Today I got seven baby mystery snails and I'm keeping them in a 10-gallon aquarium. I gave them a couple small pieces of turnip greens to eat by putting them at the bottom with a few pieces of gravel on top to hold them down. These snails are pretty small (less than an inch in diameter), and none of them have found the food. They've been without food since Thursday because they were shipped to me through the mail and I just received them today, and I'm worried that they might starve before they find the food. They're so little and have so much space to cover, and most of them don't stay on the bottom; they're crawling up the plants and sides of the aquarium.
My other questoin is, two of the snails crawled to the top of the water and have been sitting there for hours. Are they up there breathing because the water's not clean enough? I'm using a 10-gallon filter.
2007-02-02 12:45:45 · 6 answers · asked by Somebody 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
They just hang out at the top sometimes. But you do need to keep up with testing the water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates every few days because snails produce huge amounts of waste. You need to do frequent water changes. For the first few weeks, you will probably need to change out 25 to 50 percent every couple or three days.
You can clip a lettuce leaf at the top where they hang out.
2007-02-02 12:58:37 · answer #1 · answered by j s 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Don't worry about them starving. When they get hungry they will eat. Snails can go a very long time without food anyway. Sometimes they may even go dormant for several weeks at a time.
Don't worry about them going to the surface either. Mystery snails have a lung on one side of their body and a gill on the other side. They must breath water and air in order to survive. When they are under water all the way they are holding thier breath and using their only gill, and vice versa when they are above water.
2007-02-03 02:38:32 · answer #2 · answered by fish guy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think snails are going to eat turnip greens. Try lettuce or cucumber slices. Thursday is ok for being without food. But you are right that they starve easily. They also like to come out of the water. They will lay their eggs in space above the water line (so you can remove them if you want) and they will also crawl out of an insecure tank.
2007-02-02 21:45:54 · answer #3 · answered by bzzflygirl 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You shouldn't worry to much about them starving. Snails eat the algae off the sides of the tank. They will eventualy find the greens at the botom of the tank. As for the snails at the top of the tank snails can survive out of water for a while so they should be ok. If you are worried about them gently slide them back in to the water. Good luck
2007-02-02 20:56:51 · answer #4 · answered by shadow8634 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Snails are pretty much indestructable. The only thing I tried that finall y got rid of them for me was a Clown Loach. But don't worry, even if they DO die, (which is highly unlikely because they CAN breathe air as long as they remain moist and they're more than likely licking algae/plant matter that we can't see off the glass) just two of them will have your tank flooding with snails in almost no time.
2007-02-02 20:58:03 · answer #5 · answered by Aurelia Zorina 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
snails require little if any attention. most people get colonies without doing anything. if and when they want the greens they will get them. just make sure to keep fresh greens -- old greens will rot and make a mess of your tank. snails like to switch things up and will be at the top sometimes and at the bottom others. the like hitching rides on the current on top once they figure out how to. you really don't need to stress over snails.
2007-02-02 21:08:19 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋