Strange brigs behavior

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 8:41 pm

So, one of my mystery snails is doing something odd. This is in my new (still shrimpless) shrimp tank (also still filterless by the way... freaking broken air pump...). One of the snails sits right at the water line, sort of half in and half out, and is slowly making a lap of the tank. It moves if I poke it, and if I knock it down it crawls around, then climbs back up the glass again. I've been doing frequent small water changes (about 5%, threeish times per week) since there's no filter, and the water parameters are good -- no amonia or nitrite, nitrate fivish. The other two snails are acting fine, crawling around all over the place, and generally enjoying being out of the quarantine tank. Have any of you guys seen this before? Should I be worried?

TKD · Post by **TKD** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:17 pm

Maybe she is looking for a place to lay eggs?

TKD

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:27 am

Possible, but more likely water issues. When the snails don't like the water they come up to the water line to use their lungs to breath.

Are you conditioning your water before adding? If so, how? If not, you should.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:35 am

The other two snails are acting fine, crawling around all over the place, and generally enjoying being out of the quarantine tank.

But the other two snails are doing well

Sounds like the problem is just with the one snail.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 11:52 am

Some snails are more sensitive than others. Watch them all closely.

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 12:17 pm

I don't think it's egg laying... that was my first thought, so I lowered the water level a little (so the snail was all the way above the water, about three inches between water line and hood) and it just scooted back to half in, half out, and resumed its lap. I'm conditioning the water with Aqua plus, and letting it sit in the gallon jug for twenty minutes or so before I put it in the tank. Maybe I should increase the water change amounts? It's funny, the healthy acting snails are a blue one and a yellow one, and the worrisome one is wild type... I was always under the impression that the selectively bred color versions were more sensitive!

I also had a thought, maybe it doesn't like the food in the tank and is looking for something better? Some boiled greens maybe? I give them small pieces of algae pellets occasionally, but not often and not much because they almost never go near it and I end up having to fish it out, but they are still pooping like crazy, so they seem to be finding something better in the tank... in any case I will keep my eye on them. Poor snail.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 6:48 pm

Try some summer squash or zuc nuked for 3 minutes in the microwave. They live that. The blues and yellows are very close to wilds, so I don't think that is an issue. If anything the domestic ones are more acclimated to aquarium life.

I breed mine for survival, so they get no special treatment. The ones that don't keep up get to be prawn food. I have purples, burgandies & magentas that will knock your socks off & are hearty as any wild.

Switch to Amquel+. How big is your tank?

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 7:58 pm

I've seen pictures of your snails, they do indeed knock my socks off.

I'll try the squash... My tank is ten gallons, and it's only been sans filter for about three or four days. Is there a special reason Amquel+ is better? I'll see if I can find some at the LFS...

As an update, one of the other snails knocked the funny acting one off the glass, it's crawling around okay but I noticed one of its short feelers (the lower pair) is much shorter, and it has a white spot on it and another on the upper feeler on the same side. It hasn't been in a tank with fish since I bought it (still isn't) and I don't think it looked like that when I brought it home. It also didn't pull into its shell very tightly when I picked it up and turned it over. Maybe it's sick? I don't want to have to put it back in the quarantine tank, but I don't want the other snails to get sick too...

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 2:08 am

Yes, it does sound like it is sick.

Amquel+ is just a more complete water conditioner. Go to the Kordon website and look up the two products. All I can say is it works better for me. It is also important to use the conditioner for 10 minutes before adding it to the tank. Bubbling does no good at all with chloramine, so to be safe be sure of that.

marusempai · Post by **marusempai** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:06 pm

So update, it was the water. I kept watching the water parameters closely, and yesterday the ammonia spiked! I did a big water change, brought the ammonia down, and all snails are acting normal now. I'm thinking the white spots are scarring from a previous injury, as the shorter feeler seems to be growing back now. On another note though, I've been offering them vegetables and they eat some, but not much at all... they must be finding something tasty in all that java moss! I've never kept snails on purpose before, and hence never realized how much snails poop! They are fun though.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:09 pm

Apple snails, especially brigs, need better water than even shrimp. I keep them with my shrimp & crays and the combo works well. The shrimp seem to enjoy what comes out of the snail as gross as theat may seem, and they all like the cooked veggies. Nothing stays in the tank very long as the snails are like water goats.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:40 pm

The shrimp seem to enjoy what comes out of the snail as gross as theat may seem, and they all like the cooked veggies.

I also see that the shrimp are in particularly interested in snail droppings. The snails digestive system must not digest all the food material, thus the waste contains remaining food for the shrimp. Otherwise the shrimp can just be gross