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Pomacea canaliculata being given away at Petco (Hwy 290 location)
I just had my first incident with a poor tank resident choice. I was in the Hwy 290 Petco this weekend getting a $1 gal sale tank (I'm being dragged into the hobby already!) I decided to check what they had in stock. In the tank next to the mystery snails they had a bumper crop of Apple Snails (Pomacea canaliculata.) Talking with the aquatics clerk (I'm sorry, but I don't remember his name), I found out he had brought them in to clean up stray algae in the tanks and during that time they laid several clutches of eggs above their tanks. At the time he had the hatched babies hanging out in their own tank munching on some cucumber. I asked about them, and ended up buying one to take home (he marked it as a gold inca.)
It leveled a good deal of the Vallisneria in my tank over the next couple of days. It also got in a fight with one of my Pomacea diffusa, which I'll admit, was funny to watch but not a good thing. It was a slow battle shell to shell trying to flip each other over. Made me worry about if diffusa and canaliculata can cross, in case the fighting was "fighting." So I took it back and swapped it for another Ivory diffusa. The new clerk on duty told me they Apple snails were now free.
Apple Snails (Pomacea, except diffusa/bridgesii) are invasives.
Scoured the invasive species post/lists:
Applesnails and Giant Ram's-horn Snails
All genera and species of the Family Ampullariidae (previously called Pilidae) including Pomacea and Marisa, except spiketop applesnail (Pomacea bridgesii)
It leveled a good deal of the Vallisneria in my tank over the next couple of days. It also got in a fight with one of my Pomacea diffusa, which I'll admit, was funny to watch but not a good thing. It was a slow battle shell to shell trying to flip each other over. Made me worry about if diffusa and canaliculata can cross, in case the fighting was "fighting." So I took it back and swapped it for another Ivory diffusa. The new clerk on duty told me they Apple snails were now free.
Apple Snails (Pomacea, except diffusa/bridgesii) are invasives.
Scoured the invasive species post/lists:
Applesnails and Giant Ram's-horn Snails
All genera and species of the Family Ampullariidae (previously called Pilidae) including Pomacea and Marisa, except spiketop applesnail (Pomacea bridgesii)