Snails Escaping

[starsman20]

Last year I picked up 2 mystery snails and was lucky enough to get a male and a female.  They bread and I hatched out a few bunches of eggs so I have mystery snails now in all 8 tanks, at least 4 or 5 in each one.  Over the last few weeks though the ones in the 36BF started climbing out.  I put one in a different tank and had a clutch of eggs that very night so I was assuming she was looking for a place to lay eggs.  A few days later I found another one, the a week later a nerite climbed out.  This morning there were 2 more MS on the carpet.  So far only the nerite died.    I do not know how to close up the tiny little gap in the cover where the in and out flow for the filter is.  I thought maybe there was a water quality issue even thought I do a 10 gallon change at least twice a month but ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, and nitrates are around 20 this morning and probably only that high as I dosed easy green yesterday.  It does look like they are only coming from the 1 tank, but in that particular tank they have grown bigger than the other ones. Other than using some sort of plastic wrap to fully cover the rest of the hole is there anything I can do to discourage them from escaping? I do not think they are lacking for food. I drop in a zoo med nano every week for calcium.  Eventually I will miss one if I haven't already or worse step on one before I see it.

[Travis]

I have a hillstream loach that likes to use a gap in my lid to get into the built in filter area of one of my tanks. I was able to stop this by filling that gap with a piece of cut to size filter mat. I dont know if this will work in your situation but for me its in a location that it isnt an eyesore and now i dont have to try and retrieve "Houdini" anymore lol

 

[Demobanana]

Yeah I’m a bit confused. The other day I found my large tiger Nerite on the floor. Idk how it got there but I guess it was there. Kinda sad.

[Guppysnail]

They need fed more. My mystery’s 3-4 per tank get repashy plus veggies every day and devour every drop. Use aquarium sponges to plug the hole to keep fresh air. Make sure you have 1.5-2 inch space for them to lay and they should stop. You have to increase their feeding as their size increases. 

[Medkow74]

I can't speak for mystery snails but I do have a couple Nerite snails that liked to go for a walk every now and then. I couldn't figure out why so I did some research by reading a few websites on Nerites. Apparently they are considered "tidal" snails so they are use to periods of being out of water and also like to dry their shells out much like certain turtles. They can also live around a month out of water. 

I always left the water a couple inches below the top of the tank to give them a place to chill, that's where I find them when they aren't in the water. I also closed the opening that I thought was too small for them to get out of.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Medkow74

[NanoNano]

On 6/6/2021 at 8:00 PM, Medkow74 said:

Apparently they are considered "tidal" snails so they are use to periods of being out of water and also like to dry their shells out much like certain turtles. They can also live around a month out of water. 

 

I've seen this "tidal" idea positioned in YouTube videos and on other websites...My personal experience is that it's not accurate for the most common Zebra/Tiger/Olive "pet store" Nerite species.  They are gill breathers and my experience is that they always die when they dehydrate (usually 12-24 hours).  They also seem to have a low tolerance for salinity once they are mature.  I have Sulawesi King snails that *are* tidal snails and their behavior and adaptations are much different (e.g.they can create a tiny thread of "super glue" mucus to suspend themselves out of/above water and seal their shells to preserve hydration).

When my Nerites are at or above the waterline it's almost always a signal that there's an imbalance starting or going on in the water chemistry in the tank they're in.  Ammonia, Nitirite, and Nitrates are the usual suspects,  but I occasionally find my Nerites up at that top of my heavily planted tanks right before the lights come on when dissolved oxygen levels are likely at their lowest, so I think oxygenation in your tank is something to investigate as well.  I've found that starting my airstone or making a partial water change *always* sends my Nerites "back under" and foraging for food.

I agree with @Guppysnail on looking at available food.  Mysteries are omnivourous and somewhat voracious eaters, Nerites are relatively picky and slow eating herbivores that prefer biofilm and only certain types of algae.  You want to think about if you have  a balance of enough of the right foods for each snail to make sure the Nerites in particular are not being out competed for the foods they need.

[Griznatch]

Mystery snails are voracious feeders, the bigger they get the more they need to eat (and it's a lot).  I love them, but don't keep them as algae control. They work better at getting food the fish might not get. I found they need more than leftovers however, all the suggestions about veggies and repashy, etc., are right on the mark.

[Guppysnail]

I place large smooth river rocks in all my tanks to grow my nerite algae I can never keep enough of the kind he enjoys.  I rotate the rocks to his tank to ensure a good food source for him. I tried over feeding the tank ONCE just to grow algae. Had a brown diatom bloom like I’ve never seen thick coat on everything. My single olive nerite Nemo DEMOLISHED the diatoms in a week my tank sparkled. The bladders polished the plants in two weeks. The mystery’s went nuts for the extra fishy food. They are not good algae cleaners. 

[Medkow74]

2 hours ago, NanoNano said:

 

I've seen this "tidal" idea positioned in YouTube videos and on other websites...My personal experience is that it's not accurate for the most common Zebra/Tiger/Olive "pet store" Nerite species.  They are gill breathers and my experience is that they always die when they dehydrate (usually 12-24 hours).  They also seem to have a low tolerance for salinity once they are mature.  I have Sulawesi King snails that *are* tidal snails and their behavior and adaptations are much different (e.g.they can create a tiny thread of "super glue" mucus to suspend themselves out of/above water and seal their shells to preserve hydration).

When my Nerites are at or above the waterline it's almost always a signal that there's an imbalance starting or going on in the water chemistry in the tank they're in.  Ammonia, Nitirite, and Nitrates are the usual suspects,  but I occasionally find my Nerites up at that top of my heavily planted tanks right before the lights come on when dissolved oxygen levels are likely at their lowest, so I think oxygenation in your tank is something to investigate as well.  I've found that starting my airstone or making a partial water change *always* sends my Nerites "back under" and foraging for food.

I agree with @Guppysnail on looking at available food.  Mysteries are omnivourous and somewhat voracious eaters, Nerites are relatively picky and slow eating herbivores that prefer biofilm and only certain types of algae.  You want to think about if you have  a balance of enough of the right foods for each snail to make sure the Nerites in particular are not being out competed for the foods they need.

There's no imbalance in my water and my Nerites will go above the water line and sit or roam around randomly. Even when I had a place for them to get out I kept the water line low so they definitely didn't have to keep going. A few times I found them chilling feet away from the tank.

[NanoNano]

That's not normal behavior- next time you go to fish store note how many of the Nerites are above the waterline or attempting to escape the tank.   "Chilling feet away from the tank" could very potentially be an indication that they are going in search of food because there is not enough available for them in their tank.

Edit- I should clarify that snails (including Nerites) *do* occasionally hang out at the waterline and feed on minerals and "bio goop" that  tends to collect there from evaporation....but if they're parked there for extended periods of time.  that's not a good sign.

Edited June 10, 2021 by NanoNano

[Tanked]

My Nerites travel everywhere within the boundaries of the tank, including under the UGF. They have never gone above the rim except for a single safari to the waterfall on the HOB  They will briefly travel to or just above the waterline, and have spent spent as much as 2 days high and dry under the rim.  
I'm guessing that they can't or won't maneuver over the narrow edge on the inside of the rim, preferring to use an escape route with a lot more surface area.