# Omg help... My betta fish killed my apple snail?



## brennalynne (Mar 27, 2014)

Peggy, my golden apple / mystery snail hasn't been very active lately but tonight I came home to find her shell empty. I thought maybe she was just hiding deep within it but nope. It was literally empty. I looked around and found her dead body a good FIVE inches away. There is no way she came out of that shell and died on her own. 

I think my betta fish killed her! It's so strange because that snail has been in there for five months and there are two others. I have no idea what the hell just happened. I don't even know what to do with the apple snail body! It's a white mass on the bottom of my tank. I checked for ammonia immediately and didn't find much but there was some. 

I'm so confused right now, my fish was acting a little bit more aggressive today than usual but enough to rip a snail out of its shell and kill it? It wasn't the biggest or largest snail either. I'm so lost, any explanations or ANYTHING?


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## Rosebud975 (Mar 26, 2014)

I'm very sorry for your loss, a similar thing happened with my betta, bettas are really unpredictable so it is very likely your betta decided to kill it perhaps for food, boredom or just aggression or play. I remember with my beta putting a little pond snail in, my normally docile betta went bonkers! He nudged it, flared at it and then ripped it out of its shell and ate it. There was no reason why, he just did it. In the wild they're insectivores but I've never heard of them eating snails. Bettas are curious so perhaps he just decided to bite it, however the snail being the smallest and weakest points to the fact that your betta intended to do some damage, or maybe it was just coincidental. Like I said bettas are unpredictable, some bettas it depends on their personality, does your little guy have any records of being aggresive? For the body I would use a siphon to get it out, a dead creature will seriously mess up water parameters.


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## brennalynne (Mar 27, 2014)

It's so strange, he didn't eat it, not that I could tell. My guy really doesn't have a history of aggression, he was pretty chill about having tank mates. I put Peggy the snail in there around december I think and he poked at her shell once or twice and then moved on. Same thing when I added the other two snails in there. 

I was reading up on reasons snails would be completely out of their shell like that and it mentioned there was an important muscle that might have been damaged and she could have been dying (they can't survive without it or their shell) and maybe she was hanging out (she kinda drooped out of her shell sometimes) more than usual - or maybe she fell out on her own which can also happen apparently - and maybe he just moved her around once she had fallen out on her own.

However, he was acting more aggressive than usual yesterday (nipping at me a lot more often and flaring a lot too) so maybe that had something to do with it.

Thanks for responding <3 I really appreciate it. I was in panic mode last night. I took the dead snail out in fear of my water parameters getting dangerous for Rudy and then went to bed hoping everyone would be alive in the morning.

What should I do with the snail body do you think? I'll keep the shell probably but I don't know if the body is a garbage, organics or other kind of thing.


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## Rosebud975 (Mar 26, 2014)

Your welcome  I would dispose of the body by putting it in the trash wrapped in a bit if tissue just in case if any germs or bacteria from the dead snail are there. You don't want that to spread! In my goldfish tank, my comets often kill my pond snails and leave the shells. It looks quite nice at first but eventually goes all flaky and gross, not sure if it's great for the water. But I've only had pond and assasin snails so I'm not quite sure about apple snail shells. Sorry! :-D


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## brennalynne (Mar 27, 2014)

Ah good idea. I just have it sitting in a container next to the tank right now. Should dispose of that sooner rather than later. 

Where do you get pond or assassin snails? I think my petstore only sells apple/mystery.

Good god my other apple snail got huge, he is twice the size he was when I got him. He's the only of the three to grow. He's ping pong ball size now and it shocked me. He grew without me noticing.


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## Rosebud975 (Mar 26, 2014)

Wow, size of a Ping-pong ball, that's one colossal snail!!! Pond snails grow quite big too had one that grew well over an inch was doing great until my comet got hungry... I've never actually seen pond snails for sale, I've only got them hitchhiking on plants. I guess for pond snails it's just luck. I get my assassin snails from my local lfs, world of water, they are really cool, look somewhat similar to Malaysian trumpet snails and how they hunt is amazing, a bit grotesque though! They're really easy to care for, and they don't breed in masses so they won't overrun a tank! Where did you get your apple snails, I love apple snails! Would love one In my betta tank!!!


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## brennalynne (Mar 27, 2014)

I found them at Petsmart, I live in Canada so that's really my only option aside from small out of the way pet stores. Apple snails are really easy to care for too and they won't breed unless they have a few inches of space at the top of the tank and only if there is a male and female around. 

I will admit, I panicked when I first got Edgar (the big boy) because he pooped a LOT and the first time I saw it I thought they were laying eggs! 

I'm almost glad one of my snails died because I think I over stocked my tank with having three in there. I did not expect Edgar to get so big too, you'd think they wouldn't grow as big in smaller tanks but apparently he doesn't give a damn. He does what he wants.


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## Rosebud975 (Mar 26, 2014)

Ha ha ha... He's a rebel snail ;-) wonder if the others will get that big? They sound really cool, I think you've convinced me to order one soon :-D


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## brennalynne (Mar 27, 2014)

Haha, Peggy, the one who died last night didn't grow at all. She remained about the same size. Dexter, the other one who is still alive is TINY in comparison. He's a fraction of the size of Edgar. 

Edgar however, is eating enough algae to potentially kill off Dexter. I've had to make sure Dexter gets fed before Edgar comes in and eats everything. Hopefully he doesn't get too big haha. He could have a tank of his own one day.

I'm glad you're thinking about getting apple snails  they're a nice addition to any tank really. A splash of color in a betta tank. Just watch out for how much they can poop! The bigger they are the more they poop. I learned that the hard way. Nasty string of poop that goes from the top of the tank to the bottom before it finally falls. Ya nasty snail haha


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## Rosebud975 (Mar 26, 2014)

Wow! That's a lot of poop! Would one be okay in a 5 gallon or would its bio load be too much? Do they need any requirements? My tank is quite planted and has a lot of decor and little pots and cover, it is a gravel substrate and has a very weak powerhead with some floating plants and a floating betta log which my betta decided to build a huge bubblenest in, Would this setup be okay? Sorry for all the questions lol :-D


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## NorthernLights (Mar 2, 2012)

I am not sure the betta is to blame in this case.

A mystery snail's mantle (which is where the body connects to the shell) can get separated when wrestling with or fighting with another mystery snail. Males will wrestle each other for access to a female and females will sometimes wrestle an amorous male off of them. You'd be surprised how much force and speed they can apply to each other.

Give that you found your snail all the way out of its shell, I think it may have separated its mantle wrestling with another snail.


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## brennalynne (Mar 27, 2014)

Haha I'm no expert really, but I'll try to answer.

I only have a three gallon and my tank is still fine so one or two in a five gallon will be just fine. 

They need algae wafers to eat unless your tank is filled to the brim with algae. I feed one or two wafers every two days or so. 

All of those things sound good, the snails will climb anywhere and everywhere. I've had mine floating before just because it wanted to. They'll climb onto plants and eat some of the dead leaves if there are any.

Watching them eat the algae off the walls of your tank is really cute because you see their little mouths going and its just adorable.

The more things to travel around the better, they love getting into the strangest places. I've panicked and thought they'd climbed out but it turns out they were just hiding in crevices you don't think to look.


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## brennalynne (Mar 27, 2014)

Hey NorthernLights. After more research this morning about mystery snails being out of their shells I figured the same. Though I didn't think about another snail being the cause. I thought maybe he/she damaged that connection and ended up coming out on their own. Knowing my fish he probably nipped at it and it floated to another part of the tank.


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## Rosebud975 (Mar 26, 2014)

Awwwww.... That's cute! Thanks for the detailed information. I love it when snails suck algae on the glass, my little pond snails do it too, you can see their little tongues XD I also have algae wafers for my other tank, so I can use them for this tank too! I do really like snails, I have a TON of baby ponds and seeing them slowly wiggle to the top really brightens your day! Or it could just be me lol


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## brennalynne (Mar 27, 2014)

I like snails too, they're so cute to watch haha. My fish doesn't get happy when I'm looking at them instead of him though.


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## Rosebud975 (Mar 26, 2014)

Ha ha ha... A jealous fish, my betta does that when I'm stroking my dog or handling my lizard, he gives me the 'grumpy' look...


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## brennalynne (Mar 27, 2014)

Oh the grumpy look. Don't we all know that look so well haha. So common


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## Rosebud975 (Mar 26, 2014)

Ha ha ha TOO right ;-D


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

If you rinsed off some houseplant matter in hot water--like, say, a dropped leaf from a fern--could you use it to feed your aquarium snails? I'm curious.

Does the kind of plant matter? Are there things you wouldn't want to introduce to the tank?


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