Mystery snails will choose a day to do the most random things, and in the end, you’re in a frenzy trying to figure out if they’re okay. The damning part is that at that moment, there’s a chance that your pet could be suffering with an equal chance of them being fine. After this discussion, you’ll fully understand why your mystery snail is floating to help you figure out whether it’s a harmless act or a symptom of discomfort.
Mystery snails float whenever they feel like and most of the time, they will float intentionally. They can trap air bubbles in their little shells and stay buoyant until they feel the need to sink. Your mollusk may be floating to find more food, to get to the surface, or simply to mess around. They will also waft around when they deem their environment unconducive.
How Do Mystery Snails Float?
Mystery snails have a unique ability to float on the surface of the water by trapping air inside their shell. They use a structure called a “siphon,” which allows the snail to draw in air from the surface and store it in a special chamber within its shell. When the snail wishes to float, it simply traps air into its shell which causes it to become buoyant and rise to the surface. To descend, it will release the trapped air allowing it to drop to the bottom of the tank.
5 Reasons Why Your Mystery Snail Is Floating Around
Floating is pretty normal for mystery snails. It only becomes a problem when they remain floating for too long, or when the action interferes with their feeding. Here are 5 major reasons why your pet is drifting around:
1. Your Mystery Snail Is Seeking Greener Pastures
Mystery snails can ride the water current, using it to their advantage to change location in search of more food. Since they are slow-moving animals, an opportunity to move around by wafting along the water current is relished. Your pet may be floating to the surface in hopes that it will be transported to a place with more food and options to choose from. This behavior is more likely to occur when you feed your snails an incomplete diet such as only algae or only vegetables without protein sources.
2. Your Mystery Snail Has Some Trapped Air
Mysteries may float to the surface to lounge around, breathe a bit of air, or lay some eggs as they happen to lay above the waterline. Sometimes, they will trap air into their shells before sealing it. In cases where they’re not trying to change location by riding the current, they may mistakenly become buoyant and fall asleep. This will cause them to float in the tank until they release the pouch of air.
3. The Water Parameters Are Unfavorable
Maintaining conducive water conditions for your mystery snails is crucial for their survival and well-being. If pH, temperature, or the general hygiene in the aquarium is bad, your pets will begin to display negative signs. These signs may be excessive slime production, lack of appetite, inactivity, and floating to the surface in an attempt to escape their predicament.
Floating is mostly experienced when the water has turned toxic, as your snails will be forced to find oxygen elsewhere. They will then waft to the surface to breathe with their siphons which could increase buoyancy and cause them to float.
4. Your Mystery Snail Is Just Playing Around
The love story between mystery snails and air stones is indeed intriguing! They love riding on bubbles so much so that the term has been coined “parasnailing”. If you have an air stone, you may find your snaily pet riding with the bubbles now and then. There’s no problem with this, as long as the pressure is moderate. If it’s too high—bubbles shooting out of the device at outrageous speeds—your mystery snail may be flung about so hard that it hits a surface and cracks its shell. This could be fatally dangerous in the worst-case scenarios.
5. Your Pet May Be Dying
Weak and dying mystery snails have little to no coordination when they move. And in some cases, they end up toppling over or remaining buoyant against their will. Sadly, a few mystery snail owners have reported their snails dying 2 to 3 days after strangely floating around the tanks. However, it’s mostly associated with other situations or symptoms related to old age or illnesses.
What To Do When Your Mystery Snails Are Floating Excessively
If your snail has been floating around the tank for more than 24 to 48 hours, it may have become something more sinister than mere leisure. Here’s how to handle the situation:
Confirm Your Tank’s Water Parameters Are Correct
Mystery snails need oxygen to survive, and they have special techniques that help them siphon air above water when their home becomes toxic. If the tank is dirty, ammonia levels are naturally high which is harmful to breathe or dwell in—that could be why your mystery snail keeps floating to the surface.
All you need to do is use an API water testing kit (view on Amazon) to determine the parameters of your aquarium. It easily and accurately measures the individual chemicals in your tank using some of the water. If ammonia is increased, you may either need to perform a 20% water change or introduce ammonia-eating bacteria to properly cycle the tank.
Either way, using your testing kit and this mystery snail water parameter table below, you will readily determine what has gone wrong in your tank.
| Parameters | Ideal Range |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 70 – 80 (°F) |
| pH | 7.6 – 8.0 |
| Ammonia (NH3/NH4+) | 0 |
| Nitrite (NO2-) | 0 |
| Nitrate (NO3-) | 0 |
| Copper (Cu) | 0 |
| Water hardness | 150 – 300 ppm |
| Salinity | 0 |
Provide The Necessary Diet For Your Snails
Mystery snails are heavy eaters and they have a good perception of smells that allow them to enjoy their food. Particularly, they enjoy feeding on detritus. Since they are omnivorous, mysteries will gravitate towards protein and plant-based food to stay healthy.
Providing your pet with the correct foods at all times not only keeps them healthy and alive but also keeps them inside their home. By feeding your mystery snails the correct diet, you’d be able to stop them from riding false currents in an attempt to find more food.
For example, algae are not sustainable for mysteries since their species are not good algae eaters. Instead, feed them foods like shrimp, strips of fresh fish, blanched vegetables like carrots, green beans, or zucchini, and a constant supply of calcium like cuttlefish bone. The calcium supply is necessary to prevent your snail’s shell from decaying, eroding, or cracking at the smallest pressure. The more you provide these food varieties, the more engaged your snail will be in its tank.
Suspend The Snail Upside Down
Mystery snails are weird pets. They could mistakenly trap air inside their shells and fall asleep, causing them to float around the tank. The more they float, the more uncomfortable they become, keeping them further locked away in their shells with the trapped air.
If you have checked and confirmed the proper water parameters and food supply, you can help your pet release this trapped air by holding it upside down above the water. Be sure to hold it gently so that you don’t frighten your pet and further push it inside its shell. After a few minutes of its trapdoor facing the floor, gravity will help pull water from its shell along with the trapped air. When you plop the snail back into the tank, it will sink straight to the bottom and be back to normal.
Is My Floating Mystery Snail Dead?
When mystery snails die, they decompose and release a horrid stench almost similar to rotten eggs. You simply couldn’t mistake it even if you tried to. If you suspect your pet has passed away, take it out of the water and give it a whiff. If dead, the smell will hit you faster than you think. Otherwise, your pet is just sleeping and wants to be left alone.
