The Secret Of Purple Snails - Are They Really Mysterious As Their Name?
The Secret Of Purple Snails - Are They Really Mysterious As Their Name?
These large and striking snails are great for adding some colour to your aquarium, but they also serve some very useful purposes. They clean algae from glass, plants and decorations, they eat hair algae, and they keep your surfaces clean and properly coloured. They are completely safe with any fish, shrimp or plants and are completely peaceful. These snails are quite large when fully grown, up to 3 inches in diameter!
Appearance.
All Purple Mystery Snail shells are gorgeous in colour and range from medium purple to deep indigo. Their bodies are reminiscent of black opals, as they have a very dark, almost black colour with truly spectacular iridescent streaks when they catch the light.
The purple snail is another beautiful species of snail in the family Ampullariidae. Despite its black body, the shell of this snail can range in colour from almost black to light purple or pale purple. The Albino variant has a white body and shell that ranges from dark purple to brown/pink or pink stripes. The variety of shell colours makes this snail a great mystery snail for selective breeding and produces beautiful purple variations!
Mysterious snails have become an important part of the Micro Aquatic Shop due to their many benefits for spawning and keeping shrimp.
We use these beautiful snails to help keep our aquarium circulating as we add and remove shrimp from the tank for sale. They produce a fair amount of waste that helps keep beneficial bacteria in place. This bacteria is important for removing waste from the water (also known as the nitrogen cycle).
One of the top reasons why shrimp beginners fail is overfeeding. Many aquarists are used to feeding their fish a lot and changing the water a lot. For shrimp, this is not the case. Less than 10% water change every two weeks is more than enough for shrimp to thrive. Therefore, when occasional overfeeding occurs, it can lead to elevated ammonia levels and shrimp death.
Diet.
The mysterious snail has a great appetite and is ready to clean up any leftovers in the aquarium. They can actually break down food much faster than shrimp through digestion. This is why we believe that snail manure is actually beneficial for shrimp diets. Therefore, these snails are providing clean and, ultimately, natural food.
Mystery snails are generally much more active and exhibit more playful behaviour than other freshwater snails. They almost continuously expand the walls of the aquarium, stretching out their antennae in search of food. They will climb to the surface to breathe air, so you should make sure that the water line in your aquarium is not too high. When the Mystery Snail reaches the top of a wall or structure, it will usually let go of the wall and glide rapidly downward until it crashes into a tree or the substrate below, often making a "Weeee!" sound from any witness.
Most Mystery Snails are voracious and grow in size VERY quickly if they are adequately fed; A young Mystery Snail can double in size in weeks to months. Like all freshwater snails, Mystery Snails are very sensitive to copper, so you should monitor copper levels if using tap water in your tank.
The mysterious snail belongs to the genus Ampullariidae. They are native to South America and are extremely peaceful. In a shrimp tank, they are gentle giants. The only downside to the mysterious snails is that their main diet in the wild is on dying plants. This means that the mysterious snail will not eat healthy plants. They will eat dead plants or fallen leaves. These snails will thrive on leaf matter. Snail droppings are said to benefit shrimp and their overall health. There are more than 120 species of snails in the family Ampullariidae.
What we like about this snail:
Beautiful and regal purple shell colour
Its playful behaviour makes it more interesting than other snails
Safe for plants
sociable personality
Tank requirements:
Temperature: 68° - 84° F (20° - 29° C)
pH: 7.6 - 8.4
Customer: 2 - 15 dong
Minimum tank size: 2.5 gallons per snail
Character
Peace and solitude; will not join with tankmates.
Average adult size: 2.5 - 3+ inches (5 - 7.6+ cm)
Average purchase size: 0.25 - 1.5 inches (1.3 - 5 cm)
Take Care of them:
In addition to algae and biofilms, Mystery Snails also eat fish/invertebrates flakes and leftover pellets and blanched vegetables such as zucchini, kale, spinach or cucumbers.
During transport, snails sometimes go into a hibernation-like state and may not be fully active for up to a week after acclimatizing to your aquarium.
We hope you found this guide helpful and get ready to treat these creatures in your freshwater tank. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here.