How to Breed the Tropical Golden Apple Snail

The Tropical Golden Apple Snail is an amphibious snail that has both gills and lungs. When water is not oxygen rich, the snail will come to the surface to breathe. They are interesting little creatures with personalities all their own. Golden Apple Snails are also beneficial to most aquarium settings because they feed on the fecal matter of fish and other debris.

Things You'll Need

  • Aquarium
  • Purified water
  • Slow-flow filter
  • Snail food or tropical fish food
  • Male Golden Apple Snail
  • Female Golden Apple Snail
  • Floating plastic lily pad or plant
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Instructions

    • 1

      Fill a fish aquarium with purified water until the tank is about 3/4 full; using purified water that contains no hard metals is essential to the Golden Apple Snail's survival, as hard metals will kill your snails.

    • 2

      Install a slow-flow filter in the tank by following the directions on your choice of filter. Plug in the filter and hang it on the side of the tank. Only use a slow-flow filter because you do not want your baby Golden Apple Snails to get sucked into the filter.

    • 3

      Turn on the filter and let the tank run with no snails in it for 24 to 48 hours. Doing this will ensure that the carbon in the filter catches any further toxins or debris in the water.

    • 4

      Add your male and female Tropical Golden Apple Snails to the fish aquarium. You can determine a male from a female because male snails have a larger shell opening than a female.

    • 5

      Monitor the temperature of your aquarium so that breeding will be more successful. 77 degree's Fahrenheit is ideal for a breeding environment. If the room you keep the aquarium in is too cold, purchase an aquarium heater from a pet store.

    • 6

      Add a floating lily pad or floating plant that has a flat surface in which the snails can lay their eggs. Tropical Golden Apple Snails lay their eggs above the water line and may leave the water for a few hours to do so. After two to four weeks, the eggs will hatch into baby snails. Provide additional lily pads to keep the baby snails out of the water until they are strong enough not to drown.