Bettas and Snails

Since I had been giving all the attention to the girls, Marty has had his nose seriously out of joint so I promised to give him some attention and picture time. He gets along really well with Ivory now (Ivory Mystery Snail) and since Ivory was showing off today I got a couple nice pictures of him besides the ones of Marty's new tank.

Rose

 

Great pics!! ;D The tanks are so beautiful. Sheesh, I can't even keep my plants alive! : Hey, I just noticed you have that Ammonia Alert thing. Do you have problems with it getting dirty? Mine is covered with algae and I don't know how to clean it...do you? Your fish are so beautiful and the snails are awesome. I am thinking about getting a few myself. ;D

 

Beautiful setups Rose. And Marty to of course... goes without saying. How big is that snail? I have a few that came along with the plants in Satin's tank... theyre tiny though.

 

Really nice tanks, Rose. I love how they are set up, the combination of rocks and plants together. I didn't realize also that there were such nice looking snails.

 

These little guys (Snails) were about the size of small marbles when I got them a little over a month ago and now Ivory is the size of about half a golf ball. They say they will get to tennis ball size if you feed them well. A fellow I read a post from on a website about Mystery Snails said that canned spinach makes for BIG snails. Mine are going to get some fresh stuff from the garden this summer (spinach). They look like they are swelling out of their shells and you think there is something really wrong with them and then the shell starts to form and they are so BEAUTIFUL. They come in a Caramel Gold and the Ivory. (and I believe a striped Dark Brown) I have seen them advertised on , and some Walmarts have the Caramel colored ones. I got all my Ivory ones ordered by my Local Earl Mays Garden Center. Seems that they have pretty nice fish anymore but not my type (NO bettas).

Thanks for the fish and tank compliments. Actually the stuff in the tanks is mostly driftwood and a small cave made out of resin in Noels tank. They are just little boughten things. The fish keep digging up the plants and I have roots all over the place so I got metal plant anchors and just kind of let them float as otherwise I am rearranging the tanks twice a day. They just hate to have them planted. After a while the roots will grow down into the gravel on their own and then the fish won't be able to pull them out.

Marty finally decided it was okay to SWIM in his tank after hanging in mid water for half the day yesterday like he was afraid to move in all that room.

Yes the Ammonia Alert does get covered with algae but I just take a paper towel and wipe it off carefully. you have to just dab at the spot in the center as it will wipe off, but they can be cleaned. I also change mine about every 2 months.

Rose

 

Ok, thanks, I will clean mine off.

I believe Mystery Snails also come in black and blue. They sell several varieties at my Petsmart. I'm thinking of getting one. ;D I think they're supposed to get 2 inches in diameter...does that mean they add 2 inches of bio load, or is it different with snails?

Ebbandflow, don't worry, the ones that came on your plants are more than likely Pond Snails. They stay tiny, maybe a quarter or half inch max. They reproduce quickly but cause no harm and are fun to watch. Satin may eat some of them. I've got a whole load of them in my 20g.

 

My little pond snails reproduced to the tune of about 6 then as soon as the food supply got cut down by the Mystery Snail and the 2 Zebra Nerita the reproduction stopped. I think all snail reproduction depends on food supply and the only reason that they are so plentiful in Omorrokh's tank is that she has been doing a fishless cycle and "feeding" her tank. With no fish to compete for the flakes, the snails have had a grand time. When she has fish in there competing for the food and less food to be had there will be fewer pond snails. I got rid of my pond snails when I transferred into the large tank for the girls as I was afraid that I was pushing things with all of them in there so they became fish food. (Yes, it was hard for me to do but better than just throwing them out)

Rose

 

Oh, yes, mine were having a banquet on all the flakes and bits of dead plants and algae everywhere. So they figured they better make a whole bunch more to help enjoy the feast. ;D Hopefully now that I cleaned up the tank and got fish, the reproduction slows down. They are really cool but I can't have them taking over, if ya know what I mean. :

 

The snails in my tank are probably what your talking about 0morrokh. They aren't growing too fast or multiplying that much... basically cuz there is almost no waste in that tank. Satin always eats all the food and there are so many plants in the tank that I still haven't seen the nitrate levels rise at all. I'm thinking of putting some of them in my bigger tank but I'm afraid of an explosion. I wouldnt care if there were a lot of them as long as having snails in the tank didnt cut down on how many fish I can have. Does it?

I was just shining a flashlight on the snails and their outline glows neon. Their shells are real cool too. I can't seem to get good pix of them though. I'll post them if I do.

 

I wouldn't think the snails would cut down on your fish population unless you kept a LOT of the big ones. Correct me if I am wrong anyone, but I do not believe unless you want breeding that you want more than one big Mystery Snail in a tank. They do get big (Ivory is half the size of a golf ball already and I have only had him a month)

Rose

 

Pond snails are so tiny I doubt they would add enough bio load to cut down on your fish. I will try to find a link to Pond Snails with pics to make sure we are talking about the same thing. They can reproduce very quickly (I went from 1 to like 2 dozen in a few weeks), but that is really dependant on food supply. There really is no problem with having a lot of them though. I personally think they are so awesome. I have been observing the behavior of my snails and it is really quite interesting. I have seen them fighting (I think) and little snails riding on the shells of big ones. I just think they are so cute. Back to the point, I don't think you would need to worry about a huge population explosion as long as you regulate the amount of potential snail food--dropped flakes, dead plants, etc--that is in the tank.

You are right Rose about keeping only one Mystery Snail unless you want to breed. They need a male and female to breed unlike Pond Snails, so if you don't want more than one snail you can just get one. But if you don't mind possibly having a TON of snails I don't think there is any problem with keeping two together.

Here we go... Natural Aquariums - Fresh Water Snails
The second pic down on the page is of a Pond Snail...not a great pic but the best I can find. The shell is round and goldish brown, and the body is elongated and pink with long antenna thingies, whatever you call them.

 

Thanks, that is good information. I had looked for more information on snails and couldn't find many usable sites. Most of what I found was confusing and hard to understand.

I still am amazed to see how fast my little snails are growing. I am just hoping that they do well as they are really pretty.

Rose

 

Great snail info:
also more great snail ID and info

Carol

 

Thanks, that is good information. I had looked for more information on snails and couldn't find many usable sites. Most of what I found was confusing and hard to understand.

That had good info? I'd better go back and read it! ;D I was just looking for a picture to make sure ebbandflow and I were talking about the same kind of snail. Didn't actually think to read the article. :

 

Ok, still haven't identified which snails they are. Being partially colorblind is not helping. But their shells are more like the limpets in shape. They are some uniform color (either brown or red I think) and there are what appear to be little clear spots all over it. I haven't seen any pictures of snails that look like this. Any ideas?

 

I am really mostly positive you are talking about pond snails. Are they about ____ this long? Mine were.

Rose

 

The last picture under the posting "Surprise!!!" is of the snails I have. Its the best one. They are tiny. Maybe about the size of the eraser on the end of a pencil, possibly smaller.

 

We are playing "post tag" tonight. I just left a message on that thread that the snails in your picture are the Zebra Nerita Snail. Pooh and Piglet in my little girl's tank are of that variety. They never get very big. Mine are about like a 1 cm ball. (well not really ball but you know what I mean)

Rose

 

lol... we really are. well, ill stop it now cuz I should really head to bed (its 4 am here!). thanks for the id though. ill look them up tomorrow.

 

Here are some pics of my new golden mystery snails. They had a previous encounter with Orchid the female betta, who promptly cut off the whiskers from the smaller snail. I felt so bad about that. Meanwhile, what are they doing? Is that the most alien sex-life you've ever seen?

 

That's great. I saw the same thing last week in my tank. I so wish my camera could catch the s u all get. In the photos, what is it the snails are on?
Beth

 

Oh, sorry about your snail. I put a snail in with Cami and she went right after it. Thank goodness I got to it before damage was done.

I think your snails like each other......or can snails show aggression to other snails like some fish do?

 

They sure seem to like each other.

 

wowsers!! ive never been a fan of snails until dozeys lil fella...but yours is amazing looking...where do you get them?

 

This is probebly a really stupid question as I have very little snail experience but, What do you feed them?

 

This is probebly a really stupid question as I have very little snail experience but, What do you feed them?

They are vegetarians, and a tank full of apple snails (your golden mystery snails are apple snails) can eat an entire head of romaine lettuce in one night - however, they will generally only eat things that are "rotting". They like vegetables like the aforementioned romaine lettuce, zucchini, and if you have a live planted tank, they WILL eat your aquatic plants if there is a scarcity of food - but if you are keeping them in a tank with betta's, I suggest just giving them lettuce or a slice of zucchinI as a treat as opposed to sustaining them that way. They will eat the algae off the sides of the tank, but they cannot survive on that small bit of algae.

Feed them sinking algae wafers - the snails attack them with a vengeance and eat them heartily, and they have the appropriate blend of calcium and nutrients for snail shell growth. The wafers will not rot in your tank or compromise the water parameters or quality.

We have three mature golden apple snails (and they get BIG) and 5 baby apple snails, and they will go through three sinking wafers a day, plus zucchini/lettuce snack twice a week. Just remember, the more you feed them, they bigger they will get!

 

Thank You for that info Bettasforthebabe.. The Biology Department fish tanks have become my responsibility ( I am a chemist) because..( this is the scarey part) the Biologists cannot figure out how to care for their fish tanks....hhhmmm.. I digress. One of the tanks has Elodea and Big Apple snails.. I was told the snails just eat the algae off the glass..that's all they need.. but I was thinking that can't possibly be enough to sustain them. I will go buy some Alge wafers tonight and go get some lettuce from the caffateria right now!

 

It's really weird I have snails on the Bettas tank and they are fine with them.

 

Pam,

Are those my snails? lol....Are they ever coming home? Better watch them close this is what I found in my grow out tank after my mystery snails did the "dance" I removed it because I don't have time to be a snail breeder!

 

Wow.. that is weird looking!

 

Pam,

Are those my snails? lol....Are they ever coming home? Better watch them close this is what I found in my grow out tank after my mystery snails did the "dance" I removed it because I don't have time to be a snail breeder!

I remove an egg deposit every other day, at least - we keep the tank pretty full, so the female often lays the eggs and the whole clump just falls right into the water and I remove them as soon as I see them.
The adult snails are permanently attached to each other, and don't stop "doing the dance" except to eat. We let one clutch hatch, and now I've had enough of THAT.

 

in my 5 gallon I have one female betta, 6 large anubias and a few misc. plants. it is filtered and stays warm with out heater. 1-2 gallons changed and vac. every 2 weeks.

I was wondering if the plants are getting enough nutrients? would a snail help? or what else?

also she is a very docile betta. could I add 5 ember tetras or other small fish? suggestions?

what kind of snail? I would like one to eat algae and any left over food.

I will check with my lfs, but I am pretty sure none carry snails. would any of u sell me a couple?

thanks. I have a question or 2 more but I can't remember right know.

 

I tried different snails with my Betta fish..... they went spastic to say the least, flared like there was no tomorrow and scared me senseless!!!
Ok, on a less dramatic note, I tried a snail in the tank and my Betta fish ate it. Snails (mine at least) are not really good at eating algae and they seemed to give my little guys the impression they were under attack from aliens. Not a good match at all.

 

Harpua (on this forum) sells nerite snails. They're excellent algae eaters and a smaller (but pretty) snail that will work well in a 5 gallon tank. They also don't have the long antennae-like things that apple/mystery snails have and that bettas like to poke at.

You could also give a go at ghost shrimp.

As a side note, I would feed less if you find yourself with leftover food. Pellets are also better than flakes because they are easier to count and feed with a lesser likelihood of extras. I'd only feed a few pellets a day.

I'd be paranoid about even the most docile betta flipping out and murdering the tetras one day. Or on the flip side, if the tetras decided to get hostile and nip your betta's tail.

If you want a tank buddy, I'd shoot for a snail or shrimps. There are cherry, yellow, and blueberry shrimp varieties that are gorgeous, and less likely to be nibbled on a well planted tank.

 

I usually don't have left over food. I feed pellets also. once in a while she spits out the pellet or it sinks to the bottom. so for the snail should I supliment with algae wafers and shrimp pellets?

 

Also I wouldn't put any tetras or other FISH in the tank with the betta but a few snails would work.

 

I'd go with a nice nerite snail, to be honest. There's not room in a 5.5gal for anything else, especially not schooling fish that like to swim.

 

+3

+4 Nerite, Nerite, Nerite, Nerite

 

okay thanks. I will get a nerite, I like zebras, and maybe a few shrimp.

my betta is old but is in good health. but anyway what are some fish or frog options after she passes.

what I know of is, pea puffer dwarf frog, celestial pearl danios. what else? thanks.

 

These are you options for a 5 gallon AFTER your betta passes (well besides the shrimp)

Scarlet Badis
Ember Tetra
Sparkling Gourami
Mosquito Rasbora or one of the similar Boraras species
Corydoras pygmaeus or Corydoras habrosus or Corydoras hastatus
1 Dwarf Puffer
Celestial Pearl Danio
male Endlers Livebearer or male Guppy
Emerald Dwarf Rasbora
Freshwater Shrimp


I've asked what I could keep in a 5 gallon before, and that is the list I was given