I've finally consolidated all suggestions on different foods that snails would eat onto a webpage. I decided to make a simple little page on it instead of adding to a post because if people make suggestions on a post, the reader will still have to dig through to find it. The webpage way, I can keep it updated with new ideas.

Here's the site:

http://www.freewebs.com/airwens/snailfood.htm

I'm also still looking for suggestions, especially feeding suggestions. Do you soak, freeze, boil, bake it? The vast majority of the foods I listed I've never tried with my snails so I don't know how people give it to their snails. And is there any other thing I should mention for each food- such as clouding the water?

Any suggestions would be a major help. I hope you enjoy and find the website informative!

airwen

Good work.

As far as feeding styles...I think that when you boil things like spinach or collard greens, that you are loosing some of the nutritional value. I could be totally wrong, but that's my belief for now until somebody changes my mind I mostly feed raw veggies to my larger snails. I do boil the veggies for my hatchlings, just to help them out a little.

And the clouding...I have noticed that when I cook the veggies I get more clouding, but the cooked veggies are also going into a much smaller tank, so I'm not 100% sure which is causing the clouding.

Boy, I haven't really helped out much, now have I?

Anyway...like I said before, good job! Maybe a mod will sticky that for us!

Thats great it helped me alot,thanks

And sticky it is now!

Yay! When I get around to it I will add that.

Thanks for sticky-ing it!

good work!

Thanks for the link, Now i have a huge list i can take foods from
and feed my snails.Great work,

Alex

I actually saw some apple snails for sale for the first time the other day. How do you stop the goldfish from eating all the food? Do snails eat algae?

Most apple snails (the most common kind sold are Pomacea bridgesii) do NOT eat algae. They will eat some only if they are completely starved.

I've never had a problem with goldfish eating the snails' food. Maybe someone else can speak to that?

Thanks for the info - I'm a bit dubious as my gf eat anything! btw, nice doggie.

Well if you stick big enough food in there they might peck at it but otherwise leave it alone. And if it's natural, well, most of it can't be all that bad for them. However, if your goldfish are the kind that will eat anything, there might be a chance that they'll pester and harass and permadently harm any snails you might have.

Thanks. She's my spoiled little brat-dog.

I love the thought of making a shish-ka-bob of veggies for snails. But would the toothpick (or other sharp thingie) hurt a snail if they crawled over it??

I have a few quick questions for all the snaily experts....Dev's is sending me a brig next week so I want to be fully prepared when they get here.
1. Should I go out and get one of those veggie clips?
2. Should I get some differen't plants for them to hide in..(going out to get live plants this weekend, but if I shoulden't do that with this kind of snail then I won't do that)
3. How are my gf going to react to their new tank mate?
4. What should I buy for everyday food for them?...(I saw the big list of foods for snails but just wondering what the eat mainly for everyday sorta thing.) Wafers?......
Thanks guys.......This will help me out a lot!!!!

I'm not a snail expert but I'll try.

1. I wouldn't go out and buy one unless you want to. I do fine without one. What I did was cut strips out of a Ziploc bag (snails will eat string), tie lettuce to it, and tie that to the base of a plant. Worked fine for me.

2. Your same plants should be fine, no reason to get extra plants.

3. It depends on your goldfish. Mine hates my snails and picked at them until she ate off a few antennae and caused one of them to die of mantle collapse. Other goldfish don't mind. It really depends on your goldfish... so once you put the snail in there, monitor them closely and if they start attacking the snail, pull him out.

4. I made mine snail food, which contains everything they like so it can be a staple. The first food I ever bought were algae wafers, which they like just fine. Mine also liked carrots, peas, and romaine lettuce.

5. I know there is no 5. But.. remember the calcium! It's important for their shells to grow properly. You can get it from crushed coral on your substrate, cuttlebone, eggshells (this provides the least calcium, however), and my favorite, Kent Marine Liquid Calcium.

I hoped it helped.

Thanks a lot airwen and u said u weren't an expert....LOL
Okay about the coral then I know some people that have coral in their tanks and they have been dealing with these tiny little worm things that sting the other fish?.....have u heard of these by any chance?
And also I have seen on a few threads here that sometimes the coral gives people problems with their levels and such? know ne thing bout that?.....Sorry I am asking a lot of questions just trying to get this all straighten out, don't want Sharon to have to send me more snails anytime soon because I didn't care for them properly.....she would kill me.....
And one more question for ya.....about the eggshells and all that for the calcium well more for the eggshells I guess what exactly do I do with it to feed it to them same thing I do for the other foods tie it in there? I don't want the fish to get it, I am thinking they may choke on some of that stuff????
Thanks a ton!!!

I would not kill you! Any way,the coral really depends on the PH. Snails need a proper Ph of between 7.5 & 8 to maintain a nice healthy shell.If your Ph falls under that level,that is when you need to add the coral to the tank to maintain that level. Most people that use coral as a substrate,are using it to maintain the Ph. Tiny little worms that sting?????Haven't heard that one I'm afraid....Tell me more. The only real problem that coral will give to your Levels & such,is raise your ph.If your snails are in water that's allready the Ph that you need,you won't even need coral. If your ph is lower than 7.5,you can add some to your filter media. Coral is slow to bring the ph up,so if your're testing your water params,you can keep an eye on the ph changes if any from it.If you're keeping your goldies with your snails,they should be okay with the snail ph. Fish can adjust to raising the ph slowly,it's when your Ph comes crashing down -that's when you can have major problems. I personally don't use the eggshells. Between the Liquid Calcium that I add to the water,and the high calcium veggies that I feed the snails,I just don't think the mess of eggshells are worth it. If any of this doesn't make sense,it's because I am at work,& really busy tonight.And tired,Really tired.....

In regards to how to keep your goldfish from eating your snail's food I always fed my snail after I turn the light out on my tank and it seemed to work but then my goldfish decided they wanted to eat my poor snail and I had set up a tank for him but annnnyyywayyy...try turning off your tank light and then feeding your snaily friend.

it was sooooooooo fun to watch my snail eat lettuce!

Just a real quick question on feeding lettuce-I happen to have some left over from dinner tonight.

Do I boil it or just stick in there and try to hold it down with something? They have a "Food Dish" in there but it's mainly for the Beans and Cucumbers.

Thnx.

what kinds of foods are high in calcium though?

ill be listening for replies!

Alot of veggies and fruit high in calcium are listed in the link above in the very first post.

Hey am new to this uh quick question about the calcium from snails can they also get them from sea shells? i heard egg shells could do it but i was wondering if sea shells would b fine i just went and collected a whole bunch from the beach and i was wondering if i could stick some in there for decoration then i thougth that it could also double as calcium for ma snail am not sure however would it change the ph of ma water would ma goldfish do fine with them being there should i disinfect the shells? am a bit confused