# my new Tylomelania - aka Rabbit Snails



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Well, my club had a speaker come and he sold some rabbit snails. I got one. It is black with yellow spots on it and yellow antenna. I'll post pics soon! Do they have to have hard water?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatfishblog/2010/04/12/tylomenia-the-rabbit-snails-of-sulawesi/

google is your friend


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## Guest (Sep 8, 2011)

Hard water is a plus, keep the shell nice n hard. 
Soft water will damage their shell.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

She's been in his shell alot! He does poke his head out... He moves around at night. Would it hurt her to stay in dead center hardness/softness water?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Dead center? medium hardness? maybe. Like all snails, the shell will deteriorate if the water is too lacking in calcium & magnesium. Luckily, it is easy enough to boost these things with simple aquarium supplements made for that very thing.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Are those pricey?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

NO !!!!!!!!!NO DEAD CENTER.....ABSODOGGONELUTELY NOT !!!!!!!
just stressing my point here to the guy that don't listen..
you can also go to petco or whoever and buy a cuttlebone...the snail will eat it and help to keep his/her shell healthy...
he will come out at night of day..depends on how hungry she is..but he does need hard water to keep her shell hard and looking good...


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Thanks loha!


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

I think I was high on cough syrup or something when I made that post. All the minerals in the world won't help if the pH is too low, because calcification can't happen. Hard water tends to have a good pH, but softer water tends to have a too-low pH. Be sure to watch that and keep your pH over 7.4. The cuttlebone is a good idea, too, and cheap.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Something that I did for my mongo mystery snail (About the size of a silver dollar) was to get the vacation feeders that are in a calcium base. As the calcium deteriorates it releases food into the tank. I just put a small one in about once a week and let the snail mow down on that. Kept him quite healthy, calcium leeches into the tank and he consumes some like he would from a cuttle. And then there is the fact that there is actual food in there LOL. I would feed the tank a little lighter when I did this as the other fish also had access to the food being released.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

My snail doesn't eat much stuff I put in. If he doesn't eat that, will it pollute my tank?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

If you are concerned about that you would just need to do this like the day before you gravel vac, he will get it overnight an you can just vac out the rest. You will want it to be there for at least 24 hours. It's not going to hurt the tank regardless. It's made for it. It stays pretty steady so what I would do when I did mine was wait for it to disintegrate then I would jam the gravel vac there on cleaning day and suck it all up LOL.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Thanks! He was in his shell for 2 days and hadn't moved at all. I got worried, but left him alone. Know he's moving around more.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Thanks for your help guys! I got 5 19 cent 1 day feeders. I was surprised they were so cheap.


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