Hi Everyone, I'm in South Central PA and with the nights getting cooler and knowing that I was going to winter my goldfish indoors I decided to bring the fish in before the differences in the indoor/outdoor ponds were too drastically different. I now have my two goldies in a 40 gallon container with their pump and some plants. I wanted to bring in a few snails too, especially one I got this summer that is huge, I call him the grand daddy of them all. Anyway I brought two snails in and am thinking about bringing in two more. My question is that since this is a new set up and the fish just went in, is there enough stuff(algea, dirt, or whatever the snails survive on) in the pond to sustain two more snails or should I wait a little while before bringing in two more.

Thanks,
LisaB

In a new setup, there isn't any algae or debris yet. It doesn't matter though because the snails can eat most fish foods. Put in a sinking algae tablet (sold for plecostomus) a few times a week if they're not getting enough leftovers. How big are the snails? If they're apple snails, they won't survive the winter outside anyway.

HI LisaB53
In bringing your goldies and the snails indoors for the winter you are doing the correct thing. :)
Facy goldfish dont like to overwinter unlike your buck standard variety the smails will take to their indoor life and be protected against the winter elements in that way. :)
As Robyn correctly states you don't need Algae for them to survive, try feeding them things like cucumber from a fish feeding clip (so it dosent float away) they'll also eat many other things. :)
A very important thing to remember is that in the spring equalize your 40 gallon container's temperature to that of the pond before putting your fancies back in as you don't wish to give them what is known as Thermal shock(fish tend to prefare going up in Temperature rather than down), when it comes time for you to be taking the temperature down, do it over a number of days as opposed to striaght in. :)
rgrds
broxanval Fishiedude Flowersmile

My snails are trapdoor snails and I have everything from the large grand daddy size to the babies still in the pond. I am told they are hardy and will over winter in a pond but since my ponds are the small preformed and not to deep into the soil I wasn't sure that they wouldn't freeze. I am going to gather as many of the really small ones in the next two weeks and take them to my friend at our local pet shop.

I didn't realize that snails would eat so many other things. I'll stop at the pet store tomorrow and get those algea tablets and I'll look for the fish clips. I suppose I could pin down a big piece of green such as romaine lettuce too.

It's funny when I got the first snails they really creeped me out and now I just love the snails.

Thanks for your suggestions.

LisaB

Hi LisaB53
Yes snails will eat lots of things :) the fish clip you are after is a Peg type thing with two flat edges at one end where the food is secured and a sticker the other so you can stick the whole thing to the side of your tank :)
rgrds
broxandval Fishiedude Flowersmile

Hi Lisa, Where are you in PA, what city are you near? I am north of Phila. & I also bring my fish in for the winter. I keep them in an enclosed back porch that is semi- heated & they love it, mainly because the little, I should say big piggies get to eat all winter. I just got trapdoor snails this year, but I was told they could over winter in the pond. My pond is small, 90 gal. almost 2 ft. deep, now I am wondering if I should bring them in as well, the frogs stay outside but don't always survive. :(

Hi Rosiemeadow/LisaB53
Next Winter I'm dreading !!!.... as it will be the first winter for 20+ years for some of our koi, in that they will be out in the cold so to speak. :o
Brian our health man thinks they'll get through ok but I should use a pond heater to take away some of the cold all the same. :)
The heater's are 300 watts so god knows how much that'll add on to the fuel bill, he suggests putting it on a timer and having it go on every other hour. :huh:
I'm going to have two thermometers outside this winter, one measuring the air temperature the other will be a pond one measuring the water temperature minus a heater . :(
I'm starting a new log book for the pond anyway, so it'll be nothing to add in two extra bits for temperature. :)
The pond being black though should warm up with the sun ever so slightly during the daylight hours, then we'll also have two 20mm layers of polystyrene for insulation as well as a half log screen (lets hope it's enough). :unsure:
rgds
broxandval Fishiedude Flowersmile
Robyn your thoughts on this please :) Flowersmile

My pond de-icer is 1250 Watts, and I run two of them (on two ponds). They only come on when it's down to freezing. I guess you'll find out this winter how cold it gets where you are. The koi can take it down to freezing. Air exchange is the big thing if ice forms so keeping a hole in the ice is the main thing to worry about. The koi will slowly get used to the cooler temperatures if you put them out next spring.

Rosiemeadow, if you bring in the fish, I would say to bring in the trapdoor snails too. Your pond may be deep enough for them to overwinter if you add a de-icer and/or aerator but you probably don't want to bother with that just for snails.

Robyn, I keep the filter running all winter in the pond, last yr. I also used a deicer, just not all the time. In that case should I still bring in the snails? I keep the pump on for the frogs, they died though I think from them coming up to soon & getting to cold, I don't really know, funny thing though I found a tiny frog in there when I cleaned it in the spring so that one survived. :huh:

Hello Rosiemeadow

I leave my trapdoor snails in the pond all winter and they seem to do perfectly well. My pond is no deeper than yours, so as long as your pond doesn't reeeze all the way down, the snails should be alright. I don't leave my filter or fountain on all winter, so during cold spells the the pond surface freezes over to the depth of a few inches.

Hi Arey, Thanks for your input. I think I am going to leave them outside, I might bring in two or so (I have 12) just to see if they do ok inside as my indoor stock tank doesn't get any algae in it, with my piggy fish they won't have anything to eat! :lol:

As Robyn said earlier, the sinking algae tablets are good for feeding snails. I throw some in my pond now and then to give the snails and tadpoles a treat.

If you're keeping the pond open with a de-icer, etc., then the trapdoor snails should be okay.

I brought two snails in the other day, I hope they weren't in shock as the indoor stock tank water is warmer than the outside pond water, also there was a lot of algae growth in the pond...I think I should have just left them out there, my DH says I mess with nature too much <_<

When I was cleaning the indoor pond tank filter, one of the snails was attached to the filter, when I took it off I noticed the shell seemed soft, is that normal?

No, the shell shouldn't be soft. The hardness may be low in the indoor pond. You can add some calcium carbonate as a powder or in the form of oyster shells or cuttlebone. That may help.

See http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snails/snailhealth.htm#effect

Thanks Robyn, our water is very soft, we have a softner on our well water system, but it is the same water that is in the outside pond so I can't see how that could be the problem, of course it could be that the outdoor pond gets rain water in it. I will try your suggestion, by the way it won't harm the fish to add this will it also where would I find this, could I use calcium tablets that I take?

It's highly unlikely that you would add too much calcium carbonate to the water to harm the fish especially if you use cuttlebone, oyster shell, or crushed coral. Those will just slowly dissolve. Most pet stores and places like http://www.drsfostersmith.com sell cuttlebone (for caged birds) and crushed coral (for saltwater tank substrate). Any farm supply store sells crushed oyster shells for chickens and other farm birds. I have it for my chickens and also use it in mesh bags in my aquariums and ponds as needed.

There are various aquarium and pond additives that say they raise the hardness; some of those use calcium carbonate, some use other chemicals. You can buy and add lime powder (from crushed limestone, sold at home supply stores) but you have to be sure it is just calcium carbonate and that you don't add too much of it. You can overdose when using powders.

If your calcium pills are only calcium carbonate, you can use them but that's doubtful (that they're just calcium carbonate). I'm sure that they add sugars, flavors, and colors to them. Tums are mostly calcium carbonate from limestone but they add lots of other things.