Apple Snail - I think I made a mistake

Stormfish

I have a gold Apple Snail. I bought him about 7 months ago when he was just a tiny thing for my male betta's tank. I recently moved him from the betta tank because the betta was bullying him, and put him in my Tetra tank.

He's grown in size VERY quickly, and is now about 1.5" in diameter and destroying everything! He's a glutton! He dominates the algae wafers I put in for my Corydoras, and hoovers the zucchini I put in for my Otos. He's obliterating my live plants, ripping entire multi-leaf sections of Hygro Kompact from the stem, and sucking holes through the Dwarf Sword leaves. And the amount of poop he produces! Aye carumba!

Ok, so there's no actual question being posed here. I really just wanted to vent about this pig of an Apple Snail.

marshallsea

Aw man! I just bought an Apple Snail to help with my water. He's gold also, a perfect match for my gold twinbar platys. Maybe mine will have better manners.(yeah right). Oh well, I cant keep my plants alive anyway, at least someone will benefit.

Stormfish

How does an Apple Snail help with water?

marshallsea

By eating uneaten food,dead plants,and waste. Breaks down all of these and makes water easier for the fish to live in. A snail becomes a beneficial part of the system, or so I've read on this forum.

Tikibirds

snails are pooping machines. I thought apple snails only ate decaying plant matter. I have a black mystery snail and an army of trapdoor snails - neither of them destroy live plants by eating them. The wild trapdoor snails are so big they do knock over my decor though - they are bigger then golf balls

This is true but because they poop so much, that means more water changes for those of us without alot of live plants

marshallsea

Sounds like big snails. I dont have many plants either, the two small Anubias I have arent doing so good. How do your big snails affect your tank? Besides being clumsy.

Varkolak

*breaks out the frying pan* So escargot tonight?
I'll stick with my itty bitty MTS and ramshorns, sadly cant fry them up like a fat apple but then again they don't touch my plants

marshallsea

I'll try anything once.

Geomancer

"Apple Snails" and "Mystery Snails" are sometimes the same thing. There are actually a bunch of species, all extreamly similar with no real way to tell the difference. Some Apple Snails will eat living plants though.

I have a Blue Mystery Snail and a Golden (yellow) mystery snail with both in planted tanks, neither touch the living plants but they'll crawl around on them eating stuff on the leaves. They only eat the microscopic bits of fish food, and dead/dying plant matter. I have some Mopani Driftwood in one tank that is prone to waves of fungus every couple months. The snail thinks it is the best snack in the entire world and spends every moment on the wood eating it up.

While they poop a lot, in planted tanks, that's just fertalizer. They break down the complex fish and plant waste into waste that is simpilar and easier to break down by bacteria. I also have MTS in all of my tanks, and pond snails in one of my tanks. I don't care for pond snails, but love the MTS.

Silverfang

They poop, poop, poop and more poop. And then when you get a pair of each gender you end up with piles of egg sacs.

Unfortunately my trumpets and pond snails are nibbling away at a few leaves of my swords.

Certain species of apples will devour live plants. Cana subspecies. I Cannot tell them apart by look, but I had one, and it ate two Java Fern over night and pooped up a storm. My diffusas are gentler on plants, but do love soft stems.