Apple snail...do they eat plants(other questions)

[Ratlova30]

I keep reading conflicting literature about this subject. I've read there's two different kinds of apple snails, one species will eat your entire planted aquarium and the other won't(true?). Every article I read seems to be conflicting with an article I've read in the past.

I guess I'm looking for personal experience from people. 4 of my tanks are planted with live plants. The only tank that does not have live plants is a 55gal goldfish tank. Which brings me to another question, can they live in a cold water tank providing they're large enough to escape bottomless pit goldfish bellies. What about assasin snails, are they a big enough species to be safe with them(when they are adults of course)?

The main issue I'm looking to resolve is about the plants though. Thanks for any help.

 

[czeiszler]

We had a snail that we put in a goldfish tank and the gold fish tried to eat it. I was told snails are not safe with goldfish. But I guess that would depend on your goldfish.

 

[VsKitchen]

I have a couple ramshorn snails in my planted tank and they are a very efficient algae eater - tank walls, tubes, plants & dead plant spots (the leaves that weren't doing so good all the brown spots have had the spots eaten). They don't seem to eat algae off of rocks though...

 

[Ratlova30]

I have a couple ramshorn snails in my planted tank and they are a very efficient algae eater - tank walls, tubes, plants & dead plant spots (the leaves that weren't doing so good all the brown spots have had the spots eaten). They don't seem to eat algae off of rocks though...

I'm familiar with ramshorns, trying to get info on apples.

 

[VsKitchen]

According to http://www.applesnail.net/ of the 6 species of apple snails, some eat plants "to some degree" & some don't. And it just depends on the species you get as to what it will eat. It is difficult to tell the differences between the species visually, but here is thier guide http://www.applesnail.net/content/species_genera.htm#identify to differentiating between them.

As far as temperature goes "Apple snails are tropical animals that require temperatures between 18 and 28°C (65-82°F) to stay in good condition.
If the temperatures drops below 10°C (50°F) the apple snail becomes completely inactive and will die within a few days."

As to the goldfish eating them the site had this to say "Many fish species consider the tentacles of an apple snail as attractive pieces of food and at least try once in a while to eat the tentacles. Losing a part of a tentacle might not be a pleasant experience for a snail, but as snail have a remarkable ability to regenerate lost tissues, it's not a life-treating problem. The snails also adapt their behaviour to overcome the tentacle nipping: they keep their tentacles under their shell and they react quicker to water movements with retraction in their shell.
It often stay at the level of tentacle nipping, but some fish species go beyond that point and try to eat the whole snail. Especially bigger fish species with strong jaws (like cichlids) can be a threat to your apple snails, at least if they manage somehow to damage the shell enabling them to reach for the soft snail tissues."

There was a wealth of other information on this site, as well as the net at large. I personally don't have any experience with apple snails. So, I can't speak to it's accuracy. From a research point of view however due to the approach to the information presentation and the author's own educational background, I would assume that this is a reliable resource.

 

[Ratlova30]

Thanks vskitchen. I found a breeder of them and this is what she had to say.

the only time i had any trouble with them eating plants was one 20long tank that had hundreds of babies,.. and breeders,.. they were hungry,.. if you feed them they never touch plants except for dead leaves which is what they do,.. never touched any thing else in the other tanks,.. they were overcrowded and wasnt getting enough food,.. so if you over feed or feed them direct which is what i recommend then they wont touch plants,.. now ramshorns will,..

 

[Ratlova30]

vskitchen to you sell you ramshorn babies? All I've been able to get a hold of is ones with maroonish shells and I don't even have anymore of those between the goldfish and the assassins.

 

[czeiszler]

If Vs doesnt want to sell I have a new batch of maroonish ones that are still small and u can have as many as you want for free and I will be down that way in october for my nieces birthday or I could try shipping since you are so close?

 

[VsKitchen]

I don't want to sell any now, though I probably will in the future. I'm curious to see how pink they'll get. Which is a bit odd for me since I don't particularly care for the color pink. So, I intend to see this experiment through for a while.

As far as eating the plants, my snails don't except for the dead or dying parts. Though I think any animal will eat whatever it can find if it gets hungry enough. The drive to live and all that.

 

[Ratlova30]

If Vs doesnt want to sell I have a new batch of maroonish ones that are still small and u can have as many as you want for free and I will be down that way in october for my nieces birthday or I could try shipping since you are so close?

Sounds great thanks for the offer, I don't mind waiting till october. It will be nice to have ramshorns again, they were the first to get picked off between the goldies and assassins, and then the pond snails and then the trumpets. I had moved my hygro plants to a different aquarium cause the goldies had to be moved to the tank they were in temporarily till i got their big tank moved to a new wall. Well after the hygro was in the other planted tank for a couple days 1 pond snail surfaced. So now I'm putting all my hopes into this one A-sexual snail to bring the population back and I hope he/she is ready for the job. All the pet stores I called that are around me said they didn't have pond snails. If you're interested czeiszler, my assassins have been having non stop snail sex since being moved into a snail free tank(trying to give the MTS a chance to come back) If they're laying eggs and they hatch your welcome to a couple of them if you want. Right now I've only got three but hopefully they're producing with all the sex that's taking place in there

Vskitchen if you even do have some pink baby rams for sale when the time comes ill be happy to front the money.

 

[VsKitchen]

Thanks for the offer. I'm sure when the time comes I'll tell everyone all about the baby snails, it'll probably be the firt thing in my tanks to have bred (my amano shrimp never followed through).

Actually I just glanced into the tank & I have a baby snail! :shock: Mostly transparent & not a lot bigger than a broad tip marker point...

 

[czeiszler]

Thats how I found my baby ramshorns!

@Ratlova30 Np it will be the first saturday of the month. I will think about the assasins. Will let you know. Ty

 

[Ratlova30]

czeiszler, what kind of angle you got for sale?

 

[czeiszler]

I have a pair that has laid eggs 2 x gotten spooked and ate them all. I am hoping they will spawn again in a week in the 29 I am setting up for them. I have 7 little baby angels 6 of them are zebras and 1 is a black and gold marble. I currently have none for sale but I will keep you posted if you are interested. My pair is a Black and a a silver. I am hoping the babies are cute.

 

[Ratlova30]

Just curious, not really in the market for one right now. Blue zebras are my fave.

 

[czeiszler]

Well the babies rick gave me might end up being blue zebras we will see. :spoton:

 

[sounguru]

I keep reading conflicting literature about this subject. I've read there's two different kinds of apple snails, one species will eat your entire planted aquarium and the other won't(true?). Every article I read seems to be conflicting with an article I've read in the past.

Apples that are sold under the name Mystery will not eat plants unless that is all there is for them to eat. They will eat dead sections but leave the healthy stuff alone. Now real apple snails like those found in Florida are illegal to sell.

I guess I'm looking for personal experience from people. 4 of my tanks are planted with live plants. The only tank that does not have live plants is a 55gal goldfish tank. Which brings me to another question, can they live in a cold water tank providing they're large enough to escape bottomless pit goldfish bellies.

No they do not do well in cold water

What about assasin snails, are they a big enough species to be safe with them(when they are adults of course)?

The main issue I'm looking to resolve is about the plants though. Thanks for any help.

Assassins can and will attack even the largest apples, I have seen 4 Assassins take down a large apple snail. The Assassins will also pick off the babes so I do not recommend Assassins in any tank with any snail you want to keep, but Nerites which they don't seem to bother.