess I'm among the minority who actually like snails because I can find no info on them other than how to kill them:(
<You should meet my girlfriend, best form of snail control ever, she would hand pick them out of my plant tank every day and keep them as pets.>
I recently bought three nice big apple snails to help control an algae problem in my 120 gal cichlid tank.
They've done a beautiful job cleaning up the tank and also love to crawl along the surface and suck down cichlid pellets and Spirulina disks.  They are just so neat to watch!!!  I'll never be without one or two again!!!
My question is this....One of my snails laid eggs on the inside of one of the aquarium lids about a week ago.  The bright pink eggs are in two clusters and they are very hard and dried out.  I was wondering, are these eggs going to hatch??? Or are they dead because they're dried out??
<Its possible, apple snails like to lay their eggs out of the water.>
My 3yr old and 5yr old peek in there every day and keep asking me when they're going to hatch.  But I'm sure with your help,
I will be able to answer their question shortly.   
Thank you for your time,
Kristen
<Well Kristen (whoa my girlfriends name is Kristine, maybe those whose names begin with K have a thing for snails, weird.) have I got a link for you, just found it when searching for apple snails, should answer most of your questions. Best Regards, Gage http://www.applesnail.net/ >

Apple snail question
Hi,
is it normal for a fairly large apple snail to spend most of her time in a corner inside her shell?  She comes out when I drop bits of zucchini in for her to eat but spends almost all of the rest of her time inside her shell in the back of the tank.   
I guess I just want to know if this is something I should be concerned about, or if its perfectly normal behavior and I should just let her do her thing.
< Snails usually come out to forage for food. If you are feeding the snail well then there is really no need for your snail to be out and about. To be sure try not feeing the snail for awhile and see if it comes out looking for food. I think the only problem is your snail is fat and happy ( and lazy)-Chuck>
thanks,
~Anna

Apple snails and salt
Hi! Oh please don't laugh at this question, but I really haven't been able to find a conclusive answer to it:
<Okay>
Can Apple Snails survive in a tank with salt? I have a fancy goldfish tank with a weather loach (yup, they all get along at 75 F) in a 60 gallon tank. Every time I do a water change I add salt at a concentration of 1 rounded tablespoon per 4 gallons. I use Aquarium Salt. Sill the salt harm my apple snail? Thanks!
Mr. T
<These and most all other freshwater snails do NOT care for salt in their water, but there IS some salt (in chemistry, ionic combinations of metals and non-metals) in all freshwaters... the amount you list should be okay. Bob Fenner>