Classification
Class— Gastropoda Cuvier.
Family— Ampullariidae.
Genus— Ampullaria.
Species— Ampullaria Gigas.
Habitat
It is native to South America from Uruguay, Paraguay, and the bordering areas of Brazil and Argentina, north to the Amazon River. In North America, it has been introduced to tidal freshwater regions of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. Introduced populations are also known from China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and Spain. Its spread is largely attributed to the aquarium trade, but in some areas it was introduced as a potential food resource.
Outward appearance
The shell is relatively thick, dextrally coiled and globose, with a low spire. The shell is smooth, with fine growth lines and occasional growth arrests. The adult shell has 4-5 whorls, separated by a deep suture. The shell opening is large and oval to round, with a reflected edge. Adult shells range from 35 to 165 mm, and are highly variable in color, ranging from yellow to yellow-brown, frequently with a dark banding pattern.
The upper shoulder of the aperture is curved, and projects out at an angle of less than 90 degrees.
The umbilicus is narrow, but deep.
The operculum is large and horn-colored.
The body is grey-brownish with dark spots.
Feeding
All species, British or African, are wholly – or almost entirely – vegetarian and will benefit from as wide a range of diet as you can arrange for them, including most supermarket fruit and vegetables and home-grown items, including many common weeds such as dandelion leaves. Whatever you feed them, it’s important to wash everything thoroughly since snails are susceptible to pesticides – and remove anything that is left untouched before it has a chance to go off.
Snails also need a source of calcium to keep them healthy and encourage proper shell growth – which is particularly important for the giant varieties. Putting a cuttlefish bone in the tank will allow your pets to meet their needs.
Breeding
Apple snails are gonochoristic (separated sexes), a male and a female snail are needed.
Apple snails reproduce when the temperature rises in combination with abundance of food available.
Theiy lay eggs above the water.
It is also important to mention that female apple snails can store sperm for months, so even the eggs of a single snail can be fertile. With no male snail present, female apple snails occasionally produce infertile eggs. Obviously, these do no hatch. Last but not least: most species lay their eggs above the water and they should stay there while the eggs of aquatic layers should stay below the surface.
At the right circumstances an apple snail can produce one clutch of eggs every 4-7 days during several weeks. After this period, productivity decreases and the female snail regains strength.
It's important to keep the eggs in a moist, but not wet environment. Never keep these eggs under water (this will drown the embryos)! Keep the temperature between 18 and 28°C (65-82°F). The higher the temperature, the faster the snails will hatch.
Maintenance care
Apple snails that are found in the aquarium trade don't make high demands when it comes to water quality: they can live very well in clear, streaming, oxygen-rich water as well in still water, with rotting organic waste, containing almost no oxygen.
In general one should apply the same rules for water quality as with fish (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate etc) and the water should not be too soft. Like most snails, apple snails prefer calcium rich water. If the calcium concentration in the water isn't high enough (soft water), they aren't able to build a strong shell and become susceptible to shell damage, but even in good conditions, some snails still get little holes in the shell surface, especially in the older parts of their shell. This is a naturally occurring process and as long it's only at the surface, you shouldn't worry too much about it. In the 'snail disease' section, you can see an example of a snail with a damaged shell. Young and healthy snails are somewhat protected against this as the outer layer of the shell consist of a protein layer that prevents a breakdown of the shell, but damaged shells and shells of older snails are quite vulnerable to shell detoriation.
Warning! If the tap-water in your area contains copper and/or other metals, use one of these water preparation products that catch away those metals bofere putting the snail in the water. Apple snails are very sensitive for these compounds (especially copper). You won't be the first one loosing a snail due to this snail-toxic substances in the water. If you see that the snails become completely inactive or if the snails, especially the little ones, try to leave the water after a water change: get a product to treat the water (like aquasafe or for those with access to a lab: use EDTA or something similar).
When there are many apple snails in a tank, the water tends to become cloudy because apple snails have a large amount of microorganisms in their intestine, which help to digest the food, and which are expelled with the faeces. These micro-organisms (amoebocytes) should not cause any harm to the fish and can even serve as a food source for young fish. Fresh food (lettuce etc.) are more likely to induce this micro-organism based clouding of the water. If the snails are fed with dry fish food, the water will stay cleaner. It is a good idea to do regular water changes if you have many creatures in one tank, just like one would advise with fish, to maintain good water quality and to avoid accumulation of toxic substances and waste. By the way, apple snails are good indicators for the oxygen-level in your tank. When there isn't much oxygen in the water, the snails will regularly come to the surface to inhale fresh air through the breathing siphon. Only when there is enough oxygen for them in the water, they don't need their lung and solely depend on their gill.
The amount of water needed for each snail depends on the size of the snail, the filtration capacity and the temperature. As a general rule of thumb one should provide at least 10-liters/2.5 gallon for each mid-sized snail (±5cm/2inch. diameter). Or another way: count each apple snail as a fish of the same length as the snail's shell diameter. Be cautious not to overcrow your snail tank. While it hasn't been proven that apple snails actually 'sense' that they are in large numbers in a small space, the water quality quickly detoriates and substances that inhibit the snail growth are increasing quicker. Regular refreshment of a part of the water is highly recommended.
The water doesn't have to be deep (2 or more times the shell height). Remember that most apple snail species inhabit swamps in which the water level is quite low. Be sure to have a coverplate on your aquarium or at least make sure that they can't get out of it or otherwise: don't be surprised to find a snail on the ground in the morning. Don't worry, they can easily survive out of the water for more then a week, but they risk damaging their shell when hitting the ground.
An important thing, often forgotten, is to provide an air space above the water to allow the snail to leave the water to deposit her eggs. This air space should be at least the same height as the size of the shell. If the snail does not have access to sufficient air space, the animal will have to deposit the eggs below the water, where they will drown.
Lifespan — 4 years.
