# Apple Snails



## BeautifulBetta123 (Aug 27, 2012)

So I would like to get into breeding and caring for apple snails more. My set up would be clear rubber bins some for breeding other for permanent homes but I have a few questions.
How do I breed them?
How big should the tubs be?
Do the tubs need to be heated? 
Where can I get good apple snails?
Any information would be super helpful!
How should I set up their tubs? I heard they eat live plants is it true?
What should I feed them?
Thanks so much everyone!


----------



## BeautifulBetta123 (Aug 27, 2012)

Are there different kinds of apple snails? I want the ones that get really big


----------



## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I think for breeding you put a female and a male in one tank and wait lol! I don't know much about them.


----------



## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

How do I breed them? Since its impossible to sex them, you need 4 or 5 and hope at least one is a female. The female needs to be abpe to go out of the water to lay the eggs so leave room in the tank where she can do so. 
How big should the tubs be? Supposedly its 2.5G for each snail but they lay hundreds of eggs..so not sure. 
Do the tubs need to be heated? Yes
Where can I get good apple snails? Aquabid is probably the best place but walmart and petco do have them, although they are usually either dead or in poor shape. Ebay is another option
Any information would be super helpful! www.applesnail.net
How should I set up their tubs? I heard they eat live plants is it true? They eat dead and decaying plants, not healthy ones. They also eat the algae of the plants
What should I feed them? Cucumbers, lettuce, algae waffers, fish flakes
Are there different kinds of apple snails? There are different colors - magenta, purple, black, ivory, ect. Apple snails can get pretty big


----------



## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

They're not impossible to sex. Look for the penis sheath. Research "apple snail sexing".


----------



## BeautifulBetta123 (Aug 27, 2012)

Thanks tikibirds! Reading about them there are several different kinds of apple snails, I aim for the larger snails, I will try sex them in the store sand very hopefully bring home a few on Saturday, Matt you get to help me pick them out. Thanks I pretty much have it figured out, I am buying a 5 gal tub from Walmart and will heat it and throw some live plants in it for them, my cambomba is going wild! Matt want me to bring your two ct fry on Saturday?


----------



## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

http://www.applesnail.net/content/care.php

It says that you don't need a heater but you do for breeding. *sigh* I might end up getting a couple as well. Or waiting for yours to breed.


----------



## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Tikibirds said:


> How do I breed them? Since its impossible to sex them, you need 4 or 5 and hope at least one is a female. The female needs to be abpe to go out of the water to lay the eggs so leave room in the tank where she can do so.





MattsBettas said:


> They're not impossible to sex. Look for the penis sheath. Research "apple snail sexing".


Nope and yes. You can sex snails based off the penis sheath as well as the shape of their shell. I did the shell method for Honey since I could not find a thing that screamed 'penis' at me; had a few 'scares' that she was a he, but she's remained happily female thus far. (Plus I've also heard that males tend to go for anything that looks like it has a shell shape.)

http://applesnail.net/content/anatomy/reproduction.php


----------



## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

> Research "apple snail sexing".


The differences between the sexes are not visible at the shell color or patterns, but in several species, a difference in shell shape has been described. For example in Pomacea canaliculata, the aperture (opening) in the male has a rounder opening than in the female because of the large penial complex. This sex-difference is not very well visible and it's not a very reliable to discriminate on individual base, but clear when measuring large amount of snails (in other words, it's possible to show the difference based on statistics). Despite the shape difference, it often easier to determine the sex by looking inside the mantle cavity to spot the penial complex or the absence thereof in case of a female snail. To do this one should take the snail out of the water and keep it upside down for a minute or 10 and blow some fresh air over the snails body. The animal will (hopefully) stretch its foot out to turn the shell upright. When this happens it's possible to look inside the right mantle cavity, where one should look for the relatively large penis sheath in front of the gills. The female snail lack such structure (obvious). The picture below should help to see the difference between the sexes. 
Last, but not least: in very thin shelled apple snails and in specimen with translucent shell (albino Pomacea bridgesii), one can also observe a colour difference in the upper whorl (spine) of the shell in periods that the snails are in a reproduction stage. The female ovaria can then show up as a dark organ at that place (see picture below). Note however, that this method is not reliable at all times and can only be used when the snail are sexual active. In the latter case the snails mate anyway, so that one can see the male snail mounting the female repeatedly. 

A sex change from male to female (proandry) has been described for some Pila and Pomacea apple snails. In case of Pila snails, the male needs a preparatory aestivation period to become a female, while the Pomacea snails can change sex at all times (at least in certain species). During this sex change, the testis change in color and decrease in size. The frequency at which this sex change occurs is not certain and not much literature is available about this subject. There is some very interesting research about the effects of certain chemical substances that are known of suspected to have influence on the development of the reproductive organs. Many of these substances are of great concern as they can be found in habitats due to pollution. 

Or so says Aquariacentral



> , apple snails are more active at higher temperatures. At higher temperatures, they eat faster, creep faster and they grow faster. Also higher temperatures mainly induce the reproduction of the apple snail. At lower temperatures (18°C/65°F) the apple snail enters a dormancy state in which they creep away in the mud and become very inactive. Temperatures below 18°C/65°F should be avoided as the mortality rate quickly increases.


 I have seen the water in my tanks drop into the 60's without a heater


----------



## Aoicat (Nov 30, 2012)

It doesn't take much to get snails to breed. Best way to start would be to get half a dozen good sized snails to start with. You will need a heater as they prefer warmer water. Whatever container you put them in, you need to leave open space at the top for them to lay the eggs. The eggs will die if you submerge them. In my girlfriend's tank they crawl up to the top lip and lay them on the glass under the overhang. You'll also need to make sure you have a lid or they'll crawl out of the container. I would suggest a simple sponge filter and some artificial plants or something for them to crawl around on. They really are fun to watch crawling around and over everything in the tank. You can feed them pretty much any fish food you have. Algae wafers and an occasional slice of vegetable are also really good for them.


----------



## BeautifulBetta123 (Aug 27, 2012)

Thanks!


----------



## MellC (Nov 9, 2012)

*Apple Snail Health?*

My main tank is a 20gal. I have Teras (neons and glow lights) Cherry Barbs, Corys, a Rafael, and GloFish, a red Beta, and 3 snails. One is white and rather large, and two are smaller and black (or they were when I got them, a few months ago). I'm not sure what type of snails they are. I got them at Petsmart so I'm assuming they are Apple's. I had another yellow one but he/she died last week and when the shell floated to the front and I scooped it out it was full of holes, pits, and cracks it was also really thin in places. I'm scared to death that the rest of them will bump off too.... I'll go grab some spinach now, my fish won't eat it but maybe my snails will.

Right now I have no clue what my perimeters are. I just do my water changes once a week sometimes every two weeks, and I use Prime for my tap water.

I read on a post on here somewhere (don't think I could get back to it) that I could put tums or Caltraite in my tank, but will tums harm my community tank? We have the fruit flavored kind.... Tums respectively that is. 

I also have a 2.5 with a Blue beta in it, and a 10gal with nothing in it. I don't have room to set it up and having it on the floor is not an option as I have a rather smart cat who figured out how to open the flip-lid within 10min. of me getting it several years back... She loves "fishing", so as you can see it would be like shooting fish in a barrel for her. Plus I have no room in my room to set up another stand. Anyway would it be better for me to put all three snails in the small tank and treat them, or leave them where they are? Any help would be fantastic!


----------



## MellC (Nov 9, 2012)

Uh did I post inside of a post? As in like a comment, or did I post a Thread-thing? Sigh.


----------



## MellC (Nov 9, 2012)

Shoot! it's inside someone else's post. I apologize


----------

