This is my black mystery snail. The tube coming from under its shell, on the right, is its siphon tube that it uses to breath.

Aquatic snails are a great addition to any aquarium. They are generally easy to care for and are very interesting to watch. Their water parameters are not very strict and they can handle minor changes. They tend to be hardy, and do not add a lot of biological load to your aquarium. They add another level of aquatic life to the ecosystem of your tank: invertebrates.

Snails range greatly in size. With the correct care, mystery snails and ramshorn snails can become as big as a golf ball. Some of the smaller snails only get up to half an inch big. Some species of snails reproduce extremely quickly and can overrun your aquarium. Their numbers need to be controlled or they can really harm the balance of your aquarium.

Snails do not require a lot. They need clean water, just like fish. A pH from 6 to 7.5 is acceptable. Keep in mind, however, that a lower pH is acidic. This acidic environment can degrade a snails shell, which is made of calcium. So, don't let the pH drop too low. Salinity and Copper are two substances that should be completely avoided because these are toxic to aquatic snails. Contrary to popular belief, the snails do need to be feed specifically. In a tank with fish, the snail will not be able to compete for food. The snail could die if it is not fed separately. Look father down this page for "snail jello", a creative, homemade snail food recipe. Not only can the snails starve, but a bad diet results in bad shell health. A snail (unlike a hermit crab) cannot survive without its shell. So, any cracks or thin spots in the shell can be life threatening to the snail. this is why it is very important to have calcium available in the water. The snail can reinforce its shell with this calcium. This can be done by adding cuttlebone to aquarium. Cuttlebone is intended for birds, but it is safe for in an aquarium. It comes cheap, in big pieces. Just break a piece off and weigh it down with a rock. Your snails will come and just sit on it, absorbing the calcium. They will also ingest/eat it directly. Some snails are also very good for eating/cleaning up algae.

Pond Snail

Ramshorn Snail

Trumpet Snail

Different Snails

• Pond Snails: Most people get these on accident when they buy live plants. These are small snails, the biggest get 3/4 of an inch long. There shells are a football shaped size, and they do not have a trapdoor. Their shell ranges is color from silver to brown/black. They have 2 tentacles. These snails reproduce quickly and can overrun an aquarium. They have also been known to eat up live plants, and can really desecrate a planted tank. These do not require special/added food. They really just eat extra algae or left-over food.
• Mystery/Apple Snail: These are commonly bought for 2-4$. These snails have a few small swirls at the end of their shell, but are a very round shape. They have a trapdoor and can normally get up to golf-ball size. Some of the massive ones have gotten as big as a tennis ball. They come in black, golden/yellow, purplish, or ivory color. The ivory snails are harder to find. These snails' shell's can change color, if the diet changes drastically. These snails have 2 small tentacles, directly beside their mouth. They also have 2 longer tentacles above the mouth, but below their eyes. These longer tentacles can be nipped at by fish. If one is bitten off, it will grow back, just not to its former length. These snail reproduce sexually, however, a female mystery snail can preserve male reproductive material for up to a year. The female stores the sperm, waiting for favorable conditions. Once the snail is in a favorable environment it lays its eggs. Mystery snails lay there eggs outside to water, normally on the hood. This is why the water level needs to half a few inches of air, before the hood. If you don't want offspring, simply scrape the eggs off after 2-3. Makes sure they are somewhat dried out, otherwise they are gooey. If you want offspring, makes sure the eggs stay moist. The will turn a pinkish color and should hatch in about 14 days. A female will usually lay the eggs in clumps (hundreds) at night. Another really interesting adaptation of mystery snails is their lung. Mystery snails have gills, and do breath underwater, but not indefinitely. They originate from tropical areas, where they water has very low oxygen levels. So they evolved and they now have a lung, and strange siphon. This siphon in a flap of skin that the snail stretches out, to the surface of the water. The little tube breaks the water surface, and the snail can be seen heaving as it breathes. This is why it is very important to have about an inch or airspace between the waterline and hood. Also, this snail could very well exit the tank completely, so make sure the lid is tight to make sure the snail will not leave the aquarium. Mystery snails are good algae eaters when they are younger, but tend to grow out of it. They do not specifically eat live plants, but they can hurt some soft-leaved plants, if they are not fed properly. These snails really need a supplementary diet to stay healthy.
• Nerite Snails: these are small, up to 1inch, snails. They have small round shells, and come in huge variety of colors and patterns. They are very popular in aquariums because they readily eat, and survive on, algae, but do not tend to attack live plants. They also only rarely reproduce in an aquarium, so there are little problems with overpopulation. Nerite snails, however, is a very broad name. There are nerite snails for freshwater, some for brackish, and some for saltwater. Obviously, putting a saltwater snail in a freshwater tank will result in a high mortality rate. It can be difficult to find proper freshwater nerites. Also, freshwater nerites originate from fast-flowing rivers. These snails tend to be less hardy. They like aquariums with a lot of water-flow and oxygenation. They do not support high nitrate levels, like some other snails.
• Ramshorn Snails: These snails, as there name suggests have a curled shell. The common color is brown, but European red ramshorn snails are still out on the market. Their shells can also have interesting strips that run along their length. These snails also need to breath air and will go to the surface. The store some air in their shell, so they do not have to stay at the surface. In this way, they show you if your tank's oxygen is depleted (all the ramshorn snails will stay near the surface). These snails all actively eat algae, but are known to cause moderate damage to live plants. The also produce more poo than other snails, and breed repeatedly. They can also overpopulate your tank. They vary greatly in size. Some stay under an inch in diameter, but some can grow to the sized of a tennis ball.
• Trumpet Snails: these snails have shells shaped like cornucopias. Their color range is in the browns. Trumpet snails usually get to about 1 inch long. They are very hard to find, and are mostly likely acquired by accident as they hitch a ride on some live plants. Most aquarium store that have them will not sell them and just throw them out as pest snails. These are pretty good algae eaters and do not desecrate plants. Some species are egg-laying while others are live-bearing. They can reproduce in tanks, but usually do not get out of control. These snails are said to turn over the substrate of aquariums. During the day the stay hidden in the substrates and at night they emerge to eat. Males tend to be larger than females.
• Trapdoor snails: These snails are like mystery snail, but their swirls stick out more, and make them look very pointed. As their name implies, they also have a trapdoor. They survive well in cooler temperatures, and will do well in ponds. They reproduce sexually, and are live-bearing. They are slow reproducers and will not overpopulate a tank. They can get up to 2 inches big. They are good algae eaters and are not known for eating live plants.

Trapdoor Snail

Nerite Snail

Mystery Snail

How to get rid of pest snails

Some snails can really reproduce quickly and begin to overpopulate a tank. Not only is this unaesthetic, but it increases the biological load on your aquarium. This can be very unhealthy for your tanks ecosystem. It is therefore very important to monitor the levels of snails in your aquarium and act accordingly so that the levels do not get out of control.

The best way to not let snail populations get out of control is to not get unwanted snails in the first place. This means inspecting live plants before adding them to the aquarium. You can also put the plants in a bucket, with water, and treat the water with a copper-based fertilizer. Copper is toxic to snails so any snails on the plants will die, and then the plants can added to the aquarium. This may seem harsh, but it is important to make sure snails do not overrun a tank.

If you already have snails, you could add the fertilizer to the aquarium itself, and kill all the invertebrates in the main tank. However, if you have a larger snail (mystery snail, ramshorn snail) that you do not want to kill, this is not a good idea. Also, once dead, all these snails will simply begin to decompose in the aquarium. this could also harm the tank's ecosystem by spiking the nitrates. The gravel will also then be littered with snail shells.

You could also feed the snails to your fish, if they are small enough. Clown loaches and puffers will willingly eat snails whole, regardless of size. Goldfish are also known to be good snail eaters. Almost all fish would eat crushed snails. Simply take a spoon, spatula, or other desired weapon and crush the snails shell. Once its shell is damaged most fish will gobble it up. This can even incite some fish into eating other, small snail whole.If your fish will not eat them, do not flush them down a drain. The could get out into the wild and reproduce, harming a natural ecosystem. To get rid of them, put them in the freezer for 10 minutes and they will hopefully die quickly.

If the snails cannot be easily seen, you can also go snail "fishing". Cut a bottle in half. Take the bottom half and make a hole in the bottom. run a string through the hole so that by pulling the string the bottle is moved. Put some food into the bottle and lower it into the tank early one evening, be sure to turn the lights off. 2-3 hours later, turn the lights on. There should be a bunch of snails in the bottle, eating the food. Pull the bottle up using the string and discard of the snails.

Most snails problems come from overpopulation. Many snails reproduce by laying eggs. Spend a few minutes each day looking around your tank for eggs. If you find any, net them out and discard them. Pond snail eggs tend to look transparent, and little opaque dots.

Most importantly, once you have the infestation under control, make sure you do not introduce any more snails into the aquarium.

Clown Loach

Snail jello

Some of the bigger snail species cannot simply survive off of algae, or live plants. They need extra nutrition to stay happy and health. A popular, homemade recipe for snail food, that uses gelatin, is called snail jello. This recipe basically consists of a bunch of fresh vegetables, baby food, and calcium additives blended together, heated, and then solidified.

Basically, you want to find vegetables that are high in calcium, but low in phosphate. The calcium will help form a healthy snail shell. Phosphate encourages algae growth, so it needs to be limited. You can find lists comparing the calcium to phosphate online, at other sources. Some good ones are: collard greens, spinach, and zucchini. The baby food should just be a small jar. Look for 4% or higher calcium and low sodium/sugar. You can also add any fish food. I like to add some flakes and a bunch of veggie and catfish sinking wafers. I just scrape some calcium out of cuttlebone and add it to the mixture. Some people have had success with Jurassi- reptical powder without phosphorous. You also need a packet of gelatin, with no sugar and no coloring.

So, the process of making the snail jello: open the baby food, and pour it into a blender. Clean all your vegetables, and chop them up. Toss them into the blender as well. Use a meat cleaver or similar device and to break up the sinking wafers and then put them into the blender as well. Add one teaspoon of Jurassi-repitcal powder or some powder scraped from a cuttlebone. Turn the blender on high. Add a little bit of hot water to mixture so that the mixture gets a consistent texture. Pour the mixture into a microwavable bowl and microwave the mixture for 1-2 minutes, or until warm. Then GENTLY, SLOWLY add a little bit of gelatin and stir slowly and evenly. Repeat until all the gelatin has been used. Do this carefully and slowly to avoid forming clumps, or airbubbles. Airbubble will make the jello float, and make it inaccessible to the snails. Once the gelatin has been added, put the mixture into a Tupperware container and put it in a fridge for 2-3 hours. After 2-3 hours, take the jello out and cut it into small blocks. Now you can keep in the freeze almost indefinitely, or for up to one month in fridge. Once you are ready to fed your snails, take the jello out and let a piece thaw out before adding it to the tank. After a few hours in the tank, anything left should be removed. Keep in mind that snails are somewhat nocturnal and feed during the night.