Spontaneous Snail Generation?

[Grymatta]

Ok..I just found a baby snail crawling on my tank wall, which I immediately scooped out.

I'm a little perplexed because I cant figure out how it got there in the first place!

I havent brought any new plants in over 6 monthes. I've only introduced a otto catfish and a dwarf frog since that time.

How could a snail have hitchiked into my tank? Could it have been on my otto or frog? Doesnt seem likely...

The only other thing I could think of was that I just started using frozen bloodworms as food. But I dont think snails would be in those frozen cubes? let alone survive the deep freeze?

Any clues?

thanks

 

[OCCFan023]

how big was it? possible that it could have been on one of the plants you bough 6 months ago and has been very good at hide n seek?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

i have never put live plants in my 29 and somehow have a snail too... weird. maybe their aliens put there to control our minds!!! AHHHHHH!!!

 

[Orion]

Some snails can come in as eggs on plants, or even just in the water. It may have taken this long for it to hatch and get large enough for you to see it.

I've got many in my 5 gallon of the hitch-hiker snails and I'm starting to grow fond of them. Some look similar to an apple snail, only about 1/4 of the size. It's pretty neat to just see what pops up in a tank sometimes.

 

[Grymatta]

it was pretty small..about the size of a grain of rice. The shell wasnt even fully formed.

I supposed it could have hitchhiked several monthes ago and I just didnt see it till now. I just dont want it to eat all my plants...

 

[Etheostoma]

Squish it.

 

[Grymatta]

I did..it felt like squishing a soft shelled crab cause it didnt have a fully formed shell yet

 

[TheFighterFish]

Squish it.

Then a 100 more spawns. Or so that's what a petsmart employee worker told me when he wanted more snails.

 

[PlecoCollector]

I had a snail magically appear in my 20g a good 2 months after its initial setup. A month later, there were 100+ of them... never could figure out how one snail made a 100 more

But now, my Clown Loaches have some really nice things to snack on

 

[TheFighterFish]

I never could figure out how one snail made a 100 more

Well, a lot of the smaller snails are hermaphrodites. One snail making 100 more, not so rare.

 

[jobeak]

I think snails appearing in tanks is a good sign. It proves you have been successful at making an artificial eco system within your tank. Maybe I'm wrong.

Jobeak.

 

[Grymatta]

yeah but I have some nice plants in my tank that I'm fond of...i dont want the plants all munched!

 

[Lotus]

Pond, regular ramshorn and Malaysian trumpet snails won't eat healthy plants.

 

[Grymatta]

hmmm maybe I should have identified the snail before i squished..

 

[Lotus]

Ahhh... shoot first, ask questions later