The Chocolate Striped Rabbit Snail is a large, slow Sulawesi grazer, sold as Tylomelania sp., for keepers who already run a mature, warm, alkaline Sulawesi tank. The snail itself is a moderate keep. The tank it needs is the demanding part, so it isn’t a way into Sulawesi keeping and it isn’t a beginner’s snail.
It’s named for its dark brown body marked with lighter stripes, and every one we sell is tank-bred by Shrimp Aquatics, not collected from the wild. Rabbit snails are live-bearers that release young already shelled, but we don’t promise breeding, sex or the number of young from any order.
Does your water match what a Chocolate Striped Rabbit Snail needs?
Test before you order. These are the numbers we keep every Sulawesi rabbit snail to, and they’re the same as for Sulawesi shrimp.
| Temperature | 79-86°F (26-30°C) |
|---|---|
| pH | 7.5-8.5 |
| GH | 4-8 dGH |
| KH | 3-6 dKH |
| TDS | 150-250 ppm |
| Nitrate | Keep it under 10 ppm |
| Substrate | Inert sand or gravel with rock; no active pH-lowering soil |
Test first
If your tank runs cooler than 79°F, or your pH, GH or KH sits below these numbers, don’t order yet. Fix the water and hold it steady for a few weeks first. A shell grows in this water every day, and KH that keeps drifting down is what we’d watch most closely.
Get the tank ready before a Chocolate Striped Rabbit Snail arrives
This snail grazes the film of algae and biofilm that grows on rock and glass. It needs that layer already there on day one, and prepared food won’t make up for a young tank.
- The tank is fully cycled, with ammonia and nitrite both at 0 and a biological filter that’s been running for a while.
- You can see a film of algae and biofilm on the rock and glass.
- Temperature, pH, GH, KH and TDS have held inside the table above between tests.
- The substrate is inert and nothing in the tank is pulling pH down.
- There’s enough open floor and grazing surface for a big snail on top of any shrimp already there.
- No copper-based medication or product has gone into the tank.
Floor space matters more than you’d guess for an animal this size. Extra wood or rock adds grazing surface but won’t stand in for floor when you weigh rabbit snail tank size against hardscape.
Which tankmates can share a Chocolate Striped Rabbit Snail tank?
Sulawesi shrimp are the natural partner, since they live in the same water. The only question is whether the grazing surface can feed both, and a snail this size counts toward that load.
A few pairings don’t work at all. Neocaridina shrimp need cooler water, and their temperature range doesn’t overlap with this tank at any point. Bee and Taiwan Bee shrimp want soft, acidic water, which is the opposite of what this snail needs. Assassin snails eat other snails, so never add them. Keep copper and copper-based medications out of this tank completely.
What a Chocolate Striped Rabbit Snail needs from you once it arrives
Follow the acclimation instructions that come with your order, since packing and transit can change what’s right for that box. Keep the lights low and skip feeding on arrival day. Don’t worry if the snail stays shut in its shell for a while; that’s normal after a move.
After that, the biofilm does most of the feeding. Add a little prepared food only if the grazing layer runs thin, and lift anything uneaten within a few hours so it doesn’t foul warm water. Please don’t buy this snail as a cleanup crew or an algae remover.
If your tank passes every check above, you’ll find this line with the rest of our tank-bred Sulawesi snail range.
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