Triangle rabbit snail
Tylomelania sinabartfeldi
FreshwaterSnail
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 75–86°F
- 24–30°C
- pH
- 7.0–8.5
- Adult size
- 2 in
- 5 cm
- Minimum tank
- 5 gal
- 20 L
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Social behavior
- Solitary
- Swim level
- Bottom
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Breeding
- Hard
- Rarity
- Rare
- Family
- Pachychilidae
- Origin
- Sulawesi
Overview
The triangle rabbit snail is a Sulawesi snail with a dark, ridged shell that grazes steadily over wood, rock, and sand for algae, biofilm, and detritus. It is peaceful and indifferent to tankmates, mixing well with community fish and shrimp, and it is content on its own. Like all rabbit snails it needs warm, hard, alkaline water and a soft sand bed to forage through, and it must be kept away from copper, which is toxic to snails. It breeds slowly, one live baby at a time, so it will never overrun a tank. A tank of 20 liters or more gives it space to graze.
In the wild
Rabbit snails live only in the ancient lakes and feeder streams of Sulawesi, where warm, hard, alkaline water stays much the same all year. The triangle rabbit snail settles best in a tank that mirrors that, held from about 24 to 30 c with a pH from 7 to 8.5. A deep bed of soft sand is important, since the snail plows through the top layer searching for food and buries part of its long shell. Steady minerals, clean water, and calm flow keep it healthy and its shell strong.
Good to know
Tylomelania sinabartfeldi is one of the Sulawesi rabbit snails in the family Pachychilidae, uncommon in shops. It grows to around 5 cm, with the long, whorled, ribbed shell and horny trapdoor typical of the genus. It is a livebearer, giving birth to a single fully formed juvenile at a time rather than laying eggs. Because that output is so low and the babies mature slowly, building up a colony on purpose is slow work and rated hard.
Did you know
Rabbit snails are choosy about mates and slow to reproduce, so a female may raise only a handful of young in a year. That patience is the trade-off for a snail that will never plague a tank the way faster breeders do.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
Triangle rabbit snail is a peaceful, solitary species that keeps to the bottom. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.
Neocaridina shrimp
Neocaridina davidi
Freshwater1.6 in (4 cm) · 5 gal (20 L)59–84°F (15–29°C)
Micro bumblebee goby
Brachygobius nunus
FreshwaterBrackish1 in (2.5 cm) · 5 gal (20 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
Tambopata glass tetra
Tyttocharax tambopatensis
Freshwater0.7 in (1.9 cm) · 5 gal (20 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
Giant Colombian ramshorn
Marisa cornuarietis
Freshwater2 in (5 cm) · 5 gal (20 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
Ninja shrimp
Caridina serratirostris
Freshwater1.2 in (3 cm) · 5 gal (20 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
Mini bumblebee goby
Brachygobius xanthomelas
Freshwater0.8 in (2 cm) · 5 gal (20 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
Common questions
What size tank does a Triangle rabbit snail need?
A Triangle rabbit snail needs at least 5 gal (20 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.
What temperature and pH does a Triangle rabbit snail need?
A Triangle rabbit snail is comfortable at 75–86°F (24–30°C) with a pH of 7.0–8.5.
How big does a Triangle rabbit snail get?
An adult Triangle rabbit snail reaches about 2 in (5 cm).
Related species
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