A Christmas Snail

[Lady Samsara]

My best friends loved watching my snail motor about and have agreed to
a "Christmas Snail" :) I am setting up one Mystery Snail and a Ghost
Shrimp in a 2 gallon tank for them. Question is...how often would a
full water change be recommended for this set-up? I have never had a
snail only tank and don't know what to recommend. I was thinking of
getting them a syphon and recommending partial cleanings in between.

Thanks and Happy Holidays to all!

[Keith J]

Just like a fish tank, a 20-30 percent water change once a week should do.

For a 2 gallon tank, you can do a water change with a large plastic cup. I
used to use a quart-sized cup for water changes when I had a small tank. 2
quarts = one 25 percent water change for a 2 gallon tank.

Be sure to tell them to feed VERY sparingly. About 6 small flakes of food
per day should be enough. Overfeeding pollutes small tanks very easily.

Keith J.

"Lady Samsara" > wrote in message
om...
> My best friends loved watching my snail motor about and have agreed to
> a "Christmas Snail" :) I am setting up one Mystery Snail and a Ghost
> Shrimp in a 2 gallon tank for them. Question is...how often would a
> full water change be recommended for this set-up? I have never had a
> snail only tank and don't know what to recommend. I was thinking of
> getting them a syphon and recommending partial cleanings in between.
>
> Thanks and Happy Holidays to all!

[Lady Samsara]

"Keith J" > wrote in message >...
> Just like a fish tank, a 20-30 percent water change once a week should do.
>
> For a 2 gallon tank, you can do a water change with a large plastic cup. I
> used to use a quart-sized cup for water changes when I had a small tank. 2
> quarts = one 25 percent water change for a 2 gallon tank.
>
> Be sure to tell them to feed VERY sparingly. About 6 small flakes of food
> per day should be enough. Overfeeding pollutes small tanks very easily.
>
> Keith J.
>
> "Lady Samsara" > wrote in message
> om...
> > My best friends loved watching my snail motor about and have agreed to
> > a "Christmas Snail" :) I am setting up one Mystery Snail and a Ghost
> > Shrimp in a 2 gallon tank for them. Question is...how often would a
> > full water change be recommended for this set-up? I have never had a
> > snail only tank and don't know what to recommend. I was thinking of
> > getting them a syphon and recommending partial cleanings in between.
> >
> > Thanks and Happy Holidays to all!

Hi Keith and thanks for the information. The snail I got for them is
tiny...only about 1/2 inch round...so cute! We also could not resist
a pinpoint one and took that one home for us...the LFS said no charge
because it was sooo small!

The cup idea is great! I also got them a syphon to vacuum but I will
pass the cup info. along. I bought Shrimp Pellets for them...I've
been feeding just a real small pellet daily...do you think flake is
better?

Thanks again!

[Keith J]

"Lady Samsara" > wrote in message
om...
<snip>
> Hi Keith and thanks for the information. The snail I got for them is
> tiny...only about 1/2 inch round...so cute! We also could not resist
> a pinpoint one and took that one home for us...the LFS said no charge
> because it was sooo small!
>
> The cup idea is great! I also got them a syphon to vacuum but I will
> pass the cup info. along. I bought Shrimp Pellets for them...I've
> been feeding just a real small pellet daily...do you think flake is
> better?
>
> Thanks again!

Shrimp pellets are fine, as long as you don't overfeed. One or two pellets
and 3-4 flakes of food a day should be fine.

Happy Holidays;
Keith J.

[Dustin The-Wind]

Whisper has a little 2-5 Gallon miro-filter. (around $10.00 retail) It
doesn't suck up my baby feeder guppies, so Chris the baby Mystery Snail
wouldn't have to worry about having to do any unexpected holiday travel.
:-)

The LFS here sells bunches of hornwort for 99 cents. It can just float
in the tank and be ok. The "Fish Lady" has no problem understanding what
I want when I ask for 99 cents worth of Snail Food.

Snails are entertaining. Specially when they fill-up on the airstone,
then float around the tank, totally hanging out of their shells.

I have had "Fred the Apple Snail" for almost three years now. I wrapped
a sting around him about six months ago and it measured 9 inches. The
reason I measured him was to describe the parent snail of the 200+ baby
snails I was trying to give away..along with the mama snail !!

I got rid of them all, I thought. There were 7 too small for me to see.
Now they're golf ball size.