# Snail Only Tank



## Bananariot (Feb 28, 2012)

Unless you have predators that'll eat them, snails will breed in any tank unless they need brackish water for their babies like nerites.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

If you really want to grow snails, get a bowl. Doesn't need to be filtered or anything. Throw in like 5 pet snails. Wait a week, you now have 50 @[email protected]


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## Kitsune_Gem (Apr 10, 2012)

Im growing bladder snails for my friends dwarf puffer.. Does that count?


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Ok thanks for the responses.

The main reason I wanted to do a snail only tank/bowl was because I cover the tank with a screen.

The snails I'm looking to breed are Mystery/Apple snails

So I can just put them in a tank/bowl with just water and their fine?

I've been feeding mine cucumbers which they love.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Haha I was exaggerating a BIT. Obviously you'll have to dechlorinate the water, and do water changes every so often so the nitrate/ite levels don't get too high. If you put moss and plants in the jar as well you can limit the amount of water changes you do. Finally, the more you feed the tank (don't overfeed to the point you poison the water) you'll increase the rate the snails reproduce


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## tricity (Jun 17, 2012)

hmm...I wouldn't consider building a full setup for snails...a bowl will be good enough...


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Ok thanks 

Well I knew about dechlorinating the water and w/c's I just wanted to make sure I could put them in a bowl with no filter. 

My plan is I want to have dechlorinated water then put the snails in with the plants ( moss and another plant). I'm thinking a weekly w/c or maybe more. I know I have to put a screen on top of the bowl.


I know this might be a simple thing but I just feel more comfortable asking around my ideas before I do them. So I can see what other people think.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Yea that sounds perfect. WC once a week is probably fine, no need to do more. You might need to remove surface scum if you feed them food with protien, just stick a paper towel over the top of your tank and all the surface scum goes away


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

That sounds good thanks


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## robbowal (Mar 27, 2011)

here are some photos of a little side project of mine which has been running for a few months now.
The bowl is around 16" tall and filled with proflora sand in the base topped with stratum. 
Some seryu stone and hydrocotyle verticillata ,java fern windelov,crypt parva, java moss and fissedens.
and is home to some MTS and ramshorn snails and a pair of horned nerites.

It is lit from 24" above by a 6W LED GU10 bulb.

no heater no filter just water changes once a week.

in case your wondering what it is sitting on its a teak burl root.


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## angelsword (May 16, 2009)

I'm breeding Columbian ramshorns in a 55 gallon as food for my puffers. It's been just the snails for a few months, although i've recently added some sail fin Molly fry. It's got thick play sand substrate, live plants that they are happily eating and lots of poo. They are really messy. I'm still doing weekly water changes but should be doing more. They're breeding well though and are huge.

I had some mystery snails that I hoped would breed but they never did and eventually died. They were a mystery to me.

The ones I have now are awesome for a food source. It want easy to track then down because it's illegal to transport them across state lines.


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## CrazyCatPeekin (Aug 15, 2011)

Apple snails lay their eggs out of the water. The eggs will need to be kept moist, but if they falls into the water, the baby snails inside will not survive. You will need both a means for the snails to lay their eggs above the water line and a way to make sure, if they are on the glass, that they don't come loose and fall into the water...like an island or something to put them on. You'll want enough humidity in the bowl to make sure they eggs don't dry out also.


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## Kunsthure (Aug 2, 2010)

Mysteries are MESSY! I fed the ten in my 13g algae wafers one day and they left snail-sized strings of green Xmas lights all over the tank. It was so disgusting. I ended up doing a gravel vac when I did the WC that week. The water in the bucket was nasty. If you want to breed mysteries make sure they're really mysteries, not apples because it's illegal to ship apples across state lines and they'll destroy plants. 

I'd set up a 5g filtered, heated tank for a breeding trio with the water line about 3" below the rim. I recommend heated because I've been experimenting with ways to keep my water temps in the low 70s for OEBTs and the snails pretty much went into suspended animation at 70. Have a separate tank for the babies; I read that the babies could climb in the adults' shells and bother them. http://www.applesnail.net/. I would do it as a bare bottom tank if you're serious about breeding. Easier to keep clean. 

With that being said, I have the MTS I RAOK in a mop bucket with a heater and an airstone, no filter. They have such a low bioload because I feed them once a week. But you need to feed mysteries every day. They are ravenous pigs.

If you don't have them already, look at AB and see which mysteries you see least, the get those. I bought ivory and I think the guy I bought them from is the only guy selling them. So many people off the magenta ones. You also don't see black ones that much. 

-Lisa


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

I already have the snails. I mostly have the magenta(purplish) colored ones. I'm debating if I should just keep them in one of my 10g or in a bowl.


oh #777 post lol


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

For mystery snails, rough rule is 2.5 gallons per medium sized snail. Some people follow this, some don't.


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## le0p (Mar 28, 2012)

My apple snails breed like mad. You should definitely leave a couple inches of free space below the rim of the tank, they will crawl around and look for a proper spot and if they can't find one, they'll eventually end up egg bound and sick (or die). As for worrying about the eggs falling into the water, I wouldn't worry about it unless you're trying to move them. They turn into a rock not too long after laying and you'll be having to scrape the remnants off the glass. All my egg clusters seem to hatch naturally but I've heard of other people having trouble with them. 

The only reason I don't have a million apple snails is because the other inhabitants eat them all!


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## Warlock (Feb 28, 2012)

anybody keep netrites?


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

I breed mystery snails. I keep the adults in a covered 15 gal heavily planted tank. They lay their egg cluster under the lid and the baby snails hatch in about 2 to 3 weeks. When the clusters turn grey, right before hatching, I transfer them/baby snails to a 1 gal hatching tank where I put the cluster on a plant float until all the baby snails have hatched. After that they go into 5 gal tubberware tubs for growing out and selling.
Depending on how many adult mystery snails you have, I would go by 1 snail per gallon and 50% weekly water change. Less snails, smaller tank or less water changes. I add cuddle bone, liquid calcium and equilibrium to their tanks in order to prevent shell damage.


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## robbowal (Mar 27, 2011)

Warlock said:


> anybody keep netrites?


Yep i do
two horned nerites in the bowl in my previous post they do just fine in there.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

I've had them lay eggs on the my old light cover that I had. They hatched and I seen them for a few days and than its like they all disappeared. So I was trying to figure out what I did wrong in between them hatching and disappearing. I feed my snails cucumbers and algae wafers. 


As far as the above posters in your tanks do you have a filter? or you just do the w/c's?


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## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

Warlock said:


> anybody keep netrites?


the thing about keeping nerites in a tank/bowl by themselves is that they can't breed in freshwater, or at least the eggs won't hatch and live. so you'd just have as many as you started with and a bunch of unhatchable egg sacs.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I run a 10 gallon that is inverts only
2 sponge filters and a random heater I had lying around, I also like to throw in dead leafs and dying plants into this tank, my snails like to take care of them.

I have some nematodes, some scuds, ramshorns, mts, bladder snails, and rcs

everything is breeding and surviving, its really fun to look into the tank after putting in zucchini though, cause the 5 pieces I throw in get swamped in like 2 minutes by all the fauna lol


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Ya it's funny that you say that. I like when I put in the cucumbers in that tank because in a matter of minutes like you said the whole thing is covered in snails. It's like what happen to the cucumber lol. I know there's recipes and stuff for snails but I like the cucumbers because its nice and easy I just pull the outside coating and cut a piece and put it in the tank. Can I do the same with zucchini or do I have to cook it?



Oh post #800 YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA lol


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

you can do the same with zucchini
I have zucchini available more often than I do cucumber, perks of being italian I guess?
All I do is put it in boiling water for a bit, then run it in cold water (blanching) and then I just drop it in and watch the feast. Actually, this method is how I first discovered that I had a random albino in my ramshorn population XD
I want to try spinach next, and get some indian almond leafs just cause


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## robbowal (Mar 27, 2011)

GMYukonon24s said:


> I've had them lay eggs on the my old light cover that I had. They hatched and I seen them for a few days and than its like they all disappeared. So I was trying to figure out what I did wrong in between them hatching and disappearing. I feed my snails cucumbers and algae wafers.
> 
> 
> As far as the above posters in your tanks do you have a filter? or you just do the w/c's?


if you are referring to me, then no this bowl is unfiltered and unheated just a 90% bi-weekly water change


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Thanks HH for the zucchini idea. I'll have to try that. 

Thanks robbowal ya I was wondering if you had a filter or not.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

Sponge filter only. The baby mystery snails will get sucked into a normal HOB. Some might survive but many will not.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

I cover the inlet of my hob with a filter pad.


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