We recently purchased a snail and 2 goldfish at Wal-mart for our kids. My mom bought us a very creative fish bowl for Christmas. It is just a bowl, no air attachments or anything. (its actually a statue of a fish with a bowl that sits on top = a fish bowl :rolleyes: ) anyway.....the guy at Wal-Mart said all 3 are cool water animals and would do fine living together as long as I change the water every 3-4 days. The snail is a Gold-Snail.

My question is: Why would he play dead? I went to feed the fish tonight and noticed that the snail was floating on top of the water. I scooped him out and with a straw gently touched his body and he squeezed his trapdoor shut a little more, not fully closing it though. I only can assume he is playing dead after reading your Snail FAQ section...but, my son will ask in the morning...WHY?? So, why does a snail float on top of the water? ;)

Also, the guy at wal-mart said he would just eat the fish food...is this really enough? I saw here on your site, about feeding them lettuce, broccoli, etc. Do you just drop this into the water?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Angela

First, read over these pages on my site:
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/gfish.htm
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snail.htm and the apple snail section on http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snail2.htm

Goldfish absolutely should not be kept in bowls because they are large, fast growing fish. I've had many 12-14" long. The "golden snail" is probably an apple snail which also grow large. Mine's almost tennis ball sized. See applesnail.net for more on them than you ever wanted to know. My biggest recommendation would have to be to get as large a tank as you can, ASAP. In the mean time, at least try to put in an air stone for aeration.

Snails don't need a reason to float around. They sometimes just do it. He may be stressed. Have you checked out your water quality? I mean testing the pH, ammonia, nitrite, oxygen, and chlorine levels? Did you use dechlorinator? You REALLY need a larger tank with filtration and aeration. A big reason snails will hang around the surface is to get oxygen. They can breathe air somewhat. Since you have no aeration or other water movement, the oxygen levels are probably low. The goldfish may also gasp at the surface if it gets too low.

The snail can live on just fish food. They do love veggies so you can try those. The thing is that in a small bowl, those things may increase the pollution such that the negativity of that outweighs the benefits. The goldfish will also try to eat the veggies and make a mess. In a tank with filtration, that may be ok but a bowl may quickly become fouled.

I really pains me that pet stores and most people think that tiny fish bowls are adequate homes for any animals, let alone goldfish. So many animals have died as a result, and many children have lost their buddies. I suggest you buy a 20 gallon tank to start. If it's too expensive for your budget, try getting a used one. Good luck!

Thanks for your quick reply.

Sadly, one of our goldfish died today - the bubbly one as we call him. He has the two bubble sacks under each eye.

The other goldfish seems to be doing fine. The snail is still floating around.

We are going out tonight for a better tank and a replacement fish. We will definitely get a larger tank with air attachments.

I'm not sure what to do with this fish bowl now though. Any suggestions on what WILL live in a small bowl with no air attachments? It is really a neat setup and my mom would be hurt if we don't have something living in it.

thanks in advance again. :D

I'm sorry that your bubble-eyed goldfish died. They are one of the most sensitive varieties of goldfish and often die without just the perfect setup.

How big is the bowl? I personally won't keep fish in a bowl at least long term. If you asked the generic aquarist, they would suggest a betta for the bowl. Bettas deserve better in my opinion but you can read about them at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/betta.htm
They also need heat so if the room is under 75 degrees F, you'd need a heater in the bowl which usually won't work if the bowl's tiny.
If the bowl is a big one, it might be able to take a young paradise fish which does not require a heater. There's more on them at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/parad.htm
Those two fish are labyrinth fish which means they can breathe atmospheric oxygen if the bowl is too low in oxygen. They do however do much better in real tanks with room to swim and clean, filtered water. If you get either of those fish, do not at any point put them with the fancy goldfish, or they will shred their fins. If the bowl were filtered, you could try some mini tropical fish but this is something that is hard to do successfully long term for even those with experience.

Good luck!

Hello Robyn,

We purchased a 10 gallon tank at Wal-mart last night. It has a filter system and air pump.

Everyone seems to be doing much better....our snail even came out of his shell and is happily stuck to the side of the tank again. We purchased a Black Moor and another goldfish of some sorts (silver body with black and orange dots and stripes). We are going to add another snail or two.

We plan on upgrading to a larger tank as time goes on, but right now my son wants some frogs too so we are going to get a few of those but have to get another tank with a heater for those, from what I understand.

Thanks for your help...your advice helped us to save the lives of the snail and one of the goldfishes.

Names, as assigned and defined by our 4 year old son:
Snail - Cruise (because he was cruising on top of the water)
Goldfish #1 - Dottie (gold, speckled with black dots)
Goldfish #2 - Stripey (silver with black/orange dots & stripes)
Black Moor - Buggy (because he has bug-eyes)

Take care,
Angela

The bowl is a little more than a gallon. We've decided to not put anything else aquatic in it - instead, we'll either a get a hermit crab or put one of those plants that can float in water in it. But that will be the extent of it. My son took the dying of Bubbly ok, buried him and asked Jesus to keep him in heaven but I don't want to get in the rut of having fish dying all the time. Not fair to our kids (our daughter is too young to understand right now, but she won't be for long) and its not fair to the fish either.

So, crab or plant it will be......

As the goldfish grow, hopefully they will do well, and you will need to get them a larger tank in maybe a few years. For the smaller fancy goldfish, it is said that 10 gallons per fish as adults or more is best. Since the fish you have are small, for now, things may go ok. You might want to buy some test kits to monitor the pH and ammonia levels at the least. See my water chemistry page at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/chem.htm

I'm glad you won't be putting any more fish in a scant 1 gallon container. It's not really big enough for a hermit crab either. It's fine to try to grow some plants in it though. Maybe your kids could decorate it with some fake aquatic animals like those little plastic fish and things.

Stripey might be a shubunkin goldfish if the tail is single or a calico fantail goldfish if the tail is fancy/split.

What kind of filter does your 10 gallon have? If it came in a kit, it's probably not the greatest filter so I suggest buying another filter, something like the MarineLand Penguin Mini that I used on my 10 gallon.

Enjoy your fish and snails!