New Apple Snails!

**sebastien** · 10-22-2010, 12:08 AM

Bought a pair of these cool guys for a 10g...it's only them in there. Bought a veggie clip for them too. What snacks do they like? heard romaine lettuce..spinach? zucchini?

Any other tips on caring for them/making them happy are welcome.

**iheartbettas** · 11-11-2010, 03:45 PM

if these are the same as mystery snails, then they do eat vegetables like boiled lettuce (boil for about 5 minutes), raw cucumber (the inside seed part). they also will clean up the algae really nice.

**VoidParadigm** · 11-11-2010, 04:06 PM

Spinach, cucumber, pear... Go ahead and experiment! Tastes can change individual to individual.

You'll also want to buy some cuttlebone (like for birds, just remove the metal clip) or adult calcium tablets. Otherwise their shells may deteriorate. Personally I use shrimp carapaces, but that's for a much smaller species of snail so it may not be enough for the larger Apple/Mysteries.

Many, though not all, Apple Snails will suck on calcium tablets like it's candy.

**dragoonwoman** · 11-11-2010, 05:31 PM

Are you saying I could toss a human-consumption calcium tab into my tank for my snails, to help with their shells??

OMG, that's so easy!! I've been losing snails and shrimp right and left because my water is SOOOOO soft.

**VoidParadigm** · 11-11-2010, 06:24 PM

Yep. I know of several long-term owners and breeders who swear by the calcium tablet method.

**dragoonwoman** · 11-12-2010, 11:41 AM

Tried the calcium tab trick last night. Is there a "dosage" per gallon I should be aiming for? I only have 2 snails and a lonely ghost shrimp, all in different tanks.

Also, the water got very hazy from the dissolving calcium tablet. Is that normal? The fish didn't seem to mind....

**VoidParadigm** · 11-12-2010, 01:25 PM

Haziness depends on the tablet. Some dissolve quickly, others stay around for a while.

Dosage per gallon is probably something you'll have to do by trial and error. As far as I know there is not yet any equation along the lines of gallons divided by calcium multiplied by invertebrate. Just keep an eye out for shell wear. If it gets worse, add more. I generally add something with calcium about once per week, (and leave the dead snail's shells in the tank always, so long as I remove the flesh.)

I no longer keep Apples, myself, I have primarily Lymnaeidae family snails atm, so I can't really help much more. =( Especially since 50 juvenile Lymns could probably fit inside an Apple Snail shell.

The conversions would just be a little off, don'cha think? =P

**Rue** · 11-12-2010, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by iheartbettas

if these are the same as mystery snails, then they do eat vegetables like boiled lettuce (boil for about 5 minutes), raw cucumber (the inside seed part). they also will clean up the algae really nice.

Do you boil lettuce for 5 minutes? Wouldn't it disintegrate?

**Scrup** · 11-12-2010, 04:38 PM

I found they do just fine with unboiled lettuce. Kale and mustard greens are also a great food source with high calcium.

Calcium in the water will keep the shells from deteriorating. Calcium in the foods helps them actually grow the shells.

**VoidParadigm** · 11-12-2010, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by Scrup

Calcium in the water will keep the shells from deteriorating. Calcium in the foods helps them actually grow the shells.

Truth, which is why I like the shrimp carapace method.

The shrimp I eat come with 80% of the carapace still intact, so I take most of the meat out of it (feed it to my fish) then throw the carapace and legs into my snail tank. The juveniles and newly hatched snails don't leave it until EVERYTHING is gone, not just the meat. Of course, this method would be more difficult with tanks with fish though, as they'd pick at it and steal it away from the slower invertebrates.