Snails

[Vissengirl]

I have two snails. I've read a little on them (there isn't any profile here on them right?). I'm confused as to the difference between an Apple snail and a Gold Mystery snail (sometimes the more I read up on something the more confusing it gets because of all of the conflicting info) but the snails I have look exactly like the one in my avatar.
Today I noticed an egg sac. This happened in my last tank years ago and out of what seemed like a 100 babies, we ended up with one who didn't get all that big in the end. I can't remember if at that time we had cichlids in there or not but right now I do have two Angelfish. I'd like to accommodate these little guys as much as I can, although funds are tight and getting that other tank I want just won't be happening for a few weeks at least. These wouldn't be the kind of snails that people have overpopulation problems with would they?
Any suggestions?

 

[FroggyFox]

Gold Mystery snails ARE Apple Snails. They need two snails, male and female, to breed and lay eggs. Then the eggs have to incubate for a couple weeks with the right humidity (not too wet not too dry) before little ones will hatch and yes there will probably be at least a hundred of them. They get larger the more food there is and the warmer the water is... IF you dont want any baby snails right now...just grab a paper towel or something and remove the egg cluster and throw it away. Chances are very good that if they did it once they'll do it again.

"the kind of snails that have over population problems" Well...yes and no. Apple snails require two to reproduce....unlike a lot of other snails (the smaller kinds) who reproduce asexually (dont need a partner to make babies) so its impossible to keep more from showing up. However, if you were to let your apple snails breed and the eggs to hatch...I think 100+ extra snails in a tank is an overpopulation problem!! Not to mention the extra water changes they'd need, plus the extra food.

Mine lay eggs every few weeks in my cichlid tank, but I let one batch hatch last year and it was a royal disaster. I grew them up, gave them away to everyone that I could, now I'm finally back down to one per tank (and two in the cichlid tank) and I dont really want anymore baby explosions!

 

[Vissengirl]

Well thanks for the clarification on the Apple/Gold Mystery confusion.
Is the general rule of thumb: if the shell points outward it's an Apple Snail?

So they laid the eggs right at the top of the aquarium. I just did a water change and a small part of the bottom end of the sac is now submerged. The last time I noticed this happen in my old tank, the egg sac was up close to the lights, not this close to the water level.

Anyway, do you think the Angelfish will eat them?

 

[FroggyFox]

You can check out www.applesnail.net for more specifics on how to tell them from other snails. I think the size is generally the best indicator.

The eggs will not hatch if they're submerged, I would get them out of there asap before they start to rot and foul your water up. They lay them outside of the waterline because the eggs need to stay warm and humid...but not be submerged or dry. I doubt the angelfish will eat them...they're not like normal eggs that fish lay, wont come apart singly. If you let them hatch, the only fish in your tank that may eat some of the small snails would be your loach...but I'm not sure if kuhlii's eat snails or not...but a lot of loaches do.

 

[Vissengirl]

The eggs will not hatch if they're submerged, I would get them out of there asap before they start to rot and foul your water up.

I'm guessing the whole egg sac is about 3cm, not even 1cm is submerged. I'm not sure whether to lower the water level that much for that long, which would suck because it makes the filter louder and it doesn't look as nice (they must have just put it there), or to try to move the sac - can I even do that? (was that what you meant when you said get it out of there), or to just get rid of the egg sac this time and think about it again next time in the hopes that they don't put it so close to the water level.

What do ya think?

 

[FroggyFox]

You could try and scoot it up...if it falls off it falls off. I did mean get rid of it like take it out and throw it away though. Like I said, once they did it they'll do it again...and if you keep the tank filled up they'll know not to lay it there again

 

[Vissengirl]

I just lowered the water level a tad to get it out, it wasn't as low as I had thought so it didn't take much. I tried to move it but it seemed stuck like cement! I probably destroyed a few of the eggs in the process too. So thank you and I'll let ya know what happens. *PEACE!*