Please help with snails...

14 posts • Page 2 of 2

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


Sumthing_Fishy
 
Posts: 193
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:47 am

by Sumthing_Fishy

Yes, as soon as the water started to evaporate down a couple of inches, I couldn't find one of my snails one day. I went on to feed the other fish. As soon as I raised the lid to feed them, I had the @#$#@ scared out of me. The snail was on the underside of the lid laying eggs. It seemed like the cluster was twice as big as the snail. I think they started off trying to lay it on the glass above the water line, but wasn't quite enough room, so they moved higher. As soon as I took out a little more water, the other snail laid a cluster of eggs, and then they were laying eggs every day. I had at one time about 5 clusters all over the tank. It looked like someone had hung up some Honeycomb cereal in the tank.

You have to be careful after they lay the eggs not to bump the glass or touch the cluster to hard while cleaning the tank or it will knock the cluster off of the slime/glue that is holding it to the glass. I kept having my plecostomuses dive up for air every now and then, and they knocked several clusters off into the water. Strange thing is that the cluster of eggs will drown if it stays in the water. I read somewhere it takes a couple of weeks to hatch, but my cluster stayed there for a month, maybe 2 months and didn't see any new snails. Now I see that the eggs stay in the cluster and the little tiny snails crack out of the egg cluster and drop to the gravel where they stay. If you have dark-colored gravel, you can see them, but mine was natural-colored river pebbles, so they blended right in; they start off about a little bit smaller than a single peppercorn, but grow pretty quick. I was cleaning the gravel and seen a ton of the little tiny mystery snails in the vacuum tube, but was too heavy to be sucked up. I should've had 100's of mystery snails, but the other fish ate them up before they had a chance to grow, just a lot of tiny shells left in the gravel. I did rescue about 8 of them. I'm not sure what their life span is, but mine seem to die off in about a year, so I try to let them lay a couple of clusters of eggs to replace them with. I wish they were as hearty as the lil black pond snails, you can't kill them off!!

The snails I have like the algae tablet. They will wrap their body around a single tablet and suck it in. Then they will move on looking for droppings of fish food flakes and sucking the slime off of decorations, glass, etc. I try to leave a little water evaporation in the tank so they can go up the glass to the surface and stick out their oxygen tube thing to get some air, but I do have the same problem of them just dying all of a sudden, but I think the platies or guppies are doing something to them, but with the snails dying in that one spot, maybe there is a decoration there that they sucked on that had something on it that didn't agree with them.


jweb1369
 
Posts: 547
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:55 am

by jweb1369

awesome reply, thanks. I also put an algae tablet in there every other day or so since my tank isnt fully cycled. The woman at my pet store said they can actually climb out of the tank if there isn't a lid. Wow that would be scary, since that tank is on my moms night stand, hahhaha. Now I want a small tank on my night stand. Well the snails I bought yesterday seem to still be alive so thats a good sign, and no cloudy water. I bought a gold and a blue. I hope they lay eggs. The pond snails or whatever kind of nuisance snails that come on the plants, are still alive and well. I hope they reproduce fast. That would be great food for my puffer. I might also add some ghost shrimp to that little 2.77 gallon tank. Make it a little eco-system breeder tank for fish food.


Sumthing_Fishy
 
Posts: 193
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:47 am

by Sumthing_Fishy

Yep, you can't kill them pond snails. Lower your water line and you'll see some eggs soon. Good luck.


gumbii
 
Posts: 1695
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:31 am

by gumbii

i get copper trace in my tap water... you whould check your tap water for heavy metals or copper...

Please help with snails...

14 posts • Page 2 of 2

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