odd feeding behaivior

my son just called me and told me his bristlenose swam up to one of the pond snails in his tank, latched onto it and took it to the bottom with him, well he said he chewed on it for awhile and he says he then spit shell fragments out. he then says that the pleco swam up and did it again!! I asked him if he was feeding them, he said yes, he gives them algae wafers to supplement flake food, I am finding this hard to believe, but my son is not one to make things up...but I am still finding this hard to believe.....is this possible? we are both questioning how this is possible, since as I understand, pleco's do not have bottom jaws, correct me if I am wrong? thanks a million!

I have mts snails in my tanks and I have seen my BN, generally the juvis roll the snails around in their mouths. I am not sure they are really trying to eat the snails, perhaps sucking bio matter off of their shells.

I have been thinking about spitting out the shell fragments. Pond snails have more fragile shells than mts. It's possible that their shells could not withstand the pressure the BN put on it while mouthing it to get the bio film. BN may not have a biting jaw, but their mouth parts are formidable nonetheless.

I am sorry for not getting back sooner, been away from my pc for awhile, I appreciate the responses! These are pond snails, He told me he noticed that some of the snails in his tank are almost white, and have a very fragile shell, I have some white pond snails in my tank also, I was wondering if they were maybe albino, but when he told me the shell broke easily, it make me wonder if they are going thru some sort of molt? I do not know much about snails, lol, so he thinks that maybe the pleco is targeting these snails, I asked him what color the snails were that the pleco got, he said he was not paying attention at the time and was more in shock that the thing was spitting out shell fragments, I have seen my angels do this because i crush the snails for them..thankyou for your replies, so now i know that at least it may be possible and maybe his pleco has developed a taste for them!! yeah!! snail control!! now I need to train mine to do this! thanks

They could be white Ramshorn snails but I thought they were rare in the States.

The most likely cause is lack of calcium, they need calcium rich water to build strong shells, which is leaving the shell weak and easy to break. A lot of Apple snail keepers use liquid calcium to maintain them

There is an article HERE about boosting calcium levels.

I am going to attempt it attach a photo I just took, hopefully it works, they are pics of the snails in question, in my tanks at least, I am not sure of my son's as they are at his dad's house.....I have never squashed the white ones, only the regular colored ones,so I am not sure if there shell is soft or not, I also have these that are a brilliant firey red when the light goes thru there shell, they all seem healthy and are thriving, there shells appear healthy, but like I said I am no snail expert, as a matter of fact, I am trying to get rid of them! thank you for your replies!!

ok, how on earth do you post a photo to this forum??? thanks

lets try some links, my luck they won't work lol


http://www.flickr.com/photos/twiggy2151/5405676513/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/twiggy2151/5406286156/

twiggy2151 wrote:

lets try some links, my luck they won't work lol


http://www.flickr.com/photos/twiggy2151/5405676513/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/twiggy2151/5406286156/

your links worked fine, jim gave you some good advice there

cool, thanks!!