Black Mystery Snails (Pomacea bridgesii) are totally safe with any fish, shrimp, or plants, and are completely peaceful

photo credit: Aquatic Arts

For more than just adding a dash of color to your aquarium, snails like these can be extremely beneficial. Cleansing your substrate is a breeze with them because they eat hair algae and remove it from your ornaments, plants, and even glass. All fish, shrimp, and plants are completely unaffected by them. Adult snails can grow up to three inches in diameter!

These mysterious black snails can be any shade of black or dark purple. Dark purple with gray striping can be found alongside black with tan striping. One of our favorite color combinations of these snails is a black one with purple stripes, which is produced from time to time. If you order multiple snails, you're more likely to get a purple one than a black one.

In comparison to other freshwater snails, Mystery Snails are much more active and show more playful behavior. Extending their antennae in search of food, they scale the aquarium walls almost constantly. Make sure the water level in your aquarium isn't too high, as they will climb up to the water line in order to take a breath of air.

As a result, most of our Mystery Snails will arrive at a smaller size (around 1/2 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter) so that they can be kept and enjoyed for a longer period of time. It's possible for a young Mystery Snail to double in size in just a matter of weeks or months if it is fed properly. When using tap water in a freshwater snail tank, it's a good idea to check for copper levels, as all freshwater snails are susceptible to copper poisoning.

You'll see a lot of results online claiming that Mystery Snails and Apple Snails are one and the same. Despite their resemblance to Apple Snails, these are not the same species. Keeping Apple Snails in the United States is illegal because they are invasive species. Apple Snails, in comparison to our Mystery Snails, do not reach such enormous sizes (often as big as an apple).