Apple Snail

Care at a glance

Overview

Apple snails are peaceful bottom dwellers that graze algae, biofilm, and leftover food. They are fine on their own and do not need company. The catch is they will eat soft aquarium plants if underfed, so keep them well fed with algae wafers, blanched vegetables, and sinking food. Watch for clutches of pink eggs above the water if you do not want a population boom.

In the wild

The apple snail comes from slow, warm waters in South America, including ponds, ditches, and quiet river edges with lots of plants. It is used to soft mud bottoms and plenty of vegetation. In the tank it does fine in most setups, though it prefers calmer water and a temperature from the high teens to high 20s C. It needs harder water with a pH from 6.5 to 8 to keep its shell solid.

Good to know

This snail is in the family Ampullariidae and can reach about 15 cm across in its largest forms, though aquarium specimens are often smaller. It has both a gill and a lung, which lets it breathe air at the surface. It lays clutches of eggs above the waterline, and it breeds readily. Hard water with enough calcium is important for proper shell growth.

Did you know

This snail breathes air through a siphon, a long tube it stretches up to the surface like a snorkel while the rest of it stays underwater. It is one of the worst invasive species in rice-growing regions, where escaped snails chew through young rice plants.

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