Malta Aquarist Society

Nice Apple Snail you've got Mark....... Try to keep the water as "hard" as possible, so the shell will be kept "hard" & "shiny".

 Have you ever bred the apple snails Mark ??

martin

 Bertrand can help as he got lots of snail eggs allover his pond.

martin

Not all Apple Snail eggs are pink, some are cream in colour & get to a brownish colour as they get closer to hatch. 

There are quite a few different species of Apple Snails, but in Malta you get them all under one name.......

 kemm jghixu dawn il bebbux please

 hi i do not know how long they live but mine never lived for a long time, a few months at the most, so i am wondering if the water was too soft. Can you keep them in a tank where you have baby fish. Are they safe. Because it would be good to eat the uneaten food left by the babies

Frank

 Hi nicholas welcome to our forum. Hope you find it interesting and dob't hesitate to ask questions here.

Apple snails' life span depends on temperature and general life conditions.In our hot environment don't except them to live more then 2 years. In high temperatures these snails are more active and their metobolism increases, so it shortens their life expectancy. So to elongate their life you have to keep them in cooler places. Some apple snails were even reported to live over 10 years. 

 Hi Jonathan

I guess you can keep these snails outside? I have a tank outside and maybe would like to keep  a couple there. Do they do any harm to baby fish?

 frank

 Yes I know people who keep these snails outside, but I don't know if they survive the Winter. No they don't harm fry, infact we use small snails in rearing tanks to eat uneaten brineshrimp and other foods.

 Thanks for the info. I have managed to get some snails from one of our club members. He got me some at last sunday's meeting. When i came home i put them in a big tank and they were immediately on the move. I guess you have to keep the tank covered or they might get out?

frank

 Yes Frank if the tank has no lid on, the snails will eventually slide out of the aquarium. I do not suggest leaving these snails however with fry that are still wrigglers and not in the free swimming stage. The are useful for the fry as they will eventually create infusoria which is a beneficial first food for fry.

martin 

Hi ok point taken. Is there any reason while the shell gets holes in it or the outer cover sort of peels away. This is what always happen to my snails and i do not want anything to happen to these now.

frank

 Thats because of the quality of the water. Apple snails need rich calcium water which is not found in soft water. Also water which contains metals such as copper do harm the outer shell of the snail. Also in older snails this is quite inevitable.