Colombian rams horn snail eggs

[OnlyGenusCaps]

I keep a few Colombian or giant ramshorn snails (Marisa cornuarietis). I use them to help cycle tanks, or clean plants, etc.  Not that they aren't cool on their own of course.  Recently they have been coating the tank with eggs.  They are below the waterline, which I expected.  But, they are entirely clear and after 5ish days they don't seem to have any sign of life in them. I know they can take 10+ days to develop, but I'm not certain these are viable.  Anyone have any experience with this species?

[Colu]

From what I was reading about giant Ramshorn snails their eggs can take 2-3 weeks to hatch depending on water temperature

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 8/14/2021 at 10:40 AM, Colu said:

can take 2-3 weeks to hatch

Well then, I suppose I am just on mould (tossed in an extra "u" just for you) watch for a bit.  It'll be interesting if they are viable. Not sure waht I will do with that many snails.

[Colu]

On a side note they can lay you to 200 eggs a time 

[laritheloud]

These are my favorite snails. I have one right now and I fully want more of them. Let us know how this goes!

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 8/14/2021 at 11:51 AM, Colu said:

On a side note they can lay you to 200 eggs a time

This I believe! 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Well, by way of a quick update...  I got home today from  trip.  The eggs have hatched.  From all 8 batches of eggs.  I have hundreds of these things crawling round the tank!  Surprisingly, they are beautifully stripped from jump.  Now to figure out what to do with them... 

???  😈

[Tihshho]

These guys are on the list of snails to add to my collection. How are you liking them overall?

[OnlyGenusCaps]

So far so good.  They are by far the most impressively large snails I've ever had.  They are a good clean up crew and eat anything, including dead fish (which they can skeletonize overnight!).   They live in one of my Qt tanks and so have handled meds like champs.  Additionally, they lay their eggs below the waterline, so there is none of the egg above water thing like with other species in the Ampullariidae.

I will give a word of warning though, I don't have them in a tank with plants.  I've read they can eat plants, and I've not rested this, so I can offer no advice about housing them with plants.

[Tihshho]

Great to know! Still would like to get some, but if they eat my crypts that won't be great. If they eat moss though, they have pounds of it to go through, but I highly doubt it...

[GardenStateGoldfish]

You can tell when they are close to hatching cause you will see the baby snail cruising around inside the egg, 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 9/3/2021 at 11:05 AM, Tihshho said:

if they eat my crypts that won't be great

Tell you what, I have a tank with some crypts in it.  I'll toss a few of these adult snails in there and let you know if they chow down or not.

[Tihshho]

On 9/3/2021 at 8:52 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Tell you what, I have a tank with some crypts in it.  I'll toss a few of these adult snails in there and let you know if they chow down or not.

Thanks! Don't forget about them, I'd hate to be the reason you lose your crypts!

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 9/3/2021 at 7:55 PM, Tihshho said:

Thanks! Don't forget about them, I'd hate to be the reason you lose your crypts!

No worries.  I'm happy to give it a go if it helps inform your efforts.  There are always more crypts.  Plus, if these ones go for educational purposes it will be better than if they went because of something less noble.  😛 

Plopped three big (~4cm) snails in the 20 gal with the plants.  Let's see what they think is tasty! 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 9/3/2021 at 7:55 PM, Tihshho said:

Don't forget about them

Well, a couple days in and they haven't touched any of the plants, except maybe a bit of the Java moss.  They are demolishing the algae though!  I'm kind of astonished just how fast they are plowing through it.  I've never put them in a tank with much algae before.  I'll probably toss a couple more in and see what they do.  This is fun!

[Tihshho]

If they are eating moss, I need to step up on sourcing these. Saw one local selling them at one point and lost his info 😅

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 9/5/2021 at 1:59 PM, Tihshho said:

I need to step up on sourcing these

Well, seems they have started to eat the plants, including the crypts.  Not severely, and I have 5 adults in a 20 gallon, so they are likely pretty hungry.  But I wanted to let you know there is danger there for your plants.

The real disaster came today from their offspring!  I got some new fish in the mail.  I'd planed on putting them in my Qt, which is where these snails normally live.  I floated the bag to bring it to temp and then put the fish in.  Turned out the lights (it's dark in the room when the lights are out) to let them steel in.  All the stuff I typically do with new acquisitions. 

I came back in 10-15 min and one of the fish was swarmed by the hoard of baby snails!  Pretty well dead by then.  They were also closing in on the other bottom dwelling fish as the slept.  So, I popped the lights on, pulled the fish out into a tupperware tub, and because the substrate is fine pool filter sand, I filtered the snails out through a coarse aquarium net. 

Not the introduction I'd hoped for!  Looks like I need to be a bit careful if I am going to let these things breed.  They are voracious!  Interestingly, the adults haven't been a problem, probably because i could keep them fed well.  I think it was just too many babies! 

[Tihshho]

This isn't good news, now I'd be concerned with them hunting shrimp that freshly molted.

[laritheloud]

On 9/3/2021 at 9:29 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

So far so good.  They are by far the most impressively large snails I've ever had.  They are a good clean up crew and eat anything, including dead fish (which they can skeletonize overnight!).   They live in one of my Qt tanks and so have handled meds like champs.  Additionally, they lay their eggs below the waterline, so there is none of the egg above water thing like with other species in the Ampullariidae.

I will give a word of warning though, I don't have them in a tank with plants.  I've read they can eat plants, and I've not rested this, so I can offer no advice about housing them with plants.

I keep mine in a tank with plants. If they munch on plants, it's not fast enough to make a noticeable difference. I also ensure he gets his own food daily.

[laritheloud]

On 9/8/2021 at 4:36 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Well, seems they have started to eat the plants, including the crypts.  Not severely, and I have 5 adults in a 20 gallon, so they are likely pretty hungry.  But I wanted to let you know there is danger there for your plants.

The real disaster came today from their offspring!  I got some new fish in the mail.  I'd planed on putting them in my Qt, which is where these snails normally live.  I floated the bag to bring it to temp and then put the fish in.  Turned out the lights (it's dark in the room when the lights are out) to let them steel in.  All the stuff I typically do with new acquisitions. 

I came back in 10-15 min and one of the fish was swarmed by the hoard of baby snails!  Pretty well dead by then.  They were also closing in on the other bottom dwelling fish as the slept.  So, I popped the lights on, pulled the fish out into a tupperware tub, and because the substrate is fine pool filter sand, I filtered the snails out through a coarse aquarium net. 

Not the introduction I'd hoped for!  Looks like I need to be a bit careful if I am going to let these things breed.  They are voracious!  Interestingly, the adults haven't been a problem, probably because i could keep them fed well.  I think it was just too many babies! 

Dang, that's insane. It has to be because there's so many hungry babies. Never had this issue with my adult.

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 9/8/2021 at 4:37 PM, laritheloud said:

Dang, that's insane. It has to be because there's so many hungry babies. Never had this issue with my adult.

I mean I have to assume that one was not in great shape.  But, I was gone for under 15 min and they had taken the back half down to the bones, and its eye was still clear because it had died to recently.  Honestly, I was sort of impressive.  Still, not the thing I was hoping would happen.

Totally agree though, it has to be in part because there are easily 300+ babies in there.  New egg sacks were laid a couple days ago, and they juveniles ate those too.  Interestingly, the adults seem pretty chill still.

On 9/8/2021 at 4:36 PM, laritheloud said:

I keep mine in a tank with plants. If they munch on plants, it's not fast enough to make a noticeable difference. I also ensure he gets his own food daily.

Here too, I think it;s the density.  Five fully grown ones in a 20 gal is probably a lot of hungry snail mass in a relatively small tank.  I didn't see any damage for a few days with 3 in there, but maybe adding the extra two may have push it over the edge to where they needed to munch some plants.  🤷‍♂️

[Tihshho]

If you get a chance, throw in a lettuce leaf or a decent chunk of cucumber with the skin on and time how long it takes for it to go with the babies. I bet they polish it off fast.

[Brandon p]

I few things  about these snails. For anyone in the U.S. it is illegal to transport them across state lines. Them can become invasive species. In the wild I have seen them eat down large sections of canals in days. They breed very fast and in large numbers. I have keep them in small and large planted aquariums and it has never ended well. In tanks that were not planted they did ok. Please be careful they are invasive in states like Idaho(which I didn’t expect) and Florida, and Texas. 

[Tihshho]

I think it might not be a Country wide limitation as I see sales of these all the time. Generally places like Aquabid limit the sales of invasive species.

[Brandon p]

https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/32526
you could transport them with a permit in the 2000’s now USDA-APHIS inspects for them. I have seen them on eBay and on Aquabid. On eBay most descriptions say you are responsible for the laws in your area. You can almost guarantee they don’t have a permit. In my state they are totally illegal and are supposed to eradicated I found. I just want you guys to be careful. Like I said I had them and enjoyed them when they didn’t destroy my planted tanks(2) I thought in 2019 there was a new law but I don’t follow that closely.