Feeding and Nutrition :: Are "snail pellets" dangerous for turtles?

[trtlgrl5150]

The Hubs and I just got a plecostomus, and two snails for Scratch's tank.The Pet Store person sujested getting these shell looking weekly feeder pellets from TopFin. He said that without these pellets, the snails would die. I asked what they were made of and he said they were just fish food. So said the ingredients on the back of the box aswell. I figured the ingredients wern't harmful to Scratch, and well the pellets were only a $1.99!

So we get home and after ajusting them to the water temp,I put the pleco and snails in the tank. I cut up one of the feeder pellets into about atrillion little chunks (all of the chunks were about the size of Scratch's hatchling pellets.) I put four of the chunks into the tank by the snails. About an hour later I went in to see Scratch. Yup....he ate um...all of um....gone!

I don't want to keep putting these chunks in the water for the snails if Scratch is just gonna gobble them up. Do you all think there is enough alge and other...types of...food in the tank for the snails to survive? Or should I keep putting those stupid chunks in the tank, for Scratch to eat? Also, if I do keep putting those chunks in the tank should I lower the amount of pellets I feed him/her in the morning?

[Tenodera]

I don't really know much about aqaurium snails, but what kind are they?

Well if your turtle likes eating snail food there's a chance he also likes eating snails. Lots of members here have turtles that LOVE eating aquarium snails.

[TheComputerGremlin]

I'm guessing since those feeder blocks are meant to feed over time, they probably have some time-release additive which is probably NOT good for turtles (although the fish food part is fine). I'd recommend finding a small cage or container that you can put the block in and that way, turtle can't eat it but it will gradually feed the snails over time.

[trtlgrl5150]

The snails are Golden Shell Snails(that's what the pet store was calling them anyways.) I've herd of turtles eating snails without shells....but not really any with shells. Either way Scratch hasn't paied any attention to them. If Scratch does eat one or both of the snails oh well, I got them because they were neat looking and would clean the tank. Much like any other feeder fish we all get. I have done some more resurch and havn't found any reasons to put that food in for them.

As Gremlin stated, I was worried about the hole time release aspect of the food pellets being harmful, not what was in them.....all in all I don't think the snails will be getting the fish pellet things, there is plenty of food in the tank the little scavangers can find to stay alive!

Thank you, for your replies !

[scripta_elegans]

Turtles will eat snails in the shell. little ones they eat whole, and bigger ones they just chip away at until they get to the snail. My 5 inch turtle ate a golf ball sized snail not too long ago.

[megcornell]

Snails never last in either of my turtle tanks.
Since the snails aren't eating the pellets, I'd stop feeding them. There's no since in letting the turtle gorge on them. The snails should eat algae and other tank waste, but I have a feeling they'll be eaten sooner rather than later.

[trtlgrl5150]

I knew that the snails would possibly be eaten by Scratch before I bought them. I prefer snails to little fishies, I think they look alot better lol. Also, I thought they would or could do a better job of cleaning the tank. So as long as snails aren't harmful to turtles, then we're good to go! I haven't put anymore of those fish food pellets in the tank since I posted this question. Thank you all for your imput!

[meltedspork]

In my experience, you don't need to buy special food for snails, they just eat the algae and poop in the tank. Just a small warning though, I don't know if it's common occurance with snails, but here is my story:

We bought 3 fairly large snails (not really sure what type, but there were brown) for our tropical fish tank a few years ago (filled with platys, tetras, and a few other species). Those 3 snails turned into HUNDREDS of snails. We eventually (sadly) had to buy snail killer (doesn't hurt fish) for the tank to get rid of them. I will never buy snails again.

[trtlgrl5150]

HOLY COW ! ! ! Do they all multiply like that? All of the friends I have that own their own fish tanks all have snails in there (because they clean so well), some had had the same snails for several years. They are actually the reason I got snails in the first place. None of them have ever had their snails multiply like that. I'm sorry to hear you had to go to such drastic mesures thou.

[meltedspork]

I didn't know they multiplied like that until it happened. Maybe it was the kind of snails we got. The babies were so tiny they blended in with the rocks, so we didn't notice just how many there were right away. Then they started getting bigger and we realized we had a huge problem! And the big ones just kept on laying more and more eggs. Maybe if you have fish/frogs/turtles that eat the eggs it's not a problem, but apparently our fish left the eggs alone and we just had more and more snails!

[marisa]

If you mean the food for algae eaters, I don't think they'd be a problem I occasionally give my turtles broken up algae wafers to add some variety to their diets.

[Chrisbarnett]

I don't think I would ever put snails in a tank again. I had a tank with tropical fish in it, I bought some anacharis for the tank and stupidly didn't check it for snails before putting it in the tank. Well Low and behold, A few weeks later, I started noticing a few snails here and there. No Problem, I thought and killed the few thinking that was the end of that. Then.. More and more snails showed up. I mean LOTS maybe a hundred or more. And they basically invaded my tank. I had to set-up a limp-a-long tank for my tropicals while I cleaned and bleached the aquarium to kill every last snail and essence of snail in there.

I finally did get rid of them, even replaced my filter media, and cleaned the tube.

But that was my first, and last time not checking my anacharis, and my last time with snails.

[trtlgrl5150]

Jeez, now I kinda WANT Scratch to eat them. I didn't think or know that they multiplied like.