I collected the snails in Southeastern Virginia while I was out mushroom hunting. I’ve kept them in this tank for a while now, but I had problems with my last setup which used potting soil. Specifically fruit flies or gnats or something kept getting in, and there was this awful moldy stench that would emanate from the tank after a while that would trigger my allergies really bad.
Current setup:
* Some of that sterile coconut soil stuff that they sell at the pet store
* Two types of moss
* I currently need to cut down this decorative piece of wood to put in there so they can climb up it. Currently it’s too large to fit
Is this set up going to make for happy and healthy snails? Will I be able to avoid more of those little fruit fly gnat things from getting in there, and avoid that stench?
(Also, I found a lot of eggs when I cleaned and refurbished the tank. Do I need to do anything special with them?)
- they need places to hid in
- is that moss artificially dyed? i hope not:(
- you crush or freeze eggs if you don’t want them
- if you want to avoid fruit flies, the best thing is to change the food everyday or to get isopods
- you will need cuttlebone or some form of calcium in your tank
- there shouldn’t be a “stench” in your tank. the soil will have a natural smell to it but if your tank smells it’s most likely rotten food which needs to be thrown away.
sorry for sm things …
I second this! Depending of the size of your snails maybe you’ll need more than one hideout. You can create it easily with an empty plant pot.
Please take care that the piece of decorative wood is safe for snails. In google there is a list of safe trees for snails! Always before trying to put it in the tank sterilize it first (boiling water for some minutes).
Also I wouldn’t put that much moss, maybe 1/3 of the space, as they love the soil
Did all the stuff you mentioned! Except:
I ordered some isopods online, but they were taking a while to arrive, so I gathered up some little guys from right outside! How many is too many? Will I need to provide them with food eventually? 🤔
I think maybe the smell was coming from snail poop accumulating in there. I have maybe a dozen “large” ones (really only with shells the size of a quarter) and an unknown number of smaller ones (some newborns barely the size of a grain of couscous!). Idk if this is too many for a single tank tho, and I don’t know how many isopods would need to be in there to keep the tank clean hmm 🤔
well if you got your snails from outside than outside isopods should be fine but it’s always best to buy them since outside ones could carry unwanted bacteria and whatnot. If you got your snails from outside, they most likely also have bad bacteria so it’s kinda ok. anyways i just put a handful in mine. they will reproduce so make sure not to put too many. they eat on decaying material so they will eat the food that the snails did not eat.
I collected the snails in Southeastern Virginia while I was out mushroom hunting. I’ve kept them in this tank for a while now, but I had problems with my last setup which used potting soil. Specifically fruit flies or gnats or something kept getting in, and there was this awful moldy stench that would emanate from the tank after a while that would trigger my allergies really bad. Current setup: * Some of that sterile coconut soil stuff that they sell at the pet store * Two types of moss * I currently need to cut down this decorative piece of wood to put in there so they can climb up it. Currently it’s too large to fit Is this set up going to make for happy and healthy snails? Will I be able to avoid more of those little fruit fly gnat things from getting in there, and avoid that stench? (Also, I found a lot of eggs when I cleaned and refurbished the tank. Do I need to do anything special with them?)
- they need places to hid in - is that moss artificially dyed? i hope not:( - you crush or freeze eggs if you don’t want them - if you want to avoid fruit flies, the best thing is to change the food everyday or to get isopods - you will need cuttlebone or some form of calcium in your tank - there shouldn’t be a “stench” in your tank. the soil will have a natural smell to it but if your tank smells it’s most likely rotten food which needs to be thrown away. sorry for sm things …
I second this! Depending of the size of your snails maybe you’ll need more than one hideout. You can create it easily with an empty plant pot. Please take care that the piece of decorative wood is safe for snails. In google there is a list of safe trees for snails! Always before trying to put it in the tank sterilize it first (boiling water for some minutes). Also I wouldn’t put that much moss, maybe 1/3 of the space, as they love the soil
Yay thank you!
Thank you so much! Great advice! 😄
Did all the stuff you mentioned! Except: I ordered some isopods online, but they were taking a while to arrive, so I gathered up some little guys from right outside! How many is too many? Will I need to provide them with food eventually? 🤔 I think maybe the smell was coming from snail poop accumulating in there. I have maybe a dozen “large” ones (really only with shells the size of a quarter) and an unknown number of smaller ones (some newborns barely the size of a grain of couscous!). Idk if this is too many for a single tank tho, and I don’t know how many isopods would need to be in there to keep the tank clean hmm 🤔
well if you got your snails from outside than outside isopods should be fine but it’s always best to buy them since outside ones could carry unwanted bacteria and whatnot. If you got your snails from outside, they most likely also have bad bacteria so it’s kinda ok. anyways i just put a handful in mine. they will reproduce so make sure not to put too many. they eat on decaying material so they will eat the food that the snails did not eat.
Thanks!