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Snails

Pomacea canaliculata, Apple Snail

   Pomacea canaliculata, Apple Snail, is a South American aquatic snail. This snail is also listed as Ampullaria gigas. We don't know what it is and refer the reader to one of the links at the bottom of the page for more information.

Size: This snail reaches the size of an apple, hence the name.

Environment: This species tolerates pHs from 6.5 to 7.5 while preferring the lower end (acidic) of this range. Water hardness is not critical although low hardness is preferable. Optimum temperature ranges from 20-30°C (68-85°F) although it can tolerate nearly freezing temperatures. It is very intolerant of salt.

Temperament: This species can be kept with any fish that do not eat snails or harass it too much. It cannot be kept with plants due to its voracious appetite for plants. It is a good algae eater. This snail makes an excellent addition to green water, Paramecium, Daphnia and Moina cultures since it quickly processes its food into small particles that are readily available to the bacteria that these live foods eat.

Breeding: Fertilized snails will crawl out of the water and lay a little finger-sized bright hot pink eggs case (see phot0) consisting of a couple hundred eggs above the water line. The eggs hatch in 10-14 days and the small snails fall into the water where they grow rapidly. With adequate food, these babies will be laying their own egg cases in 4 months. For more information about hatching these eggs, click here.

Page last modified December 26, 2007.
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