I need an idea!

I have an apple snail in with an oranda and a fantail. The goldfish aren't super big (maybe 2.5-3 inches including tail?) and my tank is very roomy (29 gallons) but they are just too greedy for their own good.

I'm having problems getting my snail fed! Previously I've been taking him out of the tank in a little cup of water with an algae wafer and letting him eat while I surf the internet but this means on the days that I'm busier with work/school and don't have time to be on the computer - he's not getting fed.

Also, I'll be leaving for a whole month in the summer while my mom cares for my fish. She's willing to do the feeding and will even do a few water changes but I don't think she's going to want to take my snail out every night to feed her.

Today I cut a little hole out of a plastic cup to make a Snail Feeding Hut and I stuck my snail in there with some wafer and it went really well...until my fish wiggled their way in! Two fish and a snail in a little cup is...

My snail is too big or my fish are too small, I don't know.

My new solution is I'm just going to stick a cup over him while he's eating for maybe twenty minutes a day. Is there anything better I can do besides getting snailie her own tank? gah.


-frustration!-

Yeah this can be a pain and is one of the reasons I moved my snails out of my goldie tank.

The best way I found of feeding them was to drop in a bit of veg attached to a plant weight. The goldies would obviously pick at it but the snails got a decent feed aswell.

I also used to feed the snails if they came close to the surface by pressing a flake on the glass just above the water line, so the fish cant reach it. Be warned though if they can smell it they will still harass and bash the snail about in an attempt to reach it.

IMO ultimately you might be better off setting up something separate for your snailie. I much prefer having mine apart as its peace of mind that they are in a comfortable enviornment and the goldie tank doesnt suffer the excess pressure on the bioload that snail poop produces.

I finally did the same thing, took the snails out of the goldfish tank, as I felt the snails really never got enough to eat. I tried the cup thing with mine and it seems like if they were startled at all they would not eat. All I can suggest is to experiment and see what works best for your guys.

My snails have taken over the kitchen and have their own tank too. The absolutely love fresh red peppers, parsley and dill nuked a bit in the microwave. I toss it all on the bottom on a veggie clip. They also like snail cookies which the fish don't seem to be bothered with. Snails also tend to be active at night so you can try tossing in a few algae wafers when the room is dark and hopefully the snail will get some while the fish are sleeping.

Alright...update on the snail action...

I attatched a cup to the side of my tank with the top just below the water line. I put my snail in with a bit of food. The goldies were curious, but weren't like, attacking the cup and my snail wasn't freaked out at all.

The big test is if he can figure out how to get into and out of the cup. If he does, this will be a super success. I've seen little rectangular tanks that hang into tanks (I don't know what they're for?) so maybe I'll buy one of those so I don't have my jerry-rigged little cup hanging out : )

I left him in the cup a few hours ago while I'm at school, so maybe when I get home he'll be out!

You can also try putting the food on a soap dish holder (the one's with suction cups) attached above the surface so the snail has a safe place to sit as well as eat.

Problem solved

My snail has been sectioned off. The fish store didn't have the tank divider for my size tank but that turned out to be a blessing! So I bought two smaller ones (size Medium, I think) and figured that I could figure out some way to stack them to make them fit in my 29 gallon.

Turns out tank dividers are really ugly, all that blue plastic! So what I did was use the skinny plastic parts (that are supposed to be placed on the 'top' and 'bottom' of the divider) as the sides, stacking one whole one and one cut one on top of each other. I layered the plastic sheets and tied a few spots together to make sure the fish couldn't slip in. Then I used the fat plastic (that is supposed to be the 'side') as the BOTTOM and anchored it with gravel on either side.

I think it's MUCH prettier looking than how it's 'supposed' to look. Why don't they just make clear plastic instead of that blue? Gah.

Anyways, I had this very exciting moment where I just DROPPED his wafer in the tank and didn't have to get wet up to my armpit fishing my snail out to feed him, ha! I win fishies, I win.