20 Gallon Tank Will mystery snails murder each other?

I found my much larger gold mystery snail trying to inhale my newer, smaller, blue mystery snail today.
I had to pry the poor thing from being almost 3/4 swallowed and it’s currently happy in a different tank. It was 100% not dead before my big snail tried to eat it whole.

I thought mystery smails were supposed to be peaceful, but now I’m wondering if my missing shrimp have been victims too…

 

Welcome to Fishlore

I suppose it is possible if it isn't being fed well. They do have big appetites.

 

Welcome to Fishlor. Unlimited knowledge here. I agree with mattgirl .

Are you offering him food? If so, what kinds and how much? Snails love variety. There is a good article in the general aquarium article section on snail food options I would check out. I guess there is .005% chance he was trying to get calcium lol, but his shell is in really good condition.

From the picture though, it doesn't look like he is eating the other snail, it looks like he was crawling over it and flipped upside down. They don't have very big mouths, it is the snails foot that is wrapped around the smaller blue snail.

 

Could they have been mating? They definitely are stuck together for a long time when they do that.

They wouldn't eat an alive snail, but once one dies, everything in the tank will love some escargo. I didn't know I had a dead one the other day (I have probably 15) until I saw a cory flying around the tank trying to protect the snail's foot with a little meat on it. The Amano (or other) shrimp clean them out fast, a mystery snail will also get a bite of it if they can get to it. It's unknown why they die at times, I blame it on them not finding enough food. In my tank the Amanos and 10 cories get to everything faster than the snails, I teeter on the brink of overfeeding just for the snails. Snails do eat the biofilm on the tank but they need other foods. They love protein like frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms now and then, algae and sinking wafers, and vegetables. Variety is good for everything.
Sorry, that all had nothing to do with what was going on, it's almost 1 a.m. and I'm tired and rambling! lol

 

Thank you for the welcomes!

I’ve been putting about a quarter of an algae wafer every 2-3 days in the tank, and there’s some cuttlebone in the filter to increase hardness. I’ll measure gh/kh in the morning.

It could be the guppies in our tank trying to pick at everything - i have about 8 (2 males, 6 females), and some red cherry shrimp hanging out as well. But the gold snail is a big boy and he fends off the others pretty well.

I’ll add some cucumber or tomorrow and see what happens as well.

 

Thank you for the welcomes!

I’ve been putting about a quarter of an algae wafer every 2-3 days in the tank, and there’s some cuttlebone in the filter to increase hardness. I’ll measure gh/kh in the morning.

It could be the guppies in our tank trying to pick at everything - i have about 8 (2 males, 6 females), and some red cherry shrimp hanging out as well. But the gold snail is a big boy and he fends off the others pretty well.

I’ll add some cucumber or tomorrow and see what happens as well.

This really isn't enough food for a mystery snail. You may want to consider giving it a whole algae wafer and on the days that it doesn't get a wafer give it some kind of fresh veggie. I also give mine oak or mulberry leaves. Like I said, they have big appetites. I can actually see it trying to eat a smaller snail if it is hungry enough and with the amount of food it is getting I can see it being this hungry. I feed mine something daily. .

 

This really isn't enough food for a mystery snail. You may want to consider giving it a whole algae wafer and on the days that it doesn't get a wafer give it some kind of fresh veggie. I also give mine oak or mulberry leaves. Like I said, they have big appetites. I can actually see it trying to eat a smaller snail if it is hungry enough and with the amount of food it is getting I can see it being this hungry. I feed mine something daily. .

I agree with that. I had 1 assassin snail it took a long time to find, that ran out of pest snails, and kept finding mystery snail shells. He was hungry and went after sleeping mysteries. But it's a full tank, he should've found other food. All was fine after I got it out. Hunger creates desperation.

 

Thanks! I’ll up his food intake a lot, it seems. He will be happier that way too.

 

Thanks! I’ll up his food intake a lot, it seems. He will be happier that way too.

Unfortunately folks are told by folks that should know better that these guys can survive on what they can find in the tank. Maybe nerites can and so called pest snails can but mystery snails can't. I am happy you came to us. I am sure your big guy will be happy to