Adding first tank mate: Mystery Snail

[Sivan]

Hey hey hey. I never added a tank mate before and I can really only have a snail in my 5 gallon. I was just wondering: How do I add the snail into my betta tank? Do you acclimate snails? Do you put them in isolation first? How do you know if it gets sick? Do bettas ever attack them?

I am rather partial to the golden apple snails at PetSmart that they are calling mystery snails. What would be good food for them? Better yet, how do I stop my betta from eating the snail food? I'd appreciate it if anyone could answer my questions and let me know of anything important I haven't thought of yet.

Thanks.

[teeneythebetta]

For info on feeding apple snails go here: http://www.applesnail.net/content/care.php

My suggestion is to quarantine the snail for 2 weeks. The reason for this is that if your snail is carrying a fish illness, the illness/parasite will die if it has no host over that time period. Your snail will be fine without a heater until you put it in your betta's tank. I'm not sure if they are sensitive to temperature changes but I float my snails if the temp is more than 10 degrees change.

Don't forget if you ever need to treat your betta with any sort of salt to remove your snail, they're sensitive to that.

[Sivan]

Thank you! I never considered aquarium salt effecting the snail...which should have been obvious.

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by Sivan

Thank you! I never considered aquarium salt effecting the snail...which should have been obvious.

Haha. I Was helping someone a few days ago with a sick betta, they told me they went & got AQ salt & meds and also a snail. They put the snail right into the tank with salt, I told them to remove it. They said it was just sitting there when it was in the salt water but once in the regular water it was zipping around the tank :)

[Sivan]

How cute! I am looking forward to getting one now.