Snails

i was thinking about getting a few snails from our pond and adding them to the axi tank but I thought I should check how big they should be so my little guy (20cm) doesn't eat them. Also do they need any maitenance and what do i do if they breed cos we have millions of them in the pond and increasing and im slightly concerned about not finding eggs or my axi eating baby snails and hurting himself. Any advice?

Don't be afraid...

I asked about snails in the forum, and everyone agreed not to add snails in the tank. However, my aunt has fishes at home and she claims that snails are the best glass tank cleaner she has. Even more, don't worry about a snail being eaten by you axie, because is it said (i saw it in this forum) that if that happens, nothing matters... I'm going to add some snails to my axies tank, but I know I'll need to put some of them in another tank to procreate, unless my axies will have supper for the rest of their lives....:ha:
Try it and then you tell me...:wink:

(A recomendation, try to add the aple-shaped snails, which are the good ones for cleaning, the common ones will tend to eat you water plants)

mystry snails are fine too. my axies have eaten some smaller snails, they seam to suck them ont of the shell. if you want them to survive get them about the size of a soft drink bottle lid at the smallest. my big ones do well in my tank, and if they breed it dosnt matter if the babies get eaten. in my experience apple snails will die if your water temp is too cold.

snails

I used to have snails in my axy tank. They were quite good. Just if you have fish i herd not to put them into the tank as desies from the fish can get onto the snails and then onto the axy's. The snails that i had were also very small, so some of them got eaten...

ive posted a few weeks ago now that my tank randomly produced tiny snails and basically my axie ate them, so im thinking its a nice diet lol

after this i wen to the pet store and got a "golden snail?" i cant remember the name, and it was hidden in its shell for a good 3 days, then when it came out, it cleaned 1/4 of one glass side of the tank and then died. i didnt know it died so i left it for a couple of days thinking it was hiding again, and heck if i know, but when i took it out the snail inside was rock hard. so i threw him. mind you, it stunk like hell and im suprised it didnt disrupt my water parameters or my axies health...

im never getting another snail again, only because i think theyre too fragile. and if the tank produces snails, then excellent!

In my opinion there are some things to consider before adding snails to your tank.

They should either be small enough to be easily eaten by axolotls or they should be too large to be caught at all. Have a look at this picture:

This Goldi sucked in a snail - small enough to fit into its mouth but too big to go down its throat. And even too big to spit it out by itself, the snail had to be removed manually. This does not happen all the time, but it may happen now and then.

The next point is that it maybe hard for older snails to adjust to new water (from pool to tank, from tank to tank etc.). This often is much more easier for younger snails. And when a big old snail dies in your tank (as mentioned by sezz) it can foul the water if not removed (depending on the size of the tank and the snail it may become toxic but not necessarily).

And my last point: Snails caugt in the wild can be infected by parasites (f.i. nematodes). Not all of them got these parasites, but some do and it is hard to determine wheter or not this particular snail carries parasites.

My solution is to keep snails in a separate tank and to feed the offspring to axolotls.

Daniel

Daniel, what happened to Goldi? Was it able to spit out the snail? May I have permission to use this photo on Caudata Culture? (Check your message box.)

I have various small pond snails in most of my tanks. They arrive with live plants and I don't have the heart to kill them. But I would never intentionally go out of my way to put snails in with axolotls. There are some small risks involved (the things Daniel mentioned, injury by closure of the operculum, etc.), so I just wouldn't do it.

The Goldie was not able to spit out the snail by itself (no way forth, no way back...). The snail has been removed with a tweezer (by twisting it).
The axolotl did not eat for some days, his mouth was swollen. But now it is okay, he is eating again and well...but hopefully it is more cautious the next time. All big snakes have been removed from the tank.
Most of the snails I have in my tank do not have any operculum - principally Physidae and Planorbarius (I don't know the english expression for these snails right not...).

Daniel

Hi Panpan, I've got some snails in with my Axolotls - they hitched a ride on the pond weed. They're only small, about 3mm or so and I haven't seen any of the young or adult Axolotls bother with them. But saying that, I do remove them when I clean the tank/tubs out.