Ramshorn Snail Q & A (in progress)

What the hell is this?

Ramshorns have loose folds of skin that may sometimes protrude from the left side of the shell. It is thought to act like a primitive gill.

Apple Snails

Apple Snail
Pomacea Bridgesii a.k.a. Pomacea diffusa

Apple snails enjoy extra space but can be content in a smaller aquarium. The should be provided with cover in the form of rocks or plants. Apple snails will need access to the surface as they intermittently extend their "siphon" to breath air. They enjoy access to areas of water current or bubble streams. It is advisable to have a lid on your aquarium as they are capable of leaving the water for short periods.

Apple snails eat mainly algae and in a small tank they will probably required supplemental feeding with algae flakes or wafers. They will eat algae from the glass but not leave it entirely clean. It is important to provide a source of calcium, such as coral sand, for good shell growth.

Apple snails do not need to be housed with other snails; they are just as happy on their own. But you can keep them with other apple snails and most other snail species. Snails should not be housed with aggressive fish or animals. The do well with smaller fish such as livebearers (endlers, guppies etc) and most small catfish species.

Apple snails come in many different plain and striped colors including magenta, gold, ivory, and blue. They may be shipped when they become about the size of a pea and commonly grow to the size of a golf ball or larger. They should live for several years, or longer.

Apple snails require a male and female to reproduce and eggs are laid above the water snail, making effective population control easier than for many other freshwater snail species.

Be aware that these snail can and will get out of the water from time to time, so you will need a lip or lid to keep them in!

For More Info:
Applesnail.net

Otocinclus

The Macrotocinclus affinis a.k.a. Otocinclus affinis or "oto" is a small catfish species from the Amazon. They like to have cover such as from wood or dense plants and are happiest in small groups. Opinions differ as to the minimum advisable tanks size. I would suggest that 5 gallons can be sufficient but 10 is better.

Aquarium News

New 'Ich" Discovery
"There are currently no drugs or chemicals that kill Ich while it resides in the fish skin or gills; they can only kill Ich when the parasite is in the water, and therefore all current therapies require a cyclical re-treatment program ... "Work to sequence the genome of this parasitic protozoan unexpectedly revealed that bacterial DNA sequences were also present," noted Craig Findly, one of the College's researchers on the project. "Following up this discovery led to our demonstration that two new species of intracellular bacteria use Ich as their host. We now need to determine if these intracellular bacteria play a role in infection."

Colored Ramshorn Primer

The following is from my own experience only. If you have corrections or additions, please comment. Photographs appreciated and linkbacks and credit provided.

So, anyway, ramshorn snails (Planorbarius corneus) come in different colors, but the way they actually differ is sometimes hard to tell from photographs. So here is my descriptions of the main color morphs.

1) Brown/Leopard
What it says, the snail has a brown foot and brown shell. When young, these snails have darker brown spots or dapples, but these usually fade away as the snail grows.

2) Blue
From a distance these look very similar to leopards. The snail has a brown foot. Under strong light the shell shows a blue-grey color with dark blue-black spots.

3) Red
The snail lacks darker pigments. The foot is red and the shell is semi-transparent brown or bronze.

4) Pink
Broadly similar to the red snail, the "pink" has a red foot but a completely clear shell. Pink ramshorns were described in a wild population in a report by William Nelson in the May 1879 issue of the Journal of Conchology. They were described as "...of a bright flesh or pink color, the animals being mostly protruding from the shell and very conspicuous" (p. 150). But by the following year the brightly color variant could no longer be found. It seems likely that the color morphs now available are selectively bred from this kind of naturally occuring mutation.



Yellow
I am told that white ramshorns also occur, however ramshorns without normal red blood are unlikely to thrive. It is more likely that they are yellow ramshorns, which have a yellow foot and clear shell.

False Reds
Sometimes you will get a ramshorn with a red shell but a brown foot. These are not a "true" red and the shell will tend to become brown as it grows. Even true reds will tend to become browner as the grow, but any snail with a red foot is a red ram.

References
* Nelson, W. (1879). A variation in the color of the animals of Plamorbis corneus. The Journal of Conchology 2, 150.