apple snails....

[muzscman]

bought two of them awhile back to help keep a growout tank clean.....noticed a few weeks ago they were all over each other....then two days ago noticed one was missing, and there it was, laying outside the tank.

so i dropped it back in the tank and it's alive....

i go to open the lid today to feed the few fish left in there, and there is what looks like an egg sac attached to the lid....i'm guessing i just happened to have gotten a male and a female and them being all over each other was them making babies...

what do i do with this little love sac hanging on the hood?? how long does it take them to hatch?? should i move them to something else to let them hatch??? how many babies will i get??

thanx!

:)

[punkypuffer]

there is no "male" and "female" of those type of snails. it basically just takes any two of them to breed. the reason one went outside the tank is because they have to lay eggs outside of water, but they need to stay moist.

you will soon be overrun with snails... and not know what to do with them :/

[razey]

i'd seperate the snales and only use one.

[muzscman]

so dump the eggs then....and one of the snails....or at least get rid of one of the snails....and then dump the eggs....i don't really want baby snails....

:)

[Heyguy74]

If you have any big cichlids try to use them as food. When they are small my Jacks love to eat them.

[AnnA_Mie]

Chiclids and Clown Loaches are known for feeding on snails; especially the loaches.. as they scan the surfaces and eat(or suck) whatever they meet.:D

[jennigypsy]

...punky...I thought apple snails WERE sexable...that there are male & female (thought I read that on a snail site a while back)
You may be over run with snails, but to my knowledge, many LFS will take them & sell them.
..I have 1 large snail in the growout tank here...pretty intersting to watch...(if you're into that sort of thing...lol)

[AnnA_Mie]

Basically they have both the male and femal organs. and when they breed they are mating from the two ends of their bodies... the male part on the female part on the other and vice-versa.....
Guess they could have a double orgasm and much much more fun that way!!!:sygypsy:

[PEM]

Get rid of the eggs now!!! Believe me, you don`t want them. I`v seen the horror stories first hand, You won`t believe how many snails are in that sac. and it will take forever to get rid of them. Atleast isolate them.

[Chromedome]

Apple Snails tend to not overpopulate, as the egg case is laid out of the water, but must be kept at a reasonable level of humidity or it will never hatch. Can't put them in the water either, as those are air breathing snails, and that will kill the eggs.

A friend who had some exceptionally large specimens once found an egg case on the wall about 3 feet above the tank that the snail had been in.

There's a website, applesnail.net I think, with a lot of information. They say that the most common species, Pomacea bridgesi, does have two sexes, and there are photos showing how to sex them. This is supposed to be one of the unique features of Apple Snails. Unlike the common Pond or Red Ramshorn snails, their populations are more easily controlled.

[PhishNFilly]

Chrome I know this is a very old post but......is keeping ONE apple snail in a planted tank a bad idea? Julia:D

[Chromedome]

Wellll, it could be. My experience is that they are plant eaters, except for certain types of plants. Most soft-leaved plants will get nibbled on, holes in the leaves and nips in the edges. One of their favorite foods is Romaine lettuce; a friend of mine used to raise them huge feeding this. Most of the time they don't reach their full size because they're underfed, and that's also why they start nibbling on leaves.

Don't forget that they are aquatic, but breathe air. They have a "snorkel" they can put up to the surface and change out their stored supply. In a deep style tank they may have trouble getting to the surface. When Cichlids harrass them, they usually pull into the shell until the threat goes away, and since it doesn't go away quick enough for them to make their way to the surface, they end up drowning.

I don't know if the website is still there, but there used to be one called applesnails.net that had tons of information.

[PhishNFilly]

Chrome thanks for the great advise. I have Romaine for my Saulosi so I will toss the snail a leaf now and then. My planted tank is coming along Chrome, my apistogramma are doing fantastic and I recently added a few more blue rams. So far the rams nip at each other but nothing bloody. I am trying to find some Agassizii but no luck as of now. While I have you Chrome, what do you think of the following as tank mates? Dykemester can get me these. I wanted Agassizii tho. Thanks for your help as always. Oh btw, I did add that blackwater extract to my planted tank for them, they are thriving so I must be doing something right. Julia

Apistogramma macmasteri
Apistogramma nijsseni
Apistogramma pandurini

[Chromedome]

All three of those are fairly aggressive for Apistos, your Rams would suffer for sure. I'd skip it for now. To be honest, I'm surprised the Cockatoos haven't gone after the Rams. I'm guessing they're still young, large adults would definitely be more aggressive.

[PhishNFilly]

Chrome the male cacatoo is very strongheaded and the women are protecting there coconut caves with a vengence lol.....The Rams are very nipping at times and the Cacatoo holds his own, always something going on there and I will hold off getting anything on that list Chrome. I dont want bloodshed. Thanks very much. Julie