Bonochick

I love snails, so I've been considering getting one mystery snail for my aquarium. My boyfriend thinks it's a bad idea though and told me to not get one. It really is MY aquarium (he bought it for me, but he does help me with water changes and takes care of it when I go out of town), but I still don't like to do anything that I know will make him mad (I'd rather not pick a fight!). I've been doing a lot of Googling on this topic, but I still have some questions and have seen contradicting info. So...maybe some people here could clarify some things to see if either I can convince him or if I'll end up agreeing with him?

1. If I get one mystery snail from a store, I shouldn't have to worry about a snail outbreak, right? My understanding is that you'd need a male and a female for that to happen. Building off of that question...

2. I read that if you have a snail that lays eggs out of the water, you need to leave a gap between the top of the tank water and the top of the tank so that there is room for the eggs to be laid. If that doesn't apply, is there still a need to leave a gap of open space like that for a snail?

3. I read that you shouldn't get apple snails because they can get so huge (I have a 29 gallon tank), so people say to get mystery snails...but then I read stuff that apple snails are a type of mystery snail...? If that's true, is there a way to tell the difference?

4. What is the possibility of a mystery snail bringing a disease into my tank that will harm my fish?

I might be forgetting things, but if anybody could give me help with any of these questions, I'd appreciate it.

john&jen

I keep at leas two mystery snails in each tank. They don't proliferate like that. The bad snails are pond snails... (hitchhikers on plants, etc.) I have two in a 29, so one is fine for yours. We have blue, ivory, and yellow... the choice is yours. My snails have lived through water quality spikes and higher than normal salt treatments to fight ick.

Bonochick

Thanks for the reply!

Anybody else care to share any insight?

Barbrella

Mystery/apple snails create a lot of mess, so you'll have to be diligent about water changes and vacuuming. They may destroy some plants if you don't feed them enough.

They need harder water to maintain their shells, so you need to test your water to find out if it's good for them.

Bonochick

I only have fake plants on my tank, so no problem there.

What sort of test should I do to see if the water is hard enough? I'm only familiar with testing for pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.

Bonochick

Anybody able to offer more advice?

griffin

www.applesnails.net or www.applesnail.net has a forum about apple snails. apple/mystery snails are the same snail, but there's two basic types. one will eat plants (even plastic) and one will starve before even eating live plants.

when i had them, i just made sure i had a calcium disc or two in the water, and when it dissolved, i'd add another. doesn't really help with calcium concentrations, but basically, really hard water.

they also create a ridiculous amount of waste for their size. so being careful with testing/water changes is a must

hope that helps

Blub

steveangela1

I used to keep apple snails.. that was no problem.. when they laid eggs I kept the water down far enough they would go up out of the water to where I could get the eggs... then cough cough a plant I bought at petsmart was infested w/ pond snail eggs and I have a 10g tank infestation... I don't know really what to do because I won't chemically kill them... I hate using chemicals in my tank aside from stress coat/start right/stress zyme.... so as I clean the tank i try to pluck them out... I am getting a dwarf puffer in my 6 gallon tank so I guess I will have a snail supply for him...

Bonochick

Thanks for the replies, everyone! All of this info is really helpful.

HatchetHaven (or anyone else), my pH is 8.0, is that high enough?

I guess my main concern remaining is how likely it is for a snail I get to have some sort of disease that will harm my tank.

Blub