Snails with big personality?

[Kit Craft]

Other than mystery snails are there any snails with a lot of personality? IE: Fun to watch? I am trying to keep it to one mystery per tank as they are all nano tanks (7.5 gallons and under). My ramshorns are, meh, lol. They are cute but kind of boring to watch. I've never had any other snails. What about nerite? Interesting to watch? I just see people say that mystery snails win in the personality department but haven't see much elaboration on that. 

My purple mystery snail is a card. It will go up to the surface, grab some duck weed and float back down. It is always in a different spot when I come in the room. My ramshorns, well, not so much. They kind of sit in one spot and slowly move over the course of the day. Not much by the way of parasnailing, for example. 

Just curious to see what is out there. I'm loving the mystery snails so much I might just have to break down and get a 40b just for them. My wife will be thrilled, lol. The only downside to these snails is that they are poop factories. I know I won't be using pool filter sand as a substrate if I do a mystery snail only tank. 

[Lennie]

Japanese trapdoors and rabbit snails. both are awesome. Both like to bury from time to time in my tanks so I would recommend finer sand.

Here you go:

 

[Kit Craft]

On 10/27/2023 at 3:28 PM, Lennie said:

Japanese trapdoors and rabbit snails. both are awesome. Both like to bury from time to time in my tanks so I would recommend finer sand.

Here you go:

 

I've heard of these before, youtube. The actual body of the one on the right has wicked coloration. Neat! 

[Lennie]

On 10/27/2023 at 10:31 PM, Kit Craft said:

I've heard of these before, youtube. The actual body of the one on the right has wicked coloration. Neat! 

If you like such body coloration, you can find many rabbit snails with spots and different colors. Check them out

[Kit Craft]

On 10/27/2023 at 4:11 PM, Lennie said:

If you like such body coloration, you can find many rabbit snails with spots and different colors. Check them out

Will do, thanks! I'll have to research them a bit!

[Lennie]

On 10/27/2023 at 11:38 PM, Kit Craft said:

Will do, thanks! I'll have to research them a bit!

You can ask me anytime when you have questions, either here or in pms. Even tho they are somehow popular, I remember struggling to find good info online before when I got them.

 

Here are some examples of rabbit snails you may find interesting since you liked the look of the other one:

[Kit Craft]

On 10/27/2023 at 5:13 PM, Lennie said:

You can ask me anytime when you have questions, either here or in pms. Even tho they are somehow popular, I remember struggling to find good info online before when I got them.

 

Here are some examples of rabbit snails you may find interesting since you liked the look of the other one:

Oh wow, thanks! At some point I need to look into finding hobbyist bred fish/snails semi local. I've been disappointed with ordering online, overall, thus far. And it makes me anxious, lol. 

[Lennie]

On 10/28/2023 at 12:15 AM, Kit Craft said:

Oh wow, thanks! At some point I need to look into finding hobbyist bred fish/snails semi local. I've been disappointed with ordering online, overall, thus far. And it makes me anxious, lol. 

Good choice. They are commonly wildcaught however do breed in freshwater. It is just much much slower than many other snails, and almost always one baby at a time.

I would not recommend getting them shipped in a cold weather unless you are sure they will be kept warm all the time. They like to be kept in a bit higher temps than other snails we commonly have in the hobby, I would say 25-26C is good.

Btw, they are not really good to be mixed with mystery snails if thats a plan. Females wouldnt be a problem but male mysteries, well, try to mate with everything they find. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Lennie

[TOtrees]

+1 for rabbit snails. I got 1 adult @ $10 CAD a few years ago, and it started popping out babies after a couple months. Given their price tag, I was initially interested in breeding/selling them, but they take so long to reach sellable size, and the rate of reproduction is pretty slow. To make any regular money off them you'd need a big tank with a big breeding population. And I know from experience that lots of snails in any tank = poor shell quality. I still have a few, and agree they are fun to watch. They're better in a more open setup, and I agree that sand is the best substrate. Do watch out for nippy fish; like any larger snail, those antenna are very tempting to nippy/hungry fish, and the snails won't be as outgoing or visible if they're always getting picked on. But boy are they fun to watch heaving themselves around the joint.  

Edited October 27, 2023 by TOtrees

[Kit Craft]

On 10/27/2023 at 5:22 PM, Lennie said:

Good choice. They are commonly wildcaught however do breed in freshwater. It is just much much slower than many other snails, and almost always one baby at a time.

I would not recommend getting them shipped in a cold weather unless you are sure they will be kept warm all the time. They like to be kept in a bit higher temps than other snails we commonly have in the hobby, I would say 25-26C is good.

Btw, they are not really good to be mixed with mystery snails if thats a plan. Females wouldnt be a problem but male mysteries, well, try to mate with everything they find. 

No, really hadn't given it much thought yet but a new tank. I was thinking about setting up a 40c 16-gallon cube. In the 30c cubes 1 snail makes enough waste as it is, lol. 

On 10/27/2023 at 5:27 PM, TOtrees said:

+1 for rabbit snails. I got 1 adult @ $10 CAD a few years ago, and it started popping out babies after a couple months. Given their price tag, I was initially interested in breeding/selling them, but they take so long to reach sellable size, and the rate of reproduction is pretty slow. To make any regular money off them you'd need a big tank with a big breeding population. And I know from experience that lots of snails in any tank = poor shell quality. I still have a few, and agree they are fun to watch. They're better in a more open setup, and I agree that sand is the best substrate. Do watch out for nippy fish; like any larger snail, those antenna are very tempting to nippy/hungry fish, and the snails won't be as outgoing or visible if they're always getting picked on. But boy are they fun to watch heaving themselves around the joint.  

Any particular suggestions on tank mates? 

[Pokey]

@Kit Craft I have Japanese Trapdoor Snails, but mine seem to only be active at night. They’re very pretty though!

I have found my Malaysian Trumpet Snails to be more interesting as they come out during the day. But based on all the stories here about Mystery Snail personality, I don’t think either of them come close.

Bladder Snails can be entertaining, but population control is hard!

@Lennie do your trapdoor snails come out during the day?

[Lennie]

On 10/28/2023 at 6:05 PM, Pokey said:

@Lennie do your trapdoor snails come out during the day?

Hello! Yes mines are always active. But yours and mine look a bit different.

Is mine sth else or are there different versions?
 

[Kit Craft]

On 10/28/2023 at 11:05 AM, Pokey said:

@Kit Craft I have Japanese Trapdoor Snails, but mine seem to only be active at night. They’re very pretty though!

I have found my Malaysian Trumpet Snails to be more interesting as they come out during the day. But based on all the stories here about Mystery Snail personality, I don’t think either of them come close.

Bladder Snails can be entertaining, but population control is hard!

@Lennie do your trapdoor snails come out during the day?

Ah cool, my mystery snails are much more active at night too. They are still active during the day, but they seem to love the dark. They were not active at all when my light was going full blast. It is at about 40-60% intensity now, if I had to guess. The val. apricated it too. 😛

Anyway, I've seen mention of these before on youtube. I'll have to check 'em out further! Thank you for the suggestion. 

As for bladder snails, I may or may not have one. I ordered some ramshorns but there was one tiny wee little snail that I couldn't identify. It was just so small. Threw it in the QT jar anyway. It can always become a perma home for them if need be, lol. I actually thought about getting some from petco as they give them away in my area. 

 

Edit/Update: I found the little one, it is a ramshorn for sure, just tiny. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Kit Craft

[Pokey]

@Lennie I think that you do have Japanese Trapdoors, just maybe a less seen color variation? I found this where they have one with stripes and a short description of colors. 😃 I got mine at Aqua Huna where you can see various colors/patterns.

Hopefully mine will get more active during the day! 🤪

[Pokey]

@Kit Craft I don’t have any experience with ramshorn snails but I’d like to add that the Japanese Trapdoors have live babies and they’re really cute! 😃

[Kit Craft]

On 10/29/2023 at 12:17 PM, Pokey said:

@Kit Craft I don’t have any experience with ramshorn snails but I’d like to add that the Japanese Trapdoors have live babies and they’re really cute! 😃

Oh, that is cool! Thank you for sharing. I didn't even realize AH carried them. Checking that now. Also, I saw a post on here about white wizard snails too. Not loads of info on those. 

[Lennie]

On 10/29/2023 at 7:06 PM, Pokey said:

@Lennie I think that you do have Japanese Trapdoors, just maybe a less seen color variation? I found this where they have one with stripes and a short description of colors. 😃 I got mine at Aqua Huna where you can see various colors/patterns.

Hopefully mine will get more active during the day! 🤪

I found mine under live food culture at one website weirdly. Bought them all because they are super cute. Mine breed quite often btw. I would say big females gives birth to one baby once a week. Ive seen stuff like they breed once every 9 months, that is surely not valid for me. 

 

Btw, I think mine is "banded mystery snail (Vivaparus georgianus)". Not a japanese trapdoor. Japanese trapdoor snails in many sites including AH are called "Viviparus malleattus". However I saw some sites mention Japanese trapdoors as "Sinotaia quadrata". It's confusing!

 

I'm kinda lost, but they are all cute at the end of the day :') 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Lennie

[Kit Craft]

While we are on the topic of snails, how long do you think it will be before my Ramshorns start laying eggs? I assume they are breeding as they are often all over each other. They are pretty good size to begin with, so I assume they are mature. I've never really had anything that breeds in my tanks before, well, at least not to fruition. 

[Pokey]

I’m sorry but I don’t have any experience with ramshorn snails.

A few references I found said about 3 weeks for them to hatch, but didn’t mention how long it is after mating before they lay them. They also mentioned it’s not uncommon for them to lay infertile eggs.

[Kit Craft]

On 10/30/2023 at 6:24 PM, Pokey said:

I’m sorry but I don’t have any experience with ramshorn snails.

A few references I found said about 3 weeks for them to hatch, but didn’t mention how long it is after mating before they lay them. They also mentioned it’s not uncommon for them to lay infertile eggs.

Yeah, that is about what I found too. Thank you. I know a lot of people find them to be "pests", but I am more than happy to have more, lol. 

[Tanked]

Interesting is where you find it.  I like to watch the MTS rise up out of the gravel at night, moving a piece of grave that is bigger than they are.  My Nerites, in addition to having great patterns have been proven to be very acrobatic on occasion, stretching between two different plants, or climbing to the tip of a piece of Vallisneria and riding it down to the substrate.   The Bladder snails weren't very interesting until they donned algae green fright wigs in time for Halloween.