Safe Plants for Tanks

[etana]

Hey! Um... I have managed to get both spider plants and Tradescantia to actually grow in my tanks. My wild-caughts don't really eat either ones other than tasting them a little bit, my GALS eat both but so far they're all surviving anyway. Especially the Tradescantia looks great in the wild-caughts' tank, and the spider plant means endless fun for the ones who love to climb.

But the real reason I'm here is that I was wondering about this silly little thing:

Since my snais poop near the plants a bunch, doesn't it work as fertilizer for the plants?
From the plant perspective alone (leaving all aesthetical etc. things aside for now ), should I remove the white poop that appears after my snails eat their calcium, or is that good for the plants too?

[cliath]

I done some research and it seems calcium is good for plants. Plants use it for cell growth.

I found the info here: homeguides.sfgate.com/plants-would-benefit-crushed-eggshells-40104.html

[etana]

Cool, thanks very much, Cliath!

[muddydragon]

Whilst calcium is important in plants we're talking tiny tiny amounts for the vast majority of plants . People tend to over generalise with plants it's like saying all animals need protein therefore all animals should be fed meat (infact worse as plant need far less calcium than animals do protein but anyway...). To be honest i don't trust that webpage as they have put a ligitimate quote from some plant biologists and then surrounded it with other information essentially altering what they say, yes caclium is vital, no they don't mention adding eggshells or boosting the calcium. Calcium carbonate (which is the main component is limestone blocks and cuttlefish bone) and therefore will be in the snail's poo does disolve quickly (admittedly i dont know how much it is altered in the poo but some of the original form will be there) and would alter the pH of the soil making it more alkaline (for calcareous - 'lime' loving plants they do add this or similar to raise the pH and make it more alkaline) however spider plants like a pH on the slightly acidic side.

[etana]

Hmm, okay, I posted the thank-you above after I saw Cliath's comment, without reading the article. Though even if I had read it better, I'd have only understood that the comment about egg shells being particularly effective for killing snails is weird, since they've been known to survive sliming over blades.

So, maybe a partial conclusion is that I won't purposedly leave white snail poo near the plants, but like before, pick it up as I do my regular spot clean of whatever jumps out at my eyes or nose.

But what about snail poo that's composed of soil and veg gone through the snail's gut - is that good for plants, should I leave some of it there, provided that the nose and eyes of myself and other people here can handle it?

[muddydragon]

Nov 8, 2014 13:12:47 GMT etana said:

Hmm, okay, I posted the thank-you above after I saw Cliath's comment, without reading the article. Though even if I had read it better, I'd have only understood that the comment about egg shells being particularly effective for killing snails is weird, since they've been known to survive sliming over blades.

So, maybe a partial conclusion is that I won't purposedly leave white snail poo near the plants, but like before, pick it up as I do my regular spot clean of whatever jumps out at my eyes or nose.

But what about snail poo that's composed of soil and veg gone through the snail's gut - is that good for plants, should I leave some of it there, provided that the nose and eyes of myself and other people here can handle it?

There's some pretty crazy ideas about snail deterents out there. back at undergrad someone did there final year project on copper strip as defence against snails. they had a tray with a strip of copper across the centre with snails one side and food the other. Do you know what the snails did? Some climbed out and walked around the strip (because the guy didn't pay a huge amount of attention) and some just streched their body over the strip leaving an arch so they didn't touch it (it was really quite funny how they "outwitted" him), so basically you'ld need a really really wide strip with no gaps, then there's the problem of oxidisation... I think the egg shell one is a load of codswollop but to be fair i haven't tried it.

Snail poo of soil and veg should be OK i would guess... i'm nt sure how broken down snail "manure" is i would immagine it is broken down quite well and would therefore be OK however raw manure (of say a horse) that hasn't had time to break down naturally can cause plant fertilizer burn. Simply i'm not sure how "raw" snail poo is i would immagine a little wouldn't hurt

[cliath]

Sorry for the misleading info :/
I saw the bit about eggshells being a snail deterrent, but I ignored it as I knew it was false. I too heard snails could slime over blades..
I read about adding calcium in another article.

Sorry again!

[etana]

No Cliath, it's good that you brought it up, because then we were able to talk about it more in-depth and it'll benefit anyone who comes here later who might have seen the same webpage.

LOL about the snails outwitting the copper strip test guy, I'm trying to imagine how a snail makes an arch over it. Maybe it looks kinda the same as when new snails aren't used to my hand yet and walk on it with just tiny bits of the foot touching it at once.

I'm also enjoying the word "codswollop".

All righty, I think my grand snail poo conclusion is that I won't worry myself over this, I'll just keep doing the spot cleans and if there's a soil coloured poo that I miss, it's not the end of the world.

[muddydragon]

as etana says it's all good cliath and it is good to talk more in depth, to be fair i do have insider knowledge

the arch: sort of starts off with them rearing their head then extending it over eventually making a bridge, pulling the shell over then lifting up the "tail" and tada!

Codswollop is such a great word it needs more use

[cliath]

What about ornamental grasses? Are they safe?

[muddydragon]

i would guess yes... as i would guess the snails would leave them alone as they can be very sharp. Grasses contain silica and use this as a defence mechanism which actually grinds down the teeth/radula of pests often ultimately killing them as they can no longer eat. Different grasses have different inherent levels but the more they're grazed the more silica they include in their leaves. Sooo i think they may be OK but if you see them munching on them a lot i would remove them.

[mangoandlemon]

I bought a ''Lucky Bamboo'' Fish tank plant and it doesn't have to be under water so i was wondering if it could go in a snail tank? I also bought a ''Aquatic Plant Combo'' with dracaena, spathiphyllum, ophiopogon, trichomaned, and syngonium. What about those?

[muddydragon]

is suspect the bamboo may find the conditions too dry in a snail tank but it should be OK for the snails i would think. Dracaena is fine (it's on the safe plant list if you look ) i'm unsue on the others.

[mangoandlemon]

Thanks I did look but I must of missed it!

[Jade]

Anyone know if pussy willow branches are safe to use?

[giantsnailpail]

Hi!
Does anyone know if I can safely put moss or liverwort in my Achatina immaculata's tank? I'm not speaking about Sphagnum moss, but "wild" moss I can find in the woods. How could I "sterilize" the moss to get rid of little insects and the like?
Thanks!

[Jade]

Mar 31, 2015 21:33:00 GMT giantsnailpail said:

Hi!
Does anyone know if I can safely put moss or liverwort in my Achatina immaculata's tank? I'm not speaking about Sphagnum moss, but "wild" moss I can find in the woods. How could I "sterilize" the moss to get rid of little insects and the like?
Thanks!

I don't know anything about liverwort, but you could get some moss from outside and soak in boiling water for a couple of hours to sterilize it. If you want the moss to stay alive, soak in cold water for a day or so - but this could still harbour some creepy crawlies. 

[horrr0r]

OMG I've been giving my snails some stuff on the toxic list for a while, because that's what they were found near! Jasmine (3 different types - one is called Stefanotis, not sure the other 2), delphinium, and wildflowers... the latter two grown from seed packets from the store that my grandma plants. Ks this bad? Anyone? How bad is this? D:

[astana]

Jul 3, 2015 20:53:31 GMT horrr0r said:

OMG I've been giving my snails some stuff on the toxic list for a while, because that's what they were found near! Jasmine (3 different types - one is called Stefanotis, not sure the other 2), delphinium, and wildflowers... the latter two grown from seed packets from the store that my grandma plants. Ks this bad? Anyone? How bad is this? D:

Well, if they didn't eat it, they're probably fine. You should take those plants out though. And if your snails really did eat them, they'd show outward signs.

[MaSlugBoi]

Anybody know how well a romaine plant would hold up? I know they can grow back from the hearts fairly quickly, but I don't know if a snail would try to eat the heart or not. I'd like to try keeping a couple in my tank to add a bit of humidity to the tank and keep a more permanent food source present. I was planning to just cut apart a water bottle to keep them in so that the romaine could stay in it snugly while the snails wouldn't be able to climb into the water and drown.

[finch]

Dec 9, 2017 7:46:12 GMT MaSlugBoi said:

Anybody know how well a romaine plant would hold up? I know they can grow back from the hearts fairly quickly, but I don't know if a snail would try to eat the heart or not. I'd like to try keeping a couple in my tank to add a bit of humidity to the tank and keep a more permanent food source present. I was planning to just cut apart a water bottle to keep them in so that the romaine could stay in it snugly while the snails wouldn't be able to climb into the water and drown.

I have had monolithic success by cutting off the bottom of a celery bunch thing and sitting it upright in water. It grew an entirely new plant that is now VERY large in my terrarium, and my snails either eat very small bits of it or don't eat it at all. I'm working on doing the same with a romaine lettuce head. I think if you kept food in their habitat at all times, they might leave the lettuce alone, but if they do eat it then you can try what I did with celery. It doesn't look like normal celery either, more like a spreading tree! Let me know what you end up doing.

[jeremiah2911]

can I use succulents and Cactus for Desert themed terrarium?

[goldenratiogirl]

Has anyone heard anything about using Spanish Moss in a tank with snails? I'd like to try it out because mine love the plastic leaves I got and I want to give them a live alternate.

[morningcoffee]

Mar 24, 2019 3:36:43 GMT goldenratiogirl said:

Has anyone heard anything about using Spanish Moss in a tank with snails? I'd like to try it out because mine love the plastic leaves I got and I want to give them a live alternate.

I don't think it would be harmful but could be tricky to grow in a tank.

[goldenratiogirl]

Mar 28, 2019 8:10:50 GMT morningcoffee said:

Mar 24, 2019 3:36:43 GMT goldenratiogirl said:

Has anyone heard anything about using Spanish Moss in a tank with snails? I'd like to try it out because mine love the plastic leaves I got and I want to give them a live alternate.

I don't think it would be harmful but could be tricky to grow in a tank.

Thank you for your feedback. Are there any plants that you would recommend?