Some new snails from Menagerie

[MDahms]

Well I finally got some new snails from a wonderful shop called Menagerie (http://www.menageriepetshop.com/) in the Cabbage Town area of Toronto. I got some red Nerite snails and three huge (3") yellow rabbit snails from Sulawesi.
The yellow rabbits are very cool snails and if I do well with them I may splurge for some of the truly awesome looking but much more expensive ($11 each) orange rabbits. So far I have read that these snails eat algae and rotting plants and I have seen that in my snails but they are also apparently very fond of meat. My rabbits have eaten blood worms, shrimp pellets, boiled red amaranth and lambs quarters from the garden. They seem to be quite active, hopefully I can get them to breed.
The Nerites are attractive but not very active. I have them housed with my Nothobranchius killies in hopes that the slightly salty water will be more to their liking. I am not sure just how salty the water needs to be to allow for reproduction.
There were also some small yellow clams available at the shop but I somehow forgot to get a couple. If you are ever in Toronto I would recommend dropping by the shop especially if you are into Apistos as there was a great selection of young fish.

I will post some photos once the snails have eaten more algae off of the glass. LOL

Mike

[Melody]

I love the variety we're seeing here in Canada!

Nerites are largely nocturnal creatures, so I wouldn't worry too much about them being inactive.

Good luck with them all!

[Laura]

Nice!
The yellows seem much more adaptable from the anecdotal evidence I've read. Glad you're enjoying them.

[bae3]

Here's a link to a discussion about breeding nerites:
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/108082-breeding-nerite-snails/

[Blossom112]

Thanks , I may take a trip down there :-)

[Melody]

Usually when we're looking for something, there's none to be found. Or if a breeder/store has lots of something, nobody is looking. You've really lucked out in the slime category lately, Ms. Blossom - they're everywhere right now, even in your area!:thumbup:

[MDahms]

I think I will pop in again on the weekend when I am in Toronto and get a few of the clams and maybe a replacement for the one obviously sick Nerites that has not emerged from it's shell since I got it. I am a little concerned that one of the rabbits is showing some pretty serious shell erosion (was when I got it) and to make things worse they are currently in my Apisto fry tank where the water is a 50/50 blend of RO/tap so I have been adding little bits of vitamin/mineral blocks in hope that it helps. I suppose I could slowly switch to just tap water seeing as the little Apistos just need to grow and not breed so that water can be less than perfect, any thoughts Apisto fans?

Bae3 thanks for that link. I had read one in the past and it seemed quite easy to breed these snails if some basics were met. I should try some alone in one of my 2.5 gallon tanks.


Mike

[Melody]

People tend to lump Nerites together in regards to their requirements, so don't be afraid to play with things if they don't seem happy. What we find online can be {ahem} taken with a grain of salt. :wink:

You won't miss the smell of a dead snail if you care to test.:Eeewww:

Seriously eroding shells is due to a low pH with a healthy dose of acidity as a rule. However, wild caught snails often have quite a bit of erosion and they're still fine. I would think most of these snails would be captive bred by now, but not necessarily. Shells in the wild are not in the least pretty most of the time. Breeding can also do a number on shells.

That said, this group is from a different environment than your standard Applesnail, with different requirements in regards to diet and in some ways, environment. Laura would be your go-to person on that - she's done a lot of homework on them.

[vince0]

not to hijack the topic, but can't erosion stop and potentially heal?

[Melody]

It can stop. Sometimes they're able to patch holes & cracks to a certain extent, but for the most part the damage will remain, especially in the cosmetic sense. That's in any species I've kept anyway, the ability may vary.

We don't worry about topics changing and evolving here - 'hijacking' doesn't exist. If wandering off a topic was an issue, I wouldn't have made it through the first week... I'd have to ban myself!:laugh: I figure it's a community and the people in it are conversing. Conversation doesn't stay stictly on one topic, people chat about whatever and whatever else.

[MDahms]

The yellow rabbit's shells are quite thick, much thicker than my other snails. I swear that I can see shell erosion that has slowly progressed over the week they have been in the tank so I may just have to move the snails, don't want to loose them or have them scarred. The shells are quite attractive when they are solid black and not so much once the erosion begins.

Mike

[Melody]

Do you have BN Plecos or other algae eaters in there with them? Quite often commercial snails can have algae on them and they get cleaned off when they're added to an aquarium with algae eaters. Cleaning them off makes erosion more obvious. Just a thought :Smile: .

[MDahms]

No just a couple little oto cats and some shrimp. I think I will just keep an eye on them and make sure that the erosion does not get worse. I am probably just worried about nothing because none of the snails were in perfect shape when I got them and noticeable shell erosion probably can't happen within the span of a week.

Mike

[Melody]

They're lucky to have someone who is so concerned about them. Snails are horribly abused in the trade quite often, so I'm sure they're enjoying it.

You people will have me talked into these bunny snails yet! :twitcy: