Feeding a Mystery Snail.

[colorxmexravyne]

Hi all! About a week ago, I got a mystery snail from petsmart. I originally went in for a Nerite, but one of the pet associates talked me into an "apple snail." As it turns out, I have a black mystery snail (with red/orange-ish spots) with a white shell, although it's kind of thin or something because you can see through it just a little?

But that's a different question for a different day. I just wanted know, how much is "normal" for a mystery snail to eat? And what exactly do they eat? I feel like mine, who still doesn't have a name and is just most often referred to as "my snail", barely eats. I've tried cucumber, spinach and algae wafers, but to no avail. Well, actually, (s?)he was too fond of cucumber. The first time I offered him spinach, he nibbled at it, but largely left the leaf alone. Also, he only ate a little bit of the algae wafer that I dropped in there the first time. He didn't touch it when I tried again.

I keep reading all over the internet that most peoples snails love at least one of the three things mentioned. So, do I just have an incredibly picky snail or is something wrong here? :/

My snail shares a heated five gal tank with my betta Bandit. From what I've witnessed, they generally get along pretty well. The snail sleeps/is inactive during the day, but crawls all over everything at night. I've seen Bandit nip at the snail twice, both times at night, but I'm aware that doesn't mean he hasn't done it than that.

Oh, and it may be beneficial to know that Bandit apparently likes the snail's algae wafers as well. I found out that he's quite the little piggy, so I had to start separating them at feeding time.

Thanks in advance to anyone that read all of this! (:

[reggie oaks]

This diagram will help in the classification, since some apple snails prefer aquarium plants, and others [if not all] simply are scavengers that will clean glass and gravel of algae. If I remember well, green algae is their favorite. In my opinion, its really hard to underfeed an apple snail. This critter will always find something to eat at any tank, provided you make food go into your tank.

[colorxmexravyne]

I'm 99 percent sure that I have a diffusa. Like I said, I originally went in for a nerite and came out with a mystery snail, so I had to educate myself on what exactly I was getting myself into. My snail has yet to touch any of the wisteria I have in my tank, so I think I'm right. I'll double check though. Thanks!

[reggie oaks]

Ok, you gave me an idea. I will make an album in my site with pics of my apple snail. Hopefully it will be uploaded in a few minutes. You can visit and compare yours with the pictures I have.

[colorxmexravyne]

alright. (:

edit: i just looked at them and honestly? it's hard to tell, haha. i mean, i suppose they look the same except for the obvious color difference and that yours looks bigger than mine. though i'm not sure if it's because it actually is or because of the way they're cropped.

[reggie oaks]

http://www.bettafish.com/album.php?albumid=4229

[reggie oaks]

Originally Posted by colorxmexravyne

alright. (:

edit: i just looked at them and honestly? it's hard to tell, haha. i mean, i suppose they look the same except for the obvious color difference and that yours looks bigger than mine. though i'm not sure if it's because it actually is or because of the way they're cropped.

Some 7/8 of an inch in diameter [or maybe an inch]. I suspect the way I cut my pic makes it look bigger than he really is.

[colorxmexravyne]

Originally Posted by colorxmexravyne

alright. (:

edit: i just looked at them and honestly? it's hard to tell, haha. i mean, i suppose they look the same except for the obvious color difference and that yours looks bigger than mine. though i'm not sure if it's because it actually is or because of the way they're cropped.

^^^

i'm charging up my camera right now so that you can see. it'll probably be a while, though. my camera's been dead for like three months. :p

[reggie oaks]

But some species can grow to approx. 6 inches in length. They are the largest freshwater snails. The address in the diagram is very interesting. I suggest you visit this site.

[colorxmexravyne]

i have! multiple times! (: when i was researching them, that was my go-to site. i'm pretty sure that i have the diffusa, i just wanted to know how much they eat/what else they eat.

edit: this is the best i could get for now. it's not very helpful...