Mystery Snails

Snails in the aquarium, not everyone’s cup of tea - they are a pest clogging the filters etc. but this is not always the case. Enter the world of the mystery snails and you will be amazed with the variety of different coloured shells (golds, reds, browns, blues, striped), their strange antics when they are coming up for air is fascinating to watch, keepers soon fall in love with them.

So what are mystery snails?

There is a lot of debate as to the actual classification of these creatures, they can have various different names – apple snails, ivory snails, Inca snail, day & night snails, the list goes on but the most common variety sold on the market are usually classified as being Pomacea Bridgessii and these all belong to the family of Ampullariidae (sometimes referred to as Pilidae) which contains over a hundred different members.

Far from being a pest these snails can be a bonus to your tank as they will clear up any rotting vegetation from your plants, plus any surplus food from the substrate, and they will earn their keep by clearing some algae from the glass (apart from hair algae).

My own experience with these creatures has been with the Golden Apple variety and believe it or not after a while I could recognize each one by its behavioral patterns, being mostly sluggish in the day but coming into their own from evening onwards.

There is a general rule for the amount of snails per tank usually 1 per 2.5 gallons of water (dependant on the filtration and aeration provided in the set up) but be warned, a tight fitting lid is a must as they can and will leave the water at times so any gaps where pipe work enters through the lid should be sealed and small ventilation holes provided. They can produce a lot of waste so under stocking would be better than vice versa.

Some keepers have kept these in coldwater setups but they much prefer the warmer water provided with a tropical tank. Normally they are sold in the pet shops at about 1 inch or under in size but each individual can grow to a size of 2.5 inches if kept in optimum conditions. There is one species of theses snails (Pomacea maculata sometimes referred to as Ampullarius gigas) that can grow to an astounding 6 inches.

Average lifespan if kept healthy & well fed is normally about 2 years.

Specific Needs:

pH levels need to be kept to at least 6.5 -7 as below this can cause an erosion of the shell and stunted growth, however there are also on the market several calcium supplements that will aid shell development. I did use these on a regular basis & it seemed to keep them happy although I have no scientific proof to hand that it was vital to their needs.

The water should be well aerated with an air stone or an air driven sponge filter but this is where these snails can do their party piece! If there is insufficient oxygen in the water they have a branchial respiration system as well as possessing a gill. They will head towards the surface of the water and extend a siphon out to take in external oxygen – a truly amazing sight! It has been known for one of these tubes to extend anything up to 4 inches. This system of breathing is believed to have evolved to create a defense from predatory birds grabbing them once they leave the safety of the water. How true this is I cannot say but it seems to make sense to me.

Never fill your tank completely; with their need for plenty of oxygen at least leave a 2 inch gap from the top of the tank to the water level inside.

Last but not least keep your water healthy & stable, as they produce a lot of waste, ample filtration should be provided.

As with all invertebrates they will not tolerate any form of copper based medication so if kept in a community tank either remove before treating the tank or quarantine the infected fish to treat.

Do not keep them with tank mates likely to harass them.

Feeding:

These snails will eat algae, rotting plant matter, leftover fish food i.e. flake or pellet. I used to give mine Hikari algae wafers and the occasional treat of brine shrimp pellets. They can also be fed spinach, blanched greens. However be warned if they are kept in the community tank and food is scarce they will attack healthy plant life so keep them well fed.

Breeding:

Unlike most snails these are not hermaphroditic (asexual), you will need at least 1 male and 1 female for breeding success. The male has a penal tube similar to its breathing siphon tube that is used purely for this purpose. When they pair up the male will insert the tube under the females shell and enter her body. It is quite often that you will see the female carrying the male about on the back of her shell. Eggs are normally laid at night out of the water and in a clutch averaging anywhere from 200-600 eggs at a time.
In my breeding setup I used a 10 gallon tank, filling it up halfway.

For aeration, filtration a double sponge filter was added and a temp of 26°C was set. I placed the tank in a dimly lit place adding a watertight lid to prevent any escapees.

Eggs once laid would be expected to hatch out after 2 weeks sometimes 3 weeks but the young couldn’t be easier to feed, basically they were given the same diet as the adults.

As a matter of habit I doubled the water changes to reduce any risk of mortalities but these were normally very few, and to be honest, a newly hatched snail is not the easiest thing to find if it does not survive.

I hope this article has convinced you of the benefit of keeping this creature-trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Pictures

Links to related articles located outside of aqua-fish.net

Feel free to visit Care of Ornamental Snails at firsttankguide.net too!
Apple Snails and Bettas at nippyfish.net!

Mystery Snails

has been viewed times since June 30, 2009.

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snail's on: February 24, 2009, 9:15 am wrote

One day we bought some live plants for the aquarium and in a couple of weeks of having the plants we spotted some creatures on our glass, we went back to the store and looked all they had was the Black, White mystery snails so that is what I think I have. I currently have them in a 1 gallon tank and am trying to breed them (4 of them). They are very small and I think I need to use one of my bigger aquarium, in my big aquarium we suddenly got a outbreak of them.

Thanks for the good info :) .

Katie on: April 15, 2009, 5:05 am wrote

I was wondering if anyone knows whether these Mystery Snails can coexist with an African dwarf frog. I have a 4 gallon tank with a ADF and was thinking of getting a snail as well.

Charlotte on: April 25, 2009, 9:13 am wrote

Katie, I have two African dwarf frogs and a gold mystery snail they work great together in the tank and don't bother each other.

Ash on: May 17, 2009, 3:12 am wrote

I was wondering if I could keep a snail in a 1 gallon tank with aeration, with water changes every few days.

Answer by admin: Yes. Bear in mind that these snails need minerals to be present in the water, otherwise their shells suffer and snails die sooner.

Katie on: June 17, 2009, 11:47 am wrote

I am trying to figure out what kind of snails I bought, as I recently found two new ones in the tank. I never saw any kind of egg clutch, and I have my tank open at least once a day to feed the frog. The snails look like pictures of mystery snails that I have found, but I am unsure. Any advice or knowledge would be appreciated.

Answer by admin: If no cocoon has been created, then I'm almost sure that your snails are Ramshorn snails. They look similar to Mystery snails in the beginning, but they stop growing (and start reproducing themselves very fast). once they reach 1cm in length. Ramshorn snails can be introduced into the tank when buying new plants, or when moving decorations from one fish tank to another (assume that plants or decorations contain eggs of Ramshorns).

Niki on: June 25, 2009, 10:44 am wrote

We purchased white, black, blue, and yellow mystery snails a few months ago. We now have a many babies in the tank, I can identify the blue and black babies... But the majority of the snails look like they are a shiny olive green color (almost metallic). We were told that mystery snails don't combine colors when they mate, but that one color is dominant. I just have no idea how else that color could have occurred though. If someone has experienced a similar situation or knows how that happened that would be great.

PS - Will pet stores take babies from anyone... I have well over a hundred babies, and they are beautiful and growing well, but that is a bit much and I would love to see them go to another good home as well. Thank you so much for your help!!!!

Answer by admin: Pet stores should accept these. Especially those small ones.

Dave on: July 15, 2009, 10:14 am wrote

We just brought a new black mystery snail home from Petsmart two days ago. We dropped a carrot chip into the small tank it shared with a leopard danio and a guppie. Tonight, we found the danio dead next to the carrot. Its body was mauled and had one eye missing. Could this be the work of a killer snail?

Answer by admin: These snails won't kill a fish. When a fish is dead, laying at the bottom, it's body can be eaten by snails, or by other fish too.

joe on: July 25, 2009, 5:15 am wrote

My golden snail always floats on the top but is still alive, is this normal?

Answer: It isn't anything unusual, however it may point to aeration problems. Mystery snails usually crawl the tank in all directions, they prefer substrate the most as the substrate contains most uneaten food. However, being at the surface is OK as long as your snail lives.

Bri on: July 31, 2009, 11:06 pm wrote

I have several cocoons in my tank but only the one mystery snail, is that normal?

Answer: If you introduced a snail into the tank in the past few days, then it's completely normal. One must have at least two specimens to let them reproduce.

sakura1 on: October 3, 2009, 5:34 am wrote

I have one mystery snail, thanks and is it OK if I only have 2 inches of air for my snail to come up and breed? And I thought they could breed asexually but didn't want to and wanted to breed sexually? And also can an ivory mystery snail get along with another say black mystery snail? Would they breed?

Answer: 2 inches may be OK, it all depends on how comfortable your snails feel. Sometimes 10 inches may be insufficient as there are also other factors that affect breeding. pH and carbonate hardness are perhaps the most important ones.

There is no problem regarding breeding ivory and black ones. They should breed and their babies will be of different colours combinations.

Stella on: December 4, 2009, 10:58 pm wrote

On Tuesday, we brought home a black mystery snail and a female betta from PetSmart. I had worried that the betta would attack the snail, so we made sure they were pretty equal in size. On Friday, we went to feed the fish and it was no where to be found... completely gone from a sealed tank with small ventilation holes.

My only thought is that the snail must have eaten the fish. (Either that, or our sweet little fish has been the victim of alien abduction.)

Is this even possible?

I want to get a new betta fish, should I get a larger one? Or should I just let my snail live along happily by itself?

Answer: Your fish could be eaten by these snails if only it was dead already. Mystery snails cannot catch and eat any fish that swims, is healthy, and thus can escape.

You can buy another specimen, of course. Make sure it's healthy.

Camden on: December 9, 2009, 7:47 am wrote

When taking water samples from the Tennessee river, I accidentally got a snail, which I think is a mystery snail. I can't release it back into the Tennessee, as i live in Gerogia... Could I keep it as a pet or something? And if so, what kind of things would he need?

Answer: You can keep anything that is not prohibited by law, and most likely it's not against law to keep Mystery Snails in aquariums. These snails don't need anything special; Good water quality is recommended, and feeding from time to time. They can breathe the atmospheric air, so oxygenation isn't necessary. Use lid to keep them in the aquarium as they're known to like escapes from tanks :) . Apart from these basic needs, practically everything else regarding care is mentioned within this article already.

Jon on: December 15, 2009, 9:30 am wrote

Recently my mystery snails have given me 3 egg clutches. One has already begun to hatch, and I'd like to move the babies to a bigger tank. How long do I need to wait till they get big enough to easily transfer? Also, I'd like to move the other 2 clutches to the new tank, so how can I go about doing that?

Thanks! ^.^

Answer: If newborns are already crawling the tank, then you can move them to another aquarium at any time. Make sure that the conditions are similar or preferably same. You can even use the water from original aquarium.

Regarding moving cocoons: I wouldn't do this. Rather wait until small snails get out of it.

Krueger on: December 17, 2009, 9:05 am wrote

Hey, my mystery snails laid some clutches recently and since then I've had my aquarium light off in fear of it drying the eggs out. So I'm wondering, should I keep the light off for the eggs or will it not affect them? Not sure if it'd help to know but I believe the snails are laying them at night when I have the aquarium light off. Cheers.

Answer: Turning the light on and off shouldn't affect if new snails are born or not. I tested it myself in the past.

Finnican on: December 20, 2009, 4:24 am wrote

I have mystery snails and they have recently laid 4 clutches, and these aren't the first, and every time they fall in to the water. There are two on the glass, above water, and two fell into the water during the night. Are the eggs suppose to fall into the water? Every egg clutch I have had has done that. Is that a normal thing? I'm so confused and lost about it. Is there something wrong with my tank that they are falling? Also, the longest the eggs have stayed up on the glass is almost three weeks and I have read by day 10 you can see things moving inside or they change color.... they never changed color and I don't ever remember something moving inside. Is there something wrong with the eggs?

Answer: The clutches shouldn't fall down, they should stay attached to where they were laid. You can try replacing them by razor blade in order to keep them above water surface. Once you see small snails coming out, move them to the water. You should keep the clutches near aquarium, preferably near place where they've been laid in order to keep conditions such as humidity and temperature stable.

Tracy on: December 24, 2009, 1:23 pm wrote

My mystery snails recently laid 2 clutches. We believe the first clutch had already hatched when we noticed it, as we found babies in our filter. I'm fairly certain these are not ramshorn snails. We moved all the babies we could find to our ten gallon hospital tank, which is circulated with a power head made for a 30 gallon tank. Could this be too turbulent?

I'm afraid to leave the babies in my tank, I have 3 very large goldfish and a dojo loach who would make quick meals of them.

Thanks for any help ( :

Answer: In my experience you can control the speed of flow on almost every filter. This is why a filter designed for a 30 gallon aquarium can be used in an aquarium of 10 gallons.

Melissa on: December 24, 2009, 3:13 pm wrote

This is a response to what the admin said about Niki on: June 25, 2009, 10:44 am. That the pet stores would take the baby mystery snails. I tried to do that with petco but they do not accept anything for their birds or fish sections. I am not sure about the other chains but a locally owned pet shop might. They took a Gold Gorumi from me so I am thinking they will take the baby snails.

Jen on: February 23, 2010, 8:16 am wrote

I have a blue mystery snail and it laid eggs and I read in in this article that they need a male and a female to reproduce so should I just throw the clutch away? Is it normal for a mystery snail to just lay eggs without having a male to fertilize them?

Answer: I haven't seen it yet even though I kept Mystery Snails for about 4 years. I would remove the clutch.

cjay on: March 7, 2010, 7:42 am wrote

I just want to breed 2 mystery snails, but want to get about 8 of them, will they still breed?

Answer: Yes, they will breed. Actually, all 8 will breed if they're healthy.

Maddie on: March 29, 2010, 12:06 pm wrote

Is it normal for mystery snail egg clutches to dry out? What happens when they hatch? Will they crawl out of my fish tank? Will all of them survive? Why are my mystery snail eggs orange, not white?

Answer:

1) Yes, the eggs can dry out. It is normal too.
2) When they hatch, they will start crawling the tank. They will start eating what's on the bottom.
3) Newborns don't use to crawl out of the tank.
4) Not all of the newborns will survive.
5) Because you bought the orange colour variation.

Alison on: April 1, 2010, 5:25 pm wrote

I have 2 Mystery Snails; an ivory and a gold one. The ivory one has been in it's shell for almost a week now. And the gold one comes out once in awhile but later in the day I'll find it back on the bottom of my tank along with my ivory one. I haven't tried to pick them up and smell them, I think that's kind of gross to be honest. But I'd really like to know if there's something wrong with them. I think it might be my fishes too. But it wouldn't make any sense because I have 10 neon tetras and aren't they supposed to be shy and community fishes? But I'm really starting to believe that my ivory one is dead. And the other day I saw one of my neons trying to eat the testicles on my gold snail.

Answer: When snails become apathetic like in your case, it's a sign of soon death. Nothing more, nothing less. They can be simply too old or can be sick. Once they die, you'll notice that the shell is empty or you will find parts of snails floating at the top. If you have Ramshorn snails in the tank too, you will notice that Ramshorns "visit" shells of Mystery snails and eat what's left there.

Britney on: April 9, 2010, 7:06 am wrote

I've had a yellow mystery snail for four months now and he/she isn't as yellow as he was when I got him/her, it looks like the shell is degrading a little. Though I don't have calcium supplements, is there an alternative I could use?

Also I bought a black mystery snail today and I'm hoping it will breed with my other snail. I'm glad this website shows that they lay their eggs out of water and I hadn't known that before. This is a relief because I keep my snail with a Gold Piranha. (my golden one has lived with the piranha with no problem, which led me to buy another seeing as their the only species my piranha wont tear to bits.) I was worried if they laid eggs my piranha would eat them. Do you think the yellow and black snail will breed although the differences in color?

Also I bought an API 'Stress Coat' liquid that is not only a damaged skin and fin repair, but also removes chlorines and neutralizes chloarmines, do you think this could be the cause of my yellow snail's shell deteriation?

When baby snails come out of their eggs are their shells hard? I'm scared that my piranha will eat them if they hatch then go into the water.

Sorry for so many questions, I'm just inexperienced with the snails and I would like for them to be happy in my aquarium.

Answer:

1) You can put shells into the aquarium. You don't have to worry what shells you're going to use; both, freshwater and marine are OK! If there is not enough calcium in your aquarium, the shells will decompose as time goes by and they'll introduce calcium into the water. Often when calcium is missing, people watch how snails "suck" the shells.

2) As it's perhaps already mentioned above, colours don't matter in breeding. As long as it's a mystery snail, they'll breed.

3) Chlorine remover shouldn't affect the shell.

4) Shells of babies aren't hard, but they shouldn't be eaten. They're simply not tasty in my experience. Only fish such as Pufferfish or Paradise fish eat them, but the shells stay uneaten. Feed your Piranha well and snails won't be touched.

Good luck!

Britney on: April 13, 2010, 7:12 am wrote

Thank you, you answered most of my questions except for the calcium problem. I already have tons of shells in the tank that came from florida on the beach. I boiled them and put them in the tank a long time ago, if they're in there then why is my yellow snail's shell getting degraded?

Also I've never seen them stay on a shell for too long as if they needed the shells.

P.S. I'm really glad I've found this site it has been VERY helpful :)

Answer: That's really interesting, because shells usually need Calcium. In your case it's possible that the snails miss another element. If possible, try other foods and wait to see the result.

Sometimes the snails are simply weak (due to breeding them without taking care of genetics) and they simply don't grow, die too early, have problems with shells and so on.

I personally bought snails who lived 3 years and then I bought other ones who did it to 1 year of age and then died (same aquarium, same conditions).

max on: April 25, 2010, 6:44 pm wrote

Hey, I brought new mystery gold snail and it's not moving at all. In the pet shop it was moving and when I put it in my tank it's not moving at all, how come? I could see it hiding in it's shell, how come, please help.

Answer: It is usual, the acclimatisation process should take up to 2 weeks. Also the snail may feel miserable because of fish that may be harassing it, or due to water chemistry change.

jake on: May 9, 2010, 1:13 pm wrote

Well, I have a betta fish and I want to get a friend for it or something and I'm thinking of a Mystery Snail. Will it be okay to put a mystery snail with my Betta?

Thank =)

Answer: No problem at all.

Melisa on: May 25, 2010, 6:04 am wrote

I have three apple snails, and 13 commet fish. The snails laid two egg clutches and i was just wondering if the commet fish will eat the baby snails when they hatch and fall into the water. If you could let me know that would be great!

Answer: It's hard to tell. It depends on how big your fish are. Even small Angelfish or Guppy would try to eat such snails. However, I'm almost sure that some snails should survive no matter if fish are going to try their taste.

Bonnie on: June 29, 2010, 12:13 am wrote

My granddaughter has a 5 gal. tank with some guppies and 2 mystery snails. It has an outside filter that "water-falls" into the tank. There are both live and plastic plants, rock, and a few odd shells. The fish and snails are active and seem healthy. However, it seems to be overwhelmed with algae. I have a product "Tetra Algae Control" that shouldn't be used with Crustacians - crabs, shrimp, and crayfish are specified. Will use of this product harm the snails? I am try trying to avoid breaking the tank down if at all possible. Thanks for the help.

Answer: If the description says it shouldn't be used with Crustacian, I wouldn't use it in an aquarium with snails.

You're trying to get rid of algae, but instead you should get rid of the reason why algae grow in the tank too fast. Please, use site search that is available at the top of this page, type "algae" into that box, press ENTER and you'll get a list of articles that already discuss algae-related problems on this website. Perhaps it's just too much sunlight, perhaps it's caused by high levels of ammonia in the tank.

By using "algae killer" products you will only get rid of algae, but later it will outgrow the tank. At the moment algae grow because there are right conditions for it to grow. Change the conditions, then it will be OK.

wilmy on: July 3, 2010, 6:35 am wrote

I was just wondering if it's normal for the snail shell to look a little white. It's kind of like if something is eating the shell? I have a feeling that they are sick. Or is it that they are growing?

Answer: I've had the same problem. After adding more calcium to the tank the problem disappeared (it took a couple of months though). Calcium is present in sea shells, freshwater shells.

kristen on: July 16, 2010, 10:20 am wrote

I have 3 mystery snails. Last night I cleaned my stones. Afterwards I saw a tiny snail sliding over the rocks. I am amazed that it survived, I never saw any eggs at the top and I never saw them mating. I can't find the baby now, I think it has been sucked up the filter. I spent hours looking at my fish tank and there was definitely no clutch of eggs. The mystery snail mystery...

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