Snail food??

[JayK1320]

So I picked up a Ivory Mystery snail for my girl friends little 10g that I keep for her. Now I am left wondering after watching him stick to the glass for about a week...what exactly does this little bugger eat?

I assume they eat something, I figured he would roll across the ground and pick up left over flakes or whatever else was in the gravel, but I have only seen it stick to the glass. It moves all over, but only on the glass.

Also, I am wondering do they need calcium? I would assume so and if they do does the egg shell trick work? I had read somewhere that if you leave the egg shell in long enough it will dissolve and then water will hold the calcium...is this true?

Lastly, the girl at the store said they are A-sexual but they dont reproduce like some of the snails and I should not end up with a tank full of intruders...can anyone verify this? So far so good and no more snails then the one I bought haha but seriously I dont want to walk in one day and have 100 snails in there. If there is a better suggestion for a snail, something that absolutly will not reproduce unless I have a male and female, I wouldnt mind it.

I am keeping this guy as a tester right now, see how it goes. Eventually I was thinking about putting him in my cichlid tank, will they eat it? I have peacocks in there now, they are tiny, but when they grow will they eat snails if they are small enough? There is also a crawfish in that tank and I figure he will eat them for sure if he gets the chance...So I am thinking if I get a slow supply that would be okay because they could serve as feeders...

I seriously know nothing about snails, so this is all a first go around...

 

[pcfriedrich]

my understanding is that mystery snails reproduce sexually, which reduces the likelihood that they will get out of control. either way, they are the best ones to keep to avoid 1,000 snails in your aquarium.

don't know about the eggshell thing. calcium solidifies on my filter and hood, so I'm sure there is enough calcium in my water anyway.

my snails keep algae undercontrol that is growing on my artificial plants. I also throw in an algae wafer now and then; they disappear, so something eats them.

here are some recipes from msjinkzd over at aquarium central:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135871
she seems to be some kind of snail expert, so she is probably the one to ask, you just have to join that forum.

 

[JayK1320]

any idea how fast they reproduce if there is more than one? I am thinking about picking up like 5 maybe? for my 55g cichlid tank...would this lead to a snail explosion haha

 

[pcfriedrich]

they have to mate first, and then it could be possibly be weeks or months before she lays the eggs (she can store the sperm). I saw mine mating the other day, and see nothing, yet. they often lay several clutches from each encounter. you will be able to see the eggs, and remove them before they hatch. here's a link where i goto most of my info:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148928&highlight=porn
msjinkzd at aquariacentral.com can answer any questions you have.

 

[mgamer20o0]

they have male and females so you need the right pair to breed. they lay their eggs above the water line. if the water is too high they will get out. its easy if you dont want more snails take the eggs out. depending on your water will dictate if you will need to add calcium or not. they will eat a lot of things people even make up snail jellow thats great for them.

 

[msjinkzd]

Alot of veggies have a good calcium content, greenbeans being one of the easiest as well as zucchini. I just take frozen green beans, split it in half, put a chip clip on it and sink it. They feed pretty heavily nocturnally. What is the pH of your water? they need the calcium in the diet for shell growth, but the water needs to be hard (usually with a pH over 7) to reduce risks of erosion to the existing shell.
As for reproduction, I have 5 breeders and I get about 8 clutches a week. Once they reach breeding size (at about an inch in diameter) they can lay clutches every couple of days. Each clutch can produce 50-200 baby snails, so its not always recommended to let them hatch as you need permits through the usda/aphis to ship/sell them across state lines and most fish stores only will accept sub-adult to adult snails on trade. I typically will crush/freeze unwanted clutches. Its pretty easy to pick them out if you don't want the babies as they will lay the eggs above the water line, typically under the lights or beside the filter intake in a community tank. They are opportunistic feeders, so they will eat leftover food as well, but it is important to target feed them. The easiest recipe to make (if you want to be a nut like me and cook for your snails) is jello. You get a jar of baby food (mixed veggies are good, aim for a calcium content of at least 4%, the higher the better), microwave it for a minute or until bubbly. Stir in a packet of unflavored gelatin (Knoxx is commonly available) being sure to squish any lumps. Then you can fold in some fish food (I use spirulina, some garlic, or flake) and add a tsp. of calcium powder if you like. Pour this onto a dinner plate so its about 1/4" thick. Put in fridge to set. After an hour or so, cut into postage stamp sized pieces and freeze. The food lasts about a month to six weeks in the freezer. It will sink when dropped in the tank and does not fall apart and pollute the water. I remove any uneaten part after about 12 hours.