Mystery snail breeding and calcium

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S

santoury

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2006
3,624
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Massachusetts
I would like to hear firsthand accounts of how you bred your Mystery Snails, and how you had the eggs hatch, etc.

I also would like to know how important calcium (added) is for them? I am new to these guys, and have kept about 2 dozen of them successfully over the past 3-5 months with no problems. I keep them in regular water, in a regular fish tank - nothing added. Just some driftwood, gravel, and a rock.

I do not like crushed coral. I don't find it appealing to the eye. IF, and IF they do need calcium added, what is an easy way to do this? Add a couple of shells? Do they gnaw on them, or what?

Mine eat a wide variety of fish foods and fish pellets as well as deceased feeder fish. (Not often though) They are also at room temp.

How big do they actually get? And how long do they live, normally?

I would appreciate personal experiences with these awesome animals. Thanks
Here is a pic of one of my blue ones.

Photo 30.jpg
 
i had them breed nothing special didn't mean for it to happen...
they layed about 5 egg clutches and only 2 hatched. still over 200 snails though.
i added a turtle calcuim blocks to the water, try to keep the food up to them or lower the number of snails in the tank after they hatch, they will stunt they growth.
over 100 of mine died but i still have about 80, currently trying to sell them off.

brakken
 
do you keep them with fish.I have never kept any.Do they do a good job of cleaning algae and detrius?I was thinking they might be good in my fry tanks to clean up uneaten food and the fry that do die.
 
I have tried keeping them with a variety of fish, and most fish pick at their feelers, which I don't like. I kept testing different tanks out until I found an ideal mix. They currently are living with a baby pearlscale goldfish and cory catfish, a dojo loach (like a weather loach) and a Raiamas sp.

It is hard to say how much algae they eat - I swipe the acrylic sides by hand during each water change, which is 2 x a week. They do seem to eat a lot, and they love all prepared fish foods, and they do love fish corpses as well, so I think that they would be perfect for what you described. The only question is the algae eating ability of Mystery Snails in particular.
I do also have several Olive Nerite Snails in there, which are supposed to be algae eaters?
The snails are especially entertaining to watch, as well. They are rarely still. Always moving around and doing something neat.
 
Good question, but I honestly don't think so. I think that if that were the case, my Cory cats and loach may have succumbed to a similar end. That hasn't been the case. Fry might be different though. I don't, however, think that the snail is quick enough to grab a fry.

To all of you who must be thinking "snails don't grab!!" THEY DO!!!!! Its too funny to watch them grab at pellets.
 
mmmmm...Might try a couple and see how it goes.I use 10g tanks at first for the fry.As you would know some will always die off.I find it hard to vacuum the bottom while they are small without sucking up some of the live fry.Snails might do the trick cleaning up the dead ones making water changes a bit easier and keep the water cleaner in the process.
 
I know what you mean by dead fry... and making it hard to clean.
Don't forget though that the snails will add their own poo... I would suggest running a sponge filter, AND having the snails in there - Try 2 or 3. Can you get them down in Australia?

I also notice that my snails do eat a lot. Make sure you feed your fry a lot, so there is plenty of leftover food for the snails.
 
Yeah.I only run air operated sponge filters so fry cant get sucked up.Not so turbulent either.I have seen them here at times.A mate had a few that were about 2" long.Couldn't tell you what type though.He had them with africans.
 
I saw a thread recently about "tanganyika snails" or something like that??? Maybe that's what your friend had? I haven't heard of those before. Didn't the Africans bother the snails? I would have thought so.
My tiny Jellybean convicts were picking at them, even.
 
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