Stan Z Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 I installed two new Anubias a couple weeks ago and 3 days ago began to see leaves floating from one of them. Yesterday I noticed my snail was busy on the rhizome. It’s eating the rhizome. I never thought that would happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 What kind of snails are munching on it? I have never seen a snail actually eating one of my plants, and my tanks have trumpet snails, ramshorns, and pond/ bladder snails in various tanks. I would check out the plants closer and see if you have rhizome rot going on and the snails are chowing down on it since its soft. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Z Posted December 13, 2022 Author Share Posted December 13, 2022 @Andy's Fish Den it looks like a mystery snail. Just one. The rhizomes looked healthy. Nice and green and firm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 On 12/13/2022 at 7:24 AM, Stan Z said: @Andy's Fish Den it looks like a mystery snail. Just one. The rhizomes looked healthy. Nice and green and firm. I've never kept mystery snails so I am not sure about how they are with plants. I do know people in my local club that raise them feed green beans so...maybe they would? otherwise, I've only heard or seen snails munching on plant parts that are already diseased, dying or already dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katherine Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 I have a lot of mystery snails in a tank with anubias and they only eat already dead or dying plants. A few times I've had leaves beginning to die and they've 'trimmed' them off the plant before I've had a chance. I'd think the only way that might eat a healthy plant is if they're starving. How are you feeding your snail? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 I’ve had mystery snails eat plants, but I came to learn that it was eating plants that were dying. I’ve had Anubias rhizomes melt. I needed to get the nutrients figured out better in my tank. I think your snail is telling you what mine told me, my plants weren’t healthy. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer V Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 What do the leaves that have detached look like? Are the stems or base of the leaves bright green and do they look like they've been cut, or do they look discolored in any way? Maybe lighter green, yellow or brown? If they are the latter, I'd be inclined to think it might be the beginnings of rot, although I don't keep mystery snails so they're still a mystery to me. Ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 Mystery snails normally do not eat healthy plants. They will if they are not getting enough food or veggies. Increase food specifically for them. Add blanched veggies on a regular basis to their diet. My tanks are all heavily planted. I have well over 100 ornamental snails including 10-70 mystery snails at any given time depending on hatches. None eat HEALTHY plants IF they have enough food available. Hope that helps. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Z Posted December 13, 2022 Author Share Posted December 13, 2022 @Katherine I only have one snail. I haven’t fed it anything yet. There’s enough algae which should keep it busy, I think. Maybe the rhizome is the problem, I don’t know. It seemed fine to me. I have a Chinese algae eater in another tank which loves cucumber. Maybe I’ll give some to the snail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katherine Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 On 12/13/2022 at 9:11 AM, Stan Z said: @Katherine I only have one snail. I haven’t fed it anything yet. There’s enough algae which should keep it busy, I think. Maybe the rhizome is the problem, I don’t know. It seemed fine to me. I have a Chinese algae eater in another tank which loves cucumber. Maybe I’ll give some to the snail. Mystery snails aren't big algae eaters. Blanched veggies, algae wafers, crab cuisine, repashy, zoomed banquet blocks are all good options. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 On 12/13/2022 at 10:11 AM, Stan Z said: There’s enough algae which should keep it busy, This is not enough. It lacks nutrition they need. Protein and calcium are very important. Most likely why it is trying to eat your plants. Use wafers also to feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 I agree with @Katherine and @Guppysnail. Mystery snails need calcium (for their shell), protein (for their operculum - the little door that they can close if they want to retreat into their shell), and vegetables for nutrients. Algae alone is not enough to sustain a snail, and if it is eating a healthy plant (they normally eat decaying plants), it is doing so because it cannot find a food source to cover all the bases, or cannot find enough food to sustain it. Providing your snail with boiled green beans/zucchini/carrots etc, banquet blocks, crab cuisine, etc is going to keep the snail off your plants. They eat more than you think! @Stan Z 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 Gee I read the title and was think you had a carnivorous Anubius consuming snails…. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 Please show the plant in question? I'm guessing the plant is rotting or something, dead section of the rhizome. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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