These guys are much slower than the apple snail I had years ago. They spend all day grazing with their little trunks, so much fun! There must be at least 5—but I’m assuming many more—babies in my pond.
They remind me a lot of cows/manatees from how they slowly graze all day.
Hello, I have been building a backyard pond for a few months now—thank you all for your posts and comments! This has been a great resource to lurk and search.
I bought the pictured Japanese Trapdoor Snails listed as Viviparis malleatus but I suspect they are Chinese mystery snails (Cipangopaludina chinensis) based on the color/pattern on their skin (purplish and yellowish/brownish + specs) and the color of their shell. I’ve also seen JTS listed as Sinotaia quadrata.
I have 21 of these + 3 babies that were birthed on my first day of having them. My concern is that these guys will not have enough algae to sustain themselves healthily. I’ve heard they wont eat supplemental foods and that they are real lawnmowers on algae, so I’ll be giving away at least half to a coworker with a 400 gallon pond.
My pond is 125-150 gallons, 2 feet at its deepest, and in Zone 6. It will soon have a 23 gallon bog filter attached to a 660 GPH pump. It also has an intake bay and airstones. 2-3 inch size fish only. I’ll be directing 80% of the flow to my waterfall to allow for more nutrients to remain in the pond longer, but I’m concerned this won’t enough for sustained algae growth (which I’d love to keep on hand for the minnows to pick at too). I am striving for a clean pond, but don’t want my snails to starve. I’m not opposed to adding 2 goldfish to my setup or farming algae in a separate tank either.
Does anyone have experience with these snails? Are they seriously too picky to eat wafers or boiled veggies? I understand there’s not a ton of differences between the three species I listed up there, but it would be great to know what species I have so I can read up on it.
Thank you in advance!