I have a cluster of Mystery Snail eggs that are about to hatch, so Snello is also a great option for snail babies. I have included a few recipes for you; although it doesn’t look like it, some freshwater snails can be picky eaters, so it is always nice to experiment with a recipe and see which ones work best with the least effort.

If you are like me and saw that your freshwater aquatic snail shell isn’t looking too great and want to provide them with more calcium for better overall shell health, these recipes about how to make Snello are for you.

Related tool

Scale your recipe with the Snello Batch Scaler.

What Is This Snail Food?

Snello is an amazingly cheap and easy food you can make at home for your snails and other invertebrates in your freshwater aquarium. At first, I thought it would be a huge job, but it was quick. It provides you with quite a lot of food that lasts forever in the freezer.

Snello can be given to all freshwater snails and shrimp. I usually drop a piece or two of Snello into my community tank at night before I go to bed. This ensures the fish don’t eat it before the snails can reach it. Aquarium snails are usually very active at night, so feeding them when the rest of the tank sleeps works best.

This matters even more if your snails share a tank with goldfish.

Kitchen counter laid out with a blender of green puree, a tub of fish flakes, gelatine, antacid tablets, and cling film
Quick Snello Ingredients List

Ingredients To Use

Vegetables

Most recipes call for green vegetables, sweet potatoes, or carrots. You can buy canned beans or peas without salt, use baby food, or use fresh veggies that have been sitting in your fridge for too long. It all depends on the time and effort you want to put into this.

  • Spinach
  • Lettuce
  • Green beans
  • Peas
  • Kale or collard greens
  • Zucchini

If you use fresh veggies, steam them until they are soft enough to go into the blender. If you choose canned products, drain the contents first. Baby food is a great option because it usually does not contain any nasty stuff.

Garlic

Fresh crushed garlic is also a great addition to your recipe because it helps kill all kinds of parasites. Unfortunately, garlic has an odor that can eventually make your tank water smell like garlic, which is not my favorite.

Calcium

You can use calcium carbonate powder or tablets. I found it difficult to get calcium carbonate without vitamin D, so I eventually discovered that the fruit-flavored Eno Tums are just calcium carbonate and some sugar—what a win!

Please ensure that your calcium supplement does not contain vitamin D, as it harms your snails. I read that some people use marine calcium in their recipes at half the dosage, but I would not recommend it because you do not know the exact trace elements. Since your invertebrates consume the Snello, they may absorb too much of something you did not intend to add.

Tip: If you have snail egg clusters that you are not planning to hatch, you can remove them from your tank, freeze them, crush them, and add them back into your Snello for extra calcium.

Protein

Many people add a bit of frozen protein to the mix. It is unnecessary, but it can definitely be added if you have it on hand for extra nutrition. Popular protein options include frozen bloodworms, ground krill, cooked fish, and eggs.

Fish Flakes

Fish flakes help provide extra food for your snails and bulk up the jello. Tropical fish flakes work well. If you only have pellets, you can crush them in too. The best pellets to use are pellets for carnivorous fish, as they contain the most nutrients for the snails and shrimp.

Gelatin Powder

Gelatin powder is the key to making the jello come alive. Some people prefer to use agar agar powder to help set the ingredients because it does not come from animals.

Additional Supplements

Depending on your invertebrates’ requirements, you can add spirulina, kelp powder, or Seachem Nourish for iodine.

Fruit

Some people add fruit like strawberries, bananas, and pears. This is entirely up to you, and what your snails enjoy at the end of the day matters most.

A printable recipe card listing the ingredients and steps for a homemade gelatine-based invertebrate food
Quick Recipe on how to make Snello.

Recipe Options

Recipe One: Throw Together What You Have

Materials Needed

  • Blender
  • Pot
  • Ziploc bag or mortar and pestle
  • Cling film
  • Sheet pan
  • Baking paper
  • Freezer-safe storage container

Ingredients

  • 1 handful fresh spinach, or another leafy green
  • 1 cup other green vegetables, such as 1/2 cup frozen broccoli and 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 3 Eno chewable tablets or Tums, orange flavor
  • 4 tsp tropical fish flakes, or any flakes you have available
  • 2 tbs gelatin powder

Method

  1. Cook the vegetables in a pot with a little water until they are soft enough to blend.
  2. Crush the Tums and fish flakes in a bag, or use a mortar and pestle.
  3. Add the hot vegetables and water from the pot straight into the blender.
  4. Add the gelatin powder and other dry ingredients, then blend until smooth.
  5. Wrap a sheet pan with cling film and pour the mixture into the pan.
  6. Tap the pan to remove bubbles, refrigerate until set, cut into cubes, and store in the freezer.

Tip: Use baking paper between layers when storing your Snello cubes in the freezer.

The key to Linda's quick Snello recipe is to have everything hot enough in the blender for the gelatin to activate, so make sure to add the gelatin while the mixture is still nice and hot.

A sheet of set green gel on a foil-lined tray cut into small squares, with more pieces in an ice cube tray
Set Snello In Sheet Pan Cut Into Cubes

Below, I will add some additional recipes for you that include alternative ingredients as well as some protein. This will help you understand how and with what you can alter your own recipes and find out what suits you best.

Recipe Two: Baby Food Snello

Materials Needed

  • Microwave-safe bowl
  • Ziploc bag or mortar and pestle
  • Container with a flat bottom
  • Freezer-safe storage container

Ingredients

  • 2 jars green vegetable baby food, such as spinach, zucchini, and peas
  • 4 calcium carbonate tablets, or 2 tsp powdered calcium without vitamin D
  • 2 tbs fish flakes
  • 1 packet unflavoured gelatin powder

Method

  1. Empty the baby food into a microwave-safe bowl and heat until hot, stirring regularly.
  2. Crush the calcium tablets and fish flakes in a bag, or use a mortar and pestle.
  3. Slowly add the gelatin powder to the hot baby food while stirring to avoid lumps.
  4. Add the crushed fish flakes and calcium powder, then stir until combined.
  5. Pour the mixture into a flat-bottom container and refrigerate until set.
  6. Cut into cubes and store in the freezer.

Tip: You can add frozen Snello directly into your fish tank.

A hand holding a clear lidded container packed with small green frozen food cubes
Snello Storage For Freezer

Recipe Three: Bulk It Up

This recipe makes about 4 cups of Snello.

Materials Needed

  • Blender
  • Pot
  • Sheet pan
  • Baking paper or parchment paper
  • Ziploc freezer bag

Ingredients

  • 1 cup spinach, lettuce, kale, or collard greens
  • 1 1/4 cups diced sweet potatoes or carrots
  • 1 1/2 tins unsalted canned green beans or peas, drained
  • 1 clove fresh garlic, crushed
  • 3 tbs ground krill or frozen bloodworm
  • 3 tbs fish flakes or crushed carnivorous fish pellets
  • 2 tbs calcium carbonate powder
  • 2 tsp spirulina or kelp powder, or 2 capfuls Seachem Nourish
  • 4 tbs gelatin powder

Method

  1. Steam the vegetables in a pot until they are soft enough to blend.
  2. Crush the fish flakes, then mix them with the calcium, spirulina, or kelp powder in a bowl.
  3. Add the hot vegetables and a small amount of water from the pot into the blender.
  4. Add the garlic and remaining ingredients to the blender, then blend until smooth.
  5. Transfer the mixture to a pot over medium heat and stir until steamy but not bubbling.
  6. Remove from heat, pour into the lined sheet pan, and place in the freezer to set.
  7. Cut into cubes once set, freeze overnight, and place the frozen cubes in a Ziploc bag for easy storage.

Tip: Keep the mixture on the thicker side in the blender to help it set properly. Do not add too much water.

A snail on a plant leaf feeding on a pale green food blob in a planted tank
Mystery Snail Eating Snello

Recipe Four: Fresh Fruit And Veggies

Materials Needed

  • Blender
  • Cling film
  • Sheet pan
  • Baking paper
  • Freezer-safe storage container

Ingredients

  • Fruit: 1/4 apple, 1/4 pear, 1 strawberry, and 1/2 banana
  • Vegetables: 4 green beans, 1/2 medium carrot, 1 inch slice zucchini, 1 broccoli floret, 1/2 inch slice sweet potato, and 1 handful lettuce
  • 2 tsp spirulina powder
  • 1 tbs frozen bloodworms
  • 1 tbs calcium carbonate powder
  • 1 1/2 packets gelatin powder

Method

  1. Cook the vegetables in a pot with some water until they are soft enough to blend.
  2. Add the hot vegetables and some of the water from the pot into the blender.
  3. Add the bloodworms, fruit, calcium, spirulina, and gelatin, then blend until smooth.
  4. If the mixture is too cold, warm it in a pot to make sure the gelatin dissolves properly.
  5. Wrap a sheet pan with cling film and pour the mixture onto it.
  6. Tap to remove bubbles, refrigerate until set, cut into cubes, and store in the freezer.

Tip: Use baking paper between layers when storing your Snello in the freezer.