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Apple Snail "BigGuy" My version of Tortoise & the Hare!
This is "Big Guy" an Apple Snail I got from a Canadian breeder in June. He was about the size of a nickel when I got him.
No wonder I am hooked on these guys. His friend in the race is "Slim" a freebie Albino Bristlenose that I got with an Aquabid auction when he was a tiny wink!!
Wow I have never seen an apple snail that big. I had one but was smaller then that but my angelfish killed it. He can also move pretty fast for a snail. He is cute also. Keep the videos coming. I love it.
great video - we're hooked on snails also - they're so much fun to watch and they have such personalities!
I agree, I bought my first one on implulse....now I have one in each of my 8 tanks! I am fascinated by them - and rest easy knowing if there is anything dead ( heaven usually forbid) in the tank that I can't find, they will!
This is so cute! My eyes were glued to the screen the entire video. Aww, now I want an Apple Snail for my tank also! Were those Rainbowfish in the background? They were pretty. It looked like they were watching the entire thing like spectators! Lol! Beautiful pleco as well. The Apple Snail makes him look so small. Great video!
Are these snails carnivorous? Forgive me if that's an idiotic question, but OP said they could find any (unfortunately) dead fish in the tank.
From my experience, and I could be wrong, the apple snails are omnivores...they really LOVE cukes; zuchinnis when I put them into the tanks. They devour seemingly anything that hits the bottom of the tank - I have seen them hurry (lol) to sit right on top of a veggie round; algae disc or shrimp pellet before the fish get to it. But if a fish dies in the tank, they help devour it also. ( found them eating a dead oto in my fry tank!)
One of my very small apples died, and I found it on the bottom of the betta tank, covered with malaysian trumpet snails. When I pulled it out, the apple snail shell was completely empty!!! They cleaned it totally out. So that would make them almost cannibals..
So ya know when a fish mysteriously disappers, as if taken by aliens, I feel better knowing that usually the snails will clean it up before it makes the water cruddy and increases the nitrates.
I have found, however it is a delicate balance between overfeeding and making sure that all species are getting enough food when you have a tank of mixed fish. So having said all that, I believe the benefits outweigh the negatives ( hmmm, don't think I mentioned any negatives). The snails are way more interesting and fun to watch than most would assume!! Thanks for your interest!
That's very informative and helpful. I'm going to be picking some snails up when the new tank's ready, then. ^_^
Thanks, Val!
You are welcome. You will have fun with snails when you get them. Remember if you have to be very careful if you have more than one in a tank. I know there is a way to sex them, but I haven't mastered yet. Apple snails will lay their eggs out of water if you have mixed sexes. So you will have to watch for egg clusters at the waters surface on the tank walls. If you find them, just wipe them off with a cloth and you will be fine. ( Well unless you want a whole bunch of them ). I have 2 tanks with 2 snails in and haven't found eggs yet, but I watch very closely.
Good luck, I hope you post when you get them and let me know how fun they are!!
Pardon my ingnorance, but I thought snails were a pest? When I was a kid my parents wouldn't let me have one, they said the snail would multiply even by itself. Ah man, don't tell me after all of these years my parents were just messing with me? I loved that video and thought it gave interest to the tank. Off to research snails now! LOL!
pond snails are considered a pest, but most snails are helpful, they clean and stir substrate and scavange the bottom for scrap food. Not to mention the cute factor
Just my opinion but my snail is the funnest thing to watch in my tank especially if you feed them snacks like lettuce, cucumbers or zucchini.
My previous snail (may he rest in peace) was hysterical! My favorite antic of his to watch was when he would drop himself on the bubbler on purpose only to get launched up to the top of the tank then he would slowly drop down to bottom. sadly his obsession with the filter did him in
Kayin
I would get more corydoras first - they are happiest and fun to watch when they are in groups of 3 or more (just my opinion - for what it's worth)
Just googled aquarium snails. The snail fertilizes it's own eggs. My parents didn't lie to me. Silly me.... but the one above is too cute anyway.
Most Snails are hermaphrodites being both sexes at the same time. Apple snails, on the other hand, are gonochoristic having seperate sexes. Therefore you have to have two apple snails of opposite sexes to get more apple snails. A great pet IMO. I wouldn't keep one with fish though. A lot of fish medicines will kill snails, sadly we think that's what killed our snail.
It makes me smile to know there are others interested in the snails!!!
I do have two apple snails in my fry tank, and about a month ago, I found a large mass of eggs stuck to the canopy of the tank. I pulled them off ( they were kind of dry stuck on with mucus). So now I check every day for eggs, and have found them twice more. I had to move a second snail into this tank had the outbreak ofyway MTS in the 55 and got the yoyo's. Carol said they would be picking away at the big snail, so I moved him.
It has crossed my mind that it would be cool to let the eggs hatch -- then I give my head a shake and go back to reality
Luckily I haven't had to medicate, but if I did, I would move the snail to the one of my betta tanks that doesn't have a snail right now.
Snails are cool but sometimes they are useless. Like my 2 snails in my SW Tank they just sat on the polystyrene backboard and then did nothing. A few weeks ago i found them dead on the bottom of my tank half buried in sand
Sometimes i can still see their little faces moving along the glass to me (-----------------------------------------me)
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Great video! 
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You will have fun with snails when you get them. Remember if you have to be very careful if you have more than one in a tank. I know there is a way to sex them, but I haven't mastered yet. Apple snails will lay their eggs out of water if you have mixed sexes. So you will have to watch for egg clusters at the waters surface on the tank walls. If you find them, just wipe them off with a cloth and you will be fine. ( Well unless you want a whole bunch of them ). I have 2 tanks with 2 snails in and haven't found eggs yet, but I watch very closely.
-----------------------------------------me)