Snails - in my betta tanks

[BettaMomma]

OOooh, FE - thanks!
Here's what he looks like:

That's not actually him, but that was taken from the site given out above, and it looks just like him.

The most hilarious thing just happened.
I went to check on Gary and he was gone. Just vanished. I kneeled down to frantically look for him and he had zoomed up to the top of the water on the backside of the tank. All the girls had gathered around him in a circle. They were just staring - in a perfect circle. MAN I wish I had my camera home tonight.

I'm going to have to devise some sort of plan to get him to eat - I purposely fed the girls too many peas at once tonight so they'd fall to the bottom of the tank. Hopefully he'll find some of those. Maybe I'll pick up an eyedropper tomorrow or a turkey baster. Or should I say 'snail' baster. heh heh

 

[Kiarra]

The eyedropper method works pretty well. Just so long as it's food that will already fit in his mouth, like baby or adult brine shrimp, or small flakes.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

The same thing happened to me today too. I came home and went to check on my snail. I couldn't see him anywhere. I frantically lifted both lids looking along the top. No snail. I am really panicking now. Did the angel have a snack, maybe the rainbows? A million things are flying through my head. This thing is big, how could a fish have eaten it?

Then I looked a little closer from the side of my tank, and lo and behold there he is, inside the ruins hiding behind the java moss. Silly snail.

I never worried about him eating. I also purposely fed too many pellets or bloodworms every four days or so, but other than that, nothing. I can't do that in my big tank, my rainbow fish devour everything in 20 seconds flat, but he is in there to eat the algae, so all should be fine

 

[eudielynn]

I have had a lot of enjoyment out of my snails, Goldie, in the 20 gal is refered to as "the fastest snail in Indiana" It will be on one side of the tank, and then zoom to the other. He's still not very big, but Snail (my hubby named them, don't blame me ) is huge, he's almost the same size as Batista. I put him in the 20 gal when I first got him because I was changing Batista's tank around and he liked to go all the way to the top and then just drop back down like a rock. He would do it over and over again.

BettaMomma, drop him an algae wafer (or 1/2 a wafer really) about once a week. The bettas don't seem to like them all that much, and the snails will wrap their whole foot around them and then sort of suck them up. It's pretty neat to see.

EDIT: OMG, I only paid $0.97 for my guys.

 

[BettaMomma]

He's very fun to watch. I love him!
I might have to get some more for other tanks

He wound up on the floating cabomba plant this morning and now he's sort of surfing on the plant around the tank. I think the only way he's gonna get off of it now is to just let go and drop to the bottom of the tank.

I'll have to get some algae wafers - that sounds good. Well... not to ME, but I want to make sure he's getting enough to eat. I wouldn't be surprised if the girls try to eat that stuff too. They're such hogs.

 

[eudielynn]

I'll have to get some algae wafers - that sounds good. Well... not to ME,

They're not bad, it's all in how you fix 'em. Yum!

 

[newfishies]

my girls all crowd around the sinking wafers i feed my cories. they really are a group of piggies!!!
i would try feeding the sinking food at lights-out time, so the snail has a fighting chance of getting to it while the girls (piggies) are snoozing!

 

[BettaMomma]

eudie - enough ketchup on something and I'm sure it will taste good!

There's no catching my girls at nappy time.
They see me walk through the room and they gather like a bunch of vultures at the place near the tank that I open to drop food in. Some of them jump a good couple of inches out the top of the tank when I'm trying to feed them because I don't always get the food in there fast enough. They're nuts.

There are a few hunks of leftover pea pieces on the bottom of the tank right now and I think a few blood worms made it by the gals last night.

I'm sure we'll work out a system for feeding him. If I can feed a blind betta AND a girl who will only eat blood worms and peas, I should be able to handle a little ol' snail.

 

[SarahBravo]

Just put some live plants in....when you see teeth marks on them you;ll know Gary isn't getting any of the wafers!

 

[BettaMomma]

There's a cabomba plant in there.
He was hanging off of it this morning.
Think that's a sign I need to get some wafers on the way home?
lol

These are the same wafer thingys that plecos like, right?

 

[Kiarra]

Snails just like to hang on the strangest things. Mine favor hanging upside down from the submersible heater's cord.

 

[BettaMomma]

Can you use salt in a tank with a snail?
Or will it hurt him?

 

[Kiarra]

I use salt in my fry tanks where my snails are. Never bothered them a bit. They've more than doubled in size since I got them, and I've ALWAYS used salt with them.

 

[Nik_boyd]

on the subject of feeding apple snails...what do you feed baby ones? I've just found a baby snail and have it in a floating trap in the tank. Don't want it to starve though

Nik

 

[BettaMomma]

Gary's being very naughty.
He's going around to all my moneywort plants and chewing through the stems of them so they're all floating. and I swear I can hear a little giggling going on in there when one of them lets loose and it goes a-floating.

I guess I better get some of those algae wafers in there.