Apple Snails/Mystery Snails

[velanarris]

I've never been a big invertebrate keeper as I'm a loach/cichlid guy and inverts are snacks in that world, but, the fiance wanted to get a few snails so I snagged a friend's 10 gallon and set them up with the proper substrate, a few rocks, some shady spots for when the light is on, and a few live plants of appropriate type.

So my only question is this, should I be watching the pH and keeping it above 7 or will these guys do acceptably under a pH of 6.2? I'm guessing their pretty resilient, and the water here is fairly hard but I wouldn't like to chance it with a shelled creature.

 

[Lupin]

Hi,

I'm a loachaholic myself and also keep catfish, cichlids, etc. I've never been a snailer until I decided to collect pink eggs of the invasive Pomacea canaliculata so I can use some time to study the snails as they hatch and develop. It wasn't until a few months later after being encouraged by the members of Aquariacentral.com that I decided to give the snails a try. Since then, I've kept over 16 species of snails. And yes, they're really fun to watch! Some people may think they are plain and dull but don't knock it until you try it.

Okay, now regarding your snails, all snails should be kept in a pH no less than 7.6. KH (carbonate hardness) and GH (general hardness) are equally important. pH less than 7.0 makes the water acidic and can erode the shells badly. In case your tapwater is soft, first of all, try to find a way to increase the KH. You can use the calcium chloride (liquid calcium by Kent) but it's a temporary fix and needs to be added every time you change the water. Since your tapwater is hard as you said, focus on calcium carbonate to elevate the pH. If possible, get Caltrate/Tums. Both human calcium supplements are calcium carbonate which can increase both the pH and KH. Both can also cloud the water but no harm is done in the process. It jsut happens. Use the pink Tums. Snails seem to like the strawberry flavor best.

Your another option is calcium sulfate hemihydrate via plaster of Paris pucks to increase the KH and pH a little. Get the Dap brand if you want to make dozens of pucks. Snails love to eat plaster of Paris little by little so it will take weeks before the plaster of Paris disintegrates completely. The consumption of the pucks helps keep their shells healthy and glossy.

Crushed corals, crushed oyster shells, marble chips and limestones are primarily made up of calcium carbonate as well so you can use those by placing them anywhere in your tank to adjust the water chemistry appropriate for the snails.

Now, to get your snails, please be sure you are getting mystery snails (Pomacea diffusa). For more information, please see this. As for the Pomacea canaliculata, these are voracious plant eaters growing to baseball size. They are illegal to ship around so do not buy them outside of the state. If possible, find them within your state. Buying illegal speciesof snails will result in confiscation by the USDA and destroying them in an incinerator. They can trace your location by checking the sales log of the seller. More information of canas can be found here. For a 10g, allow one mystery snail per 2.5g and only one cana for a 10g unless you wish to do daily water changes as these snails are ridiculously large contributors of wastes.

As far as rocks are concerned, avoid sharp edged ones that can scratch the apple snails' shells. Use smooth ones if possible. Mine are in a tank with driftwoods, crushed coral substrate, smooth pebbles and plants.

 

[velanarris]

They are certainly diffusa. These were bought in MA from a reliable dealer, and as far as I'm aware canaliculata is completely illegal to keep or transport through this state.

Now I neglected to list my tank specs and what I've done so far:

Out of the tap the water is at a pH of about 6.2-6.8 (varies with the season), and for my fish I don't need to touch it. For this 10 gallon what I did was dose out the water to a solid pH of 7.4, using pure baking soda (bicarbonate) which put my kH at 13 and my GH at 19 (measured with the Red Sea test kit). I do understand that this requires semi constant monitoring, however, she's made it even more difficult.

She wants the tank heavily planted. Now before I tell her no, understand that what she's looking for would require CO2 injection lowering the pH. As I'm well aware of the kH/temp/CO2 balance in water, I'm thinking, that although rather beneficial to the snails and the tank itself, such a small tank will have wild pH fluctuations with CO2 injection and baking soda addition.

I'm guessing I'll have to experiment and make sure I have a few extra pH probes to make sure these guys aren't stressed, and of course, I'd sacrifice the plants prior to the livestock.

I guess my next question would be, how quickly would 2 snails erode my kH parameters?

 

[Lupin]

Actually, you can have a heavily planted tank. Stick to low lighting plants so you do not have to use high lighting and CO2 components, Vel. CO2 is unnecessary unless we are talking here about plants that require high lighting in order to grow and can only react to the calcium components thus the pH will return to its acidic state again. It's quite a PITA in the long run to monitor pH constantly while CO2 is running. If I were you, keep it simple. Stick to low lighting plants, get the calcium tablets or any other options I mentioned and just make sure pH does not fall below 7.4.

Snails cannot erode nor influence anything with their shells. It's the pH that will influence their shells by eroding them severely if the pH is acidic.

 

[velanarris]

No, no, snails will erode the hardness of water that doesn't have natural rock replenishing it. They sequester the elements that produce water hardness in building their shells.

Judging by your response, not to a volume that I should be concerned with though.