JennDFK

I found one of my mystery snail... or I guess I should say I found the shell of one of my snails... but the snail is gone. What happened? Did one of my fish get it? I have rainbow fish and a RTS in the tank. None of the fish seem aggressive to snails... and would they just eat it right out of the shell? I would think that it would be difficult to get the snail out of there.

rileyrk190

It may have just died, and the fish ate it after when it started to come out of the shell. That has happened to me at least.

aquarist48

hmmmmm I've had snails over the years with the same results. Never did figure out where the snail itself went to.

JennDFK

Well... it happened again and this time we caught the culprit red handed (or to be anatomically correct red finned). My RTS sucked a snail right out of it's shell... then my rainbows helped finish it off.

I still have 2 more mystery snails... They are bigger than the two that were eaten... but I'm wodering if I should move them to my 30 gallon. It is possible that the two that were eaten were already dead at the time, but I'm not sure.

harpua2002

Oh my! I didn't know a RTS would do that. I'd go ahead and move the snails to your 30 gallon. The fish you have there won't pose any threat.

JennDFK

I was surprised too. I was sure it was the rainbow fish... they are always knocking the snails of the glass and giving them a once over. I have a feeling that the snail was already dead when they made a snack of it. The two I have left have been in there for months. I bought two others at a later date and neither of them looked particularly strong when I got them. At first I didn't know what they were eating on and then I saw the RTS finish pulling the snail out of it's shell.

I think I'll move them tonight... I have a number of other snails that hitched in on plants... but I'm not too worried if they become fish food.