Hey everyone I have a question please..... I have been looking for snails that my oscars cant fit into their mouth, yesterday I went to the lfs and they had HUGE Apple Snails about the size of golf balls and they just got them in they were still floating in the bag so I bought the whole bag, all six of them. I took them home dropped them in and when they started to come out of the shell and slide up the glass for air my Oscars keep poking them back in the shells. My question is do you think they will die if they dont get up top for air or to release eggs, I have a ton of tanks and could put them in one of my smaller ones. THey are in a 75 gallon right now that has white rocks and really needs some good cleaning, they have allot of work to do. They have hiding places but I know they need air. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Lisa

Just my opinion but get them out as soon as you can..my goldfish nipped off the antanae of one of my apple snails and made their lifes a misery until I got them in a tank of their own and yes they do need to come up for air from time to time..sounds like you gor a great bunch of canas there..you are lucky in the US here in the UK we can only seem to get the smaller brigs..good luck with them Linda

My fish was a little intrigued at first too, but it died down.. i would suggest waiting to see if they continue to do it or if they will leave them alone.... A snail can go a long time before going up to the top, esp. if you have an air stone or bubble wall or something like that

Oscar are generally a bit aggressive fish, so I doubt the snails are very happy in that tank. PIcking fights even with bigger fish their own size is something an oscar is great at, so I would take out the snails. Did you buy the snails for tank and algae cleaning? Oscars seem to do well with plecos for that purpose....

I would take them out to because even thou the oscars may not be able to fit the shell in their mouth they will be able to suck them out of their shells and plus oscars are chilids and chilids LOVE to eat snails.

I was horrified yesterday I went to the local fish store and the snails were in with fish..not sure what sort there were a lot of different tanks..as I was walking round the number of empty shells and shells with big holes bored right through them was unreal...I felt sick..I called over the young assistant who informed me that they had started to breed but the fish ate the eggs and he told me they dont bother now {how sad}he also said when they fell over on their side the fish ate them ..I managed to rescue 2 that was moving with their tentacals pulled in..I also put a hand on the tanks..stone cold..so I paid for Pebbles and Toots as they are now called..then let the owner have it with both barrels..turns out he wasnt such a bad guy and he didnt have much idea how to care for them..he also informed me they were hard to get hold of..so I informed him I would supply him with them from my breeding stock but only if they go in a tank on their own which is heated and everyone who buys them walks away with a care sheet with instuctions on how to look after them right....has anyone else come across this sort of thing?

A lot of times, yes, but you were fortunate enough that the manager actually admitted he didn't know beans, and was willing to accept your advice. Most employees just get crumpy and defensive, and find some lame "excuse" why the fish looks this and the snail looks that....