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My ramshorn snail was acting strangly a few days ago and I really didnt pay attention. However today I noticed he was all the way in his shell not moving after a few minutes he came out a little and had a wound on his side then came the dwarf gourami who came up and bit the snail right on the wound. Im not sure what to do now as my only available tank now has no heater or filter (2 gallon bowl). I rearranged the aquascape thinking it was territory but he wont come out and is not eating. If neccesary I will euthanize but I want to avoid that at all cost. Is this normal for a dwarf gourami? Will the snail recover from his injury on his own?

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

The snail has retreated into his shell for protection. he
will regenerate the mantle within the confines of his shell,
and probably won't come out much until it is healed.

HTH<
Megil.

Remove the Snail to another tank or something where he will feels more safe.


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If we're talking a giant ramshorn then they are a species of applesnail and can breathe air. They also actually do just fine if not better in cool water so the best way to handle an injured applesnail is to move them to a shallow container with little to no water movement and no heater provided your house isn't below 60F. Gouramis are known for picking on and eating snails so it's no surprise the dwarf gourami is going after the snail.
Human intervention is also needed sometimes to help with shell damage. If his shell is damaged and not just his body I would post on applesnail.net. They know how to make fake sections and attach them to the shell or patch up holes that the snail wouldn't be able to heal itself.

His shell doesnt apear to be damaged but it is discolored around the wound area. I will put him in the other bowl today I hope it will help. Thanks for the advice!

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

Hey thanks for all your advice again I put him in the bowl with some new water and some from his old tank I also added some java moss. He is out moving around and eating now. I still have a few questions though 1. How long can he live in there? 2. When do I need to do matience I have never kept a snail alone with live plants?? 3. Would a betta be compatible in that tank (I know that this is more of a betta question but I dont want to start 2 posts)?

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

If he's injured, i would keep him on his own. How big is the bowl?. You can do regular water changes, as you do in your tank.


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It is a 2 gallon bowl that has never been set up before. I would just change the water like I do with my other tanks but I think it would cause amonia as I do water changes every 3 days on my other 2 tanks.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

changing water does not increase ammonia in any way. It lowers ammonia. The only time you'd increase ammonia by doing too much cleaning is if you gravel vac all the gravel everytime. The amount of free floating bacteria is next to none. Since you put the snail in an uncycled tank it would be good to change the water very frequently.
Bettas, just like the related gouramis, are likely to attack snails. Some do fine with snails, some just nip them a little without doing much damage, and some kill off the snails. I would not attempt to add a betta in with an injured snail or even with a healthy snail if there was nowhere else to move the snail in case things went wrong.