Snail assistance

[Renee]

I have had foisted upon me, a snail for my small (10-ish gallon)
goldfish tank. I have been assured that the snail will be welcomed by
the goldfish, and he will putter around merrily. There is an "apple
snail" in the betta tank at work, and it's a vigorous and rather
entertaining little brute. I'm hoping this new one might also be happy
and helpful.

I know nothing about snails. It is a smallish (2/3 the size of a
golfball?), and browny-black - shell and contents

So, I learned long ago not to simply plop a new addition into a tank,
so I have him in quarantine in a small container of water, into which
I've offered a couple of spirulina discs and sinking goldfish food. I
clean it out, naturally. However, I have no idea how one would
determine if a snail is ill or diseased.

The friendly gal at PetSmart told me NO salt, NO medications with
color/dye, and just to be safe NO medications at all. Okay. So, how
long should I quarantine a snail? What do I look for (other than
death) to determine whether he is healthy or not?

I have observed him looking quite lifeless for moderate periods of
time - many hours. On his side, even. But then he'll mosey around.
So, I've learned that lying on his side isn't necessarily dead. Beyond
that, I've not found an online source giving me some useful advice.

Any recommendations?

Renee
"Fox has one of those new reality shows at eight, 'Fast Animals, Slow Children.'" -Peter Griffin

[Geezer From Freezer]

Renee,

Firstly, how many fish do you have in your 10 gallon? Big snails can be as messy
as goldfish.
Snails are typically active at night time. The only real way to know if a snail
is not diseased is
to let the snail you have breed, and take the offspring. If you have an apple
snail, it will need
a partner to mate with.

[Claire]

NetMax suggested a good apple snail link. So if it is you'll be able to
find out about disease and sexing on here: www.applesnail.net

Claire

----- Original Message -----
From: "Geezer From Freezer" >
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 9:16 AM
Subject: Re: Snail assistance


>
> Renee,
>
> Firstly, how many fish do you have in your 10 gallon? Big snails can be as
messy
> as goldfish.
> Snails are typically active at night time. The only real way to know if a
snail
> is not diseased is
> to let the snail you have breed, and take the offspring. If you have an
apple
> snail, it will need
> a partner to mate with.

[Kay]

Renee wrote:

> I have had foisted upon me, a snail for my small (10-ish gallon)
> goldfish tank. I have been assured that the snail will be welcomed by
> the goldfish, and he will putter around merrily. There is an "apple
> snail" in the betta tank at work, and it's a vigorous and rather
> entertaining little brute. I'm hoping this new one might also be happy
> and helpful.
>
> I know nothing about snails. It is a smallish (2/3 the size of a
> golfball?), and browny-black - shell and contents
>
> So, I learned long ago not to simply plop a new addition into a tank,
> so I have him in quarantine in a small container of water, into which
> I've offered a couple of spirulina discs and sinking goldfish food. I
> clean it out, naturally. However, I have no idea how one would
> determine if a snail is ill or diseased.
>
> The friendly gal at PetSmart told me NO salt, NO medications with
> color/dye, and just to be safe NO medications at all. Okay. So, how
> long should I quarantine a snail? What do I look for (other than
> death) to determine whether he is healthy or not?
>
> I have observed him looking quite lifeless for moderate periods of
> time - many hours. On his side, even. But then he'll mosey around.
> So, I've learned that lying on his side isn't necessarily dead. Beyond
> that, I've not found an online source giving me some useful advice.
>
> Any recommendations?
>
> Renee
> "Fox has one of those new reality shows at eight, 'Fast Animals, Slow Children.'" -Peter Griffin
I have about 40 something of apple snails. When get them I just watch
them for about two weeks. I look out for leaches mainly, you would
notice them, or little chunks out of thier skin. applesnail.net is the
only source on the internet with very good info. I people trade or give
away snails they breed, I received 8 of them that way. They are very
kind people in the forums and will do the best to answer you question, I
give my snails algae discs, plus I rinse canned green beans <the fat
ones> they love them, also canned spinnach rinsed, good for them and
thier shell. You would want the water to be on the harder side, 7.0 or
higher is better. I put in sea shells to help add calicium, There is far
more information on snacks they love at applesnail.net.

HTH
Kay

[Renee]

Follow-up: Quarantined the snail for two weeks, and it seemed fine, so I
put it in to the fishtank. For two days, it seemed happy as can be. And
then it disappeared without a trace. It's an 8 gallon tank, so there's
not really anywhere it could hide. It's gone shell and all, so I don't
think the goldfish ate it. The best guess I have is that he climbed 2
inches out of the water, went upside down on the plastic lid, and
escaped via the tiny gap between the lid and the power filter. Once
out, my cats may have made off with it, since there is no shell to be
found. I evidently got the one suicidal snail in existence. Or,
perhaps, a great adventurer - Escargot de Gama?

Renee

[Renee]

Further followup. After 5 days, the snail is back. Now *this* is a
mystery. Where can a brussels-sprout sized snail hide in an
8-frickin-gallon tank? I *looked* for him, every day. Weird.

Renee wrote:
> Follow-up: Quarantined the snail for two weeks, and it seemed fine, so I
> put it in to the fishtank. For two days, it seemed happy as can be. And
> then it disappeared without a trace. It's an 8 gallon tank, so there's
> not really anywhere it could hide. It's gone shell and all, so I don't
> think the goldfish ate it. The best guess I have is that he climbed 2
> inches out of the water, went upside down on the plastic lid, and
> escaped via the tiny gap between the lid and the power filter. Once
> out, my cats may have made off with it, since there is no shell to be
> found. I evidently got the one suicidal snail in existence. Or,
> perhaps, a great adventurer - Escargot de Gama?
>
> Renee
>