# Questions about mystery snails



## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Do I need to quarantine/acclimate snails the same way as regular fish? If so, how long? 

Thanks!


----------



## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

PetMania said:


> Do I need to quarantine/acclimate snails the same way as regular fish? If so, how long?
> 
> Thanks!


Some say yes, some say no. Surprise surprise 

Personally, I never have quarantined or acclimated snails.


----------



## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

Same here. I've never had snail issues or QT'd them at all. With acclimating, I do so if it's the first time I've bought them, so they get used to the temp, but otherwise no.


----------



## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Okay thanks! These are petstore snails just to add. Don't know if that risks disease. I need to get snails, because the order I placed with another member hasn't shown up.........


----------



## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

Snails don't get or carry disease in the same way as fish


----------



## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Oh, didn't know that =) Learn something new here everyday ;-)


----------



## Kumo (Oct 26, 2013)

The two are different species, so there's very few diseases that'll actually transfer from snail-to-fish or fish-to-snail. Be careful though, if they die, the ammonia can shoot up. You know a dead snail is dead when you've picked him up and gave him a sniff. If it's a REALLY bad smell, he's dead.


----------



## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Yep, mine smelled terrible when s/he died.


----------



## peachii (Jan 6, 2013)

I've never quarantined any snails for more than a few hours to acclimate them to my water/temps. After being shipped I do keep them in a separate tank for a few hours just to make sure they are all moving around and alive. Don't want to drop a dead snail in the tank with the beloved fishies. Giving them an algae wafer is often enough incentive to get them moving after coming out of the shipping bag.


----------



## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

Also, if the trap door is loose, or can be pulled out, dead snail


----------



## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Oh, okay. Luckily I have plenty of algea wafers on hand.


----------



## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Trap door?


----------



## peachii (Jan 6, 2013)

The trapdoor is the hard layer that protects them when they are pulled into their shells. It looks like a brown circle, it opens and shuts with them.


----------



## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Thanks! Never heard of it until now.


----------



## Quinn (Apr 4, 2010)

Mystery snails can be very temperamental to water conditions sometimes. Some of mine acclimated to my tank no problem, but other floated in their shell for days. They can and do float at will, for a variety of reasons, but if you don't acclimate and just dump them in and have some floaters don't worry too much (unless they stink as noted obviously).
It's a mixed bag on acclimation needs and techniques, so whatever you are comfortable doing do. When I got my snails they all came in very little water, so there wasn't much acclimation I could do, I didn't have any small containers that the amount of water they had would have been sufficient to cover them anyway. I did leave them in a KK with their bag water and tank water over night (or for my first snail for 2ish weeks) while I finished setting up the tank(s).
Not sure if we can link, but apple snail dot net has good info on them. Research before you get em! The trapdoor is only one of their many interesting attributes


----------

