Sorry for this really stupid question but yesterday I was in the pet shop and I asked them if they had any snails and they told me " no we don't keep snails because the fish just eat them and it ends up costing us money to keep them." Do fish eat snails?? Sorry I know it is a dumb question. Leah.

Some fish can, especially puffers. Generally, petstores will keep a separate tank for the snails so that they don't get damaged by the fish.

It's kind of silly to think that the petstore hasn't thought of separating the snails from the fish.

Actually overly aggressive goldies - young ones - since they are omnivores will pick at mystery snails and actually eat the meaty head and antennas of the mysteryh snails - I have had this happen in some very young tanks - they are sneaky in that they waited till I was away but the video cam caught them

Thanks for the replies. I know it was a really stupid question but I didn't know if it was the truth. This shop has given me bad advice in the past and I knew I was better asking you guys. Thanks again a real beginner Leah.

No such thing as a stupid question

Chrissy

The only STUPID question is the one left UNASKED!!!!


Snails are fun AND TOTALLY ADDICTIVE!!!

I want a snail, but my sister will kill them if i get one, she hates snails, frogs and so on, so I cant have any of them.just because she doesn't like it, but anyway, my friend got a pair of snails in his aquarium, soon, it become a whoel tnaks of snails! They breed like crazy! he siad hefoudn snail on tank filter everywhere, small baby snail! lol

I actually used to work at a petco and unfortunately, all of our snails would die (most employees would attribute it to aggressive fish). After taking some home right when they came in and having them live, I realized it was all the salt the pet stores add to freshwater tanks that kill them. Often times, as it is store policy, the salt must be left in the tanks...
oh the joy of corporate america...

I noticed that today when I went into the PetCo near me. It makes no sense to me why they would do that considering they are losing money with all the snails that die due to the salt...sometimes companies are weird.

I also informed them of a tank that had fin rot and they were very thankful that I got $10 store credit!! (I did it cause the tank had some cute black moors, but I def don't hate the store credit lol)

Actually it's not just with young goldies. I had a pair of five year old commons that ended up biting a hunk out of the foot of my first female golden apple snail. Normally they were very passive, but when they nipped the antennae and got 'the taste' they were hooked and wanted more.

Some people here have kept snails with goldies sucessfully, and that is a very big accomplishment. It depends on the personality of the goldie really. But, as you pointed out goldies are omnivores and will eat both meat and veggie matter. That means you need to keep an eye for the little snails, the little shelled friend could become dinner at any time.

What is the point of keeping snails? Do they actually do anything or just sit at the bottom all day?

it is the same question which you could ask about fish do they do anything? The snails eat leftover food in the tank and some will nibble on the algae on the glass not all will though. They are aquatic life like fish and you can watch them slide around the tank the are quiet interesting to watch. Hope this helps

Will a new snail change the balance of a tank? My ph is especially high, 8.6. My goldie seems to be really stressed right now, I just changed out some water so I'm hoping that will calm him. I have a 10 gallon with one small goldie and now one small snail. What should I watch for? How important is having space at the top of the tank? I tried it and my filtration slowed down too much.

Calling all snail experts! Input needed...

Your snail needs enough space at the top of the tank to fit his body. They like to get out of the water sometimes, and they need air.

A snail won't change the pH of your tank if your tank is gravel vac'd and water changed weekly. A small snail eats as much as a small goldfish so you have a big load in your tank, you need to watch your water parameters and regular water changes.

Snails also need lots of calcium in the water so that their shells will not erode. Those beautiful apple snail pictures you see on the 'net are ones that are kept in the ideal environment with plenty of good food for them and the proper water.

They will eat algae off the walls only if they are starving, they are not good algae control at all. Adding one to a goldfish tank would be just like adding anothe goldfish, they are very messy and I would recomment at least 3 gallons of water per apple snail.

I don't like putting them in with goldies, most goldies will nip at their anennae which will cause stess, injury, and disease. Also, you have to be careful when you medicate your tank, snail cannot handle most meds.