How to Care for Baby Aquarium Snails

Not all species of snails do well in an aquarium. One type of snail that will survive in an aquarium is called an apple snail. Apple snails do well when placed alone or with fish. They are mainly plant eaters and will eat algae that grows in your tank. Caring for apple snails requires the right food, and careful attention to the conditions in the aquarium necessary for the apple snail to survive.

Things You'll Need

  • Water
  • General hardness kit
  • Plants
  • Fish food pellets
  • Brine shrimp
  • Aquarium light
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Instructions

    • 1

      Fill your aquarium with water. Make sure the water level is at least twice as high as the largest baby snail in your aquarium. As the snails grow, you can increase the water level. If you have fish in your tank, you can raise the water level even higher. Just be sure to leave some room in the tank for the snails to climb out of the water to lay their eggs on the side of the tank. If they have no space to lay their eggs outside of the water, they will lay them in the water, and the eggs will drown.

    • 2

      Use water that is not too soft. Soft water is not good for snails. You should also make sure you have no copper or other metals in your tap water if you plan to use that in your aquarium. Products, such as Aquasafe, can be used to treat the tap water to get rid of the metals.

      To find out how hard or soft your water is, purchase a general hardness test from your local pet store. If your water reading comes out with a number between four and eight, it is too soft.

    • 3

      Provide your snails with some plants that they can feed on. If you don't have any plants in the tank, you will need to place a piece of lettuce in the tank. Surprisingly, apple snails will even eat some fish food pellets. As a treat, you can feed your snails some brine shrimp.

    • 4

      Use a standard aquarium light for your baby snails, but turn it off at night. Snails prefer the dark, and will become active once the lights are off. If you set your tank near the sun instead of using an aquarium light, the snails will be more likely to grow algae on their shells. This won't harm them, but it won't be pretty to look at.

    • 5

      Keep the temperature in the tank between 65 and 82 degrees F. This is the temperature at which your snails will be the most active. If you plan on placing plants in your aquarium, make sure the water is at least 70 degrees F.