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Snail eating Anubias


Stan Z
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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. 

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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.

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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? 

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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. 

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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! 

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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.

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@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. 

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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.

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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

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