# Stupid zebra snail questions (forgive me, I'm a newbie)



## JustKeepSwimming (May 25, 2011)

My LFS owner talked me into taking home a zebra snail (he had way too many, so I got it for free) and didn't tell me much about it. To be honest, I didn't ask. (Silly me.) He said the snail would be just fine living off algea, fish poo, and leftover fish food. Is that right? He's living in my male Deltatail's 2.5 gal tank, and they're alone except for a moss ball and some tiny butterfly plants. Do I need to give the snail (named Essie, short for Escargot) any kind of supplements? I've never had snails before...
Sorry if these are dumb questions. xD


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## DormDrax (Dec 1, 2010)

Honestly
... Snails eat most anything. 

Just remember, sensitive to copper, they need Calcium in their diet, and decently hard water. 

I swear someone on here has a splendid snail food recipe for healthy happy snails. But... that might be apple snails... 

I have no idea if Zebra snails are much different... all I really found out was that are very VERY fast and VORACIOUS with eating algae. ... if he/she is anything like my late Desi *Sniff* kiss your plants goodbye. 

I'm sure I just said everything you already know... but *Smirks* I just like throwing in my 2 cents everywhere.
*Starts throwing pennies at everyone*


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## Greenfish (May 23, 2011)

Google them, but remember to check more then one site for information


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## Blaze54 (Apr 14, 2011)

I'm wanting to see the answer. I'm setting up a 2.5 and I might put one in if it's ok


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

Ive read snails have a large bioload, comparable to a fish.


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## Blaze54 (Apr 14, 2011)

Yeah I've heard that too. But I'm willing to make the water changes


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## Blaze54 (Apr 14, 2011)

Why won't anybody answer this thread?


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## TheCrysCat (Mar 14, 2011)

Relax, relax. People will answer, but not everyone's on all the time. Anyway... I really, really would not recommend putting both a betta and a snail together in a 2.5 gallon tank. There's the aforementioned bioload issue, plus the betta might not take too kindly being kept in a smaller space with the snail.


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## Blaze54 (Apr 14, 2011)

Haha sorry didn't mean to sound mad.  Thx I wasn't too sure about it anyway. Jus' wanting my new tank to be interesting


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## TheCrysCat (Mar 14, 2011)

Yeah, snails are cute, but not when your fish is nomming on them D: Try getting some live plants, if you want to add interest to your tank. They're good for the fish, too.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

Actually some people do put snails with Bettas in 2.5g tanks, but it all depends on the betta....


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## TheCrysCat (Mar 14, 2011)

That, and snails atually produce a ton of waste. Way more than they prevent by eating little bits of food and fish poopies. And you'll probably also have to get them algae wafers, because a single betta isn't going to produce enough waste for a snail to survive on. It's really not worth the trouble in such a small tank.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

You make a good argument. Plus I've never had a snail


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## TheCrysCat (Mar 14, 2011)

Oh, they're more work than people make them out to be. Not that much more, but certain snails won't even eat fish waste, and some will devour your plants.


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## JustKeepSwimming (May 25, 2011)

Aw man...never will I impulse buy again. Or rather, take something for free. 
But now that I have little Essie, what do I do? I don't really want to buy a new tank for a snail. Would he be happy with a small bowl, and algea wafers to feed him? But then there would be no waste for him to eat...
Well, my betta is showing zero interest in Essie. They basically ignore eachother. And I do a complete water change every week, with daily cupful changes. Will that be enough to keep the waste down?


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## TheCrysCat (Mar 14, 2011)

Probably not. You'd be best off pming a more expirienced member, because I'm not too sure with bioload. I'd say keep the snail in there for now, and get a 1 gallon jar or something for him later. And yeah, algae tablets for sure, or whatever things zebra snails eat. I'm assuming it's the same kinds of things that gold inca snails eat, but I'd research just to be sure.


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## baylee767 (Nov 5, 2010)

Hmm, snails in general are like you guys describe, but this is a zebra nerite snail. They're different. They are a lot cleaner than most other types. Pretty much the only thing they eat is algae. I don't think it's a good idea in a small uncycled tank because there is no natural food supply... but if you add algae wafers and fend off your Betta so he can eat, and if you have a PH of at least 7.6, and if you just step up water changes a little more (Maybe do them one to two days early, though not as messy, nerites are still snails) You should be fine. But that's just my two sense.

EDIT: Hmm, I think in a 2.5 tank with just a Betta you should be doing 1 50% and 1 100% water change a week, and with the added nerite 2 50%, 1 100% a week.


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