I am getting a Musk turtle within the next month or so, I have everything coming in now but I want to set up the tank at least a week before it gets here so that everything else gets an established population before then. One of the tings I want to establish in the tank before my turtle arrives is a population of smaller snails. I have seen recommendations online about Tadpole Snails and I have seen videos of Musk turtles eating them, which is what I ultimately want, but I also wanted to get all of your recommendations about this. for the bottom of the tank, I plan on using riverbed sand, as that is what I saw recommended online a lot for musk turtles, if that affects your recommendation. Thanks in advance for the input, and I would love to hear a bunch of different opinions on this.
What snails would be a good addition to my Turtle tank?
- Thread starter JVieira
- Start date
Bladder snails or Ramshorn probably would be my choice. Check out Aquabid.
It doesn't matter what snail you choose or how long you let them establish themselves; the turtle will quickly "de-establish" them by hunting them down and eating them. I've had a Musk Turtle for years, and I often drop in dozens or hundreds of snails weekly; Pond, Ramshorn, Trumpet, makes no difference...they get ate! 
I had the turtle from hatchling size, and back then the Malaysian Trumpet Snails, with their exceptionally hard shells, were a bit more challenging for him, but they still disappeared. If I scatter the latest batch over the tank so that they have a chance to hide under decor, etc. the hunt is relentless, with periodic crunching heard across the room each time he finds another one. It sometimes takes a day or more for him to find them all...but find them he will.
It's common to read about folks who think they will be able to maintain a breeding colony of some type of prey animal...small fish, snails, shrimp, whatever...together in a tank with a predator. In practice, this simply isn't realistic in the close confines of a small home aquarium.
I had the turtle from hatchling size, and back then the Malaysian Trumpet Snails, with their exceptionally hard shells, were a bit more challenging for him, but they still disappeared. If I scatter the latest batch over the tank so that they have a chance to hide under decor, etc. the hunt is relentless, with periodic crunching heard across the room each time he finds another one. It sometimes takes a day or more for him to find them all...but find them he will.
It's common to read about folks who think they will be able to maintain a breeding colony of some type of prey animal...small fish, snails, shrimp, whatever...together in a tank with a predator. In practice, this simply isn't realistic in the close confines of a small home aquarium.