cathrinetta

I've been reading several people's post and tank descriptions. Lots of people have snails.... Whats the big deal with them? I mean what do they do? Are they the same as Plecos or ottos? I thought people didn't want snails but someone said they had an apple snail or something.

Thanks in advance for the info!

jdhef

There are different type of snails. Some are disireable and some of pests. Pond snails for example can reproduce like crazy you'll end up with hundreds in your tank. Apple snails I believe are not prolific breeders and are kept as a pet, rather than something that hitch-hicked into the tank on some live plants.

Dozey

I have an apple snail. He does a few things. For the most part he sleeps or cleans my tank, and he does an amazing job doing so. Unlike my pleco the snail cleans every surface of my tank. Snails are amazing cleaners but they are also a heavy bio load. So you have to take them into consideration when stocking your tank.

Apple (mystery) snails are very large and actually very interesting to watch and are even entertaining. My snail will fill itself with air and “parachute” from the top of tank to the aquarium floor. Sometimes gracefully and other times… well not at all gracefully. He also seems to enjoy “dropping in” on the pleco when he does parachute scaring the heck out the pleco every time.

agabr123

i have pond snails and a couple of other unknown types of snails, they clean the algae off of the tank really, really well (you can see lines from where they cleaned it off!) and IMO snails are better than what lots of people end up doing, getting a large pleco that is way too big for their tank!

btw, apple snails get HUGE, i've seen some the size of a grapefruit!

Amanda

I've had mystery, MT, and pond snails.
And yes, Apples do get HUGE.

cathrinetta

I have goldfish and I was looking for something to help clean my tank. But I need something with a low bioload as my tank is overstocked already. I plan on getting rid of my two male guppies and 5 neons to help make reduce stress for my ryukins. Can anyone suggest something to help clean my 10gallon that will not interfere with my two ryukins? Also, does the forum have pictures of snails I could see? I want pictures of the apples and mysteries!

Amanda

Apple:
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug,%20Snails,%20Apple.htm

Mystery:
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug,%20S...%20Mystery.htm

Dozey

I’m not sure that shrimp and goldfish will live together so you will have to wait for a goldfish expert to come along. Shrimp are also an amazing cleaners with almost no bio-load.

The apple snail and the mystery snail are actually the same snail; same snail different name. On average they grow to 2.5” x 2.5”.

This picture shows just how large they can get…
http://www.manandmollusc.net/Odessa/...main-small.jpg

Amanda

I have to disagree, Mysteries & Apples are different snails.
But they're often sold interchangeably - much to the buyers dismay when they find out they have an apple that will grow to the size of a baseball.

cathrinetta

I want an apple snail

agabr123

i think that mystery snails are apple snails but not all apple snails are mystery snails, or something like that.

Amanda

An apple snail cannot be kept in a 10 gal. tank. They get much too large & have too large of a bio-load. The goldfish are already pushing the limit on the tank.

Dozey

You may very well be right. However those far all the sites I've experienced seem to state the same as this one example.

Amanda

That's correct - they are often sold under the name "Mystery Snail", but that's not actually what they are. My friend had that happen when she wanted a snail for her 10 gal. She thought it was a Mystery snail until I told her it was actually an Apple snail. She quickly returned it.

docjr03

If you are worried about bio-load, just do more frequent water changes, gravel vacuums, filter cleanings, and use a good water conditioner. Good clean water seems to be the best place to start according to all my research (I've done waaaaaay too much while waiting for my tank to cycle!)

cathrinetta

right now my cycle is messed up from meds so I'm recycling and doing 50% water changes with Prime in the meantime.... I just want something to help clean my tank...

Amanda

Is this the 10 gal. tank with the two goldies?
Because if it is, the tank is already overstocked, and snails are poo machines.
So that would really overdo the bio-load unfortunatly.

cathrinetta

Yes sadly. I'm working on getting a 20gallon this weekend for 15$. It was stored in someones damp basement so it will take a while to get it up and running. Plus my husband doesn't know yet and he's gonna be really mad! We'll see how this goes. But for 15$ I can't go wrong even if I just clean it up and then store it until I can convince him. I'm making plans to get rid of my neons and sadly my two fancy guppies which I really love watching... The beta I'm considering moving to a 1gallon until I can do something better...