Kurt Brutting Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 I am new to Mystery Snails and the hobby in general. I recently purchased 2 Mystery Snails from my local fish store. They are super cute one is Ivory and the other is golden, I love them. Unfortunately I didn’t have my phone on me to take a picture, but I’m pretty sure they were mating. They were climbing all over each other like crazy, it almost looked like they were fighting. Any tips is appreciated on breeding these super cool snails. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 (edited) Mystery snails lay eggs above the waterline or on your lids. They are clustered. Most people will just leave them on the lid and see what hatches but there are methods of removing and putting in plastic conttainers with a damp papertowel. The pic I have attached is actually not typical- the clusters can be HUGE, but this was on my glass lid one day. They need humidity but cannot be underwater. Edited January 28, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Brutting Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 That’s awesome! Very exciting! How long until you see babies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atitagain Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 If you see her lay or find it the next day or two, leave it (the clutch) for 2-3 days and it will stiffen up a bit. Then you can pull off easily. Then you can float it in a plastic container and it takes 9-14 days. Rachael O’Leary has a great video on YouTube that will explain a lot better than i can.🙂 I got 35-ish babies but I’ve heard some clutches can put out 200+ 😳 good luck mate 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 Mystery snails are fantastic. Congratulations. They eat a lot and need supplemental feeding. Wafers and blanched veggies they love. They cannot get all they need from just leftovers that drop and algae. Ph above 7 is best to keep their shells from eroding. If the shell erodes to far it opens them to infection and health issues. They need calcium in the water and in their diet as well. Nano block with spirulina and wondershells are great from coop or Amazon. The one on top during mating is a boy. The one on the bottom may not be a girl. Males will go though the motions of mating other males. Hopefully you will be able to share photos of your beautiful new family members. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 @Kurt Brutting On the other end of the spectrum what can be great about Mystery Snails is that you don't HAVE to breed them- meaning it's easy to just cull the eggs once laid. I removed my clutches because I don't want to have the babies. BUT sometimes I do leave the smaller clutches (like the one I posted) alone just to see if I can get a few to hatch because I'm ok with that amount hatching. I have only had 1 surprise baby, her name is Immaculate. This is her when she was small. Stinkin' cute. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon p Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 I just raise the water level to stop breeding and lower about 1.5” to start here’s my breeding tank. There is just under 200 in there I’m jguessing. I sold about 100 and you can’t even really tell. There is also my albino bristle nose pleco‘s in there they don’t seem to bother them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mydonkeyfish Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 I got a whole colony of bladder snails and a rams horn snail in some java fern once.😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaitieG Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 I haven't had luck breeding them (can't stop ramshorn and bladder snails, but whatever 🙄), but mine looooovvvveee Repashy food. What others have said about needing to feed them is definitely true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon p Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 Dr. cvThose aren’t to bad to bad. I used to love Malaysian trumpet snails as they do a great job cleaning up anding eat some algae that others don’t. They can get out of hand fast. One tank that has sand substrate And there are probably several hundred of them that sit on the top of the sand. Luckly it is used as a a breeding tank. I do take it about 100 out a few times a week and few them to my big clown loaches. They also get some mystery snails which is much. Harder for me because like them. They aren’t a problem from me but if I done control the population more will die. I have gotten some others snails as well like Colombian faint ramshorns that I hate do to the Damage they can to to the wild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon p Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 On 1/28/2022 at 9:07 AM, KaitieG said: I haven't had luck breeding them (can't stop ramshorn and bladder snails, but whatever 🙄), but mine looooovvvveee Repashy food. What others have said about needing to feed them is definitely true! For me the key to breeding is making sure there is is enough dry glass and keeping the eggs moist .I Let my tank drop almost two inches and cover the top with kitchen plastic wrap. That keeps the eggs out of the water but still moist. I used to hatch them in a cheap Tupperware thank had paper towels on the the bottom that I would keep a little damp and the top had a few holes. That work pretty good but it can take longer that people think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaitieG Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 On 1/28/2022 at 8:46 AM, Brandon p said: For me the key to breeding is making sure there is is enough dry glass and keeping the eggs moist .I Let my tank drop almost two inches and cover the top with kitchen plastic wrap. That keeps the eggs out of the water but still moist. I used to hatch them in a cheap Tupperware thank had paper towels on the the bottom that I would keep a little damp and the top had a few holes. That work pretty good but it can take longer that people think. I've just never even seen an egg clutch, even with lower water levels and when I had 6 or 7 adults. I should try again sometime...maybe when this next batch of fry grow out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Brutting Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 @Guppysnail I bought the nano blocks and Hikari Crab Cuisine from The Coop, and calcium chips from E-bay. I also feed a ton of veggies to that aquarium because of my pair of BN Pleco’s. I use Seachem Equilibrium for minerals and Seachem Advance which has some calcium. My only concern is my PH is exactly at 7 if it drops I don’t want to hurt them. If I do have 2 boys I will be stopping at my local fish store very very soon. 😉 Thank you everyone for the valuable advice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 On 1/28/2022 at 10:33 AM, Kurt Brutting said: @Guppysnail I bought the nano blocks and Hikari Crab Cuisine from The Coop, and calcium chips from E-bay. I also feed a ton of veggies to that aquarium because of my pair of BN Pleco’s. I use Seachem Equilibrium for minerals and Seachem Advance which has some calcium. My only concern is my PH is exactly at 7 if it drops I don’t want to hurt them. If I do have 2 boys I will be stopping at my local fish store very very soon. 😉 Thank you everyone for the valuable advice. A temporary minor drop in ph is not of much concern. As long as the majority of the time it is 7+ it’s long term exposure that hurts them. Sounds like you are well prepared for those beautiful baby snails 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Brutting Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 Out of everything my son is most excited about baby snails. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 Mystery snail mating looks like this, the male sitting on the females top right to hook under her shell: It's a few weeks between mating and egg laying, and then a few weeks between laying and hatching. Be sure to feed them extra calcium; I give mine Hikari Crab Cuisine. Also, be prepared for HUNDREDS of babies. XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon p Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 On 1/28/2022 at 9:48 AM, KaitieG said: I've just never even seen an egg clutch, even with lower water levels and when I had 6 or 7 adults. I should try again sometime...maybe when this next batch of fry grow out. On 1/28/2022 at 9:48 AM, KaitieG said: I've just never even seen an egg clutch, even with lower water levels and when I had 6 or 7 adults. I should try again sometime...maybe when this next batch of fry grow out. The fist pic is a clutch of eggs. They won’t hatch the are dried out the water is about 1.5” down open top. Katie not sure if you have a lid or cover but sometimes they to much humidity out. the third picture I coverd half of the tank with plastic wrap just so you could see. the second pic is a tank that is covered because the lid broke and I did a quick fix to keep fish from jumping. I included so you could see how much moisture with stay in the tank and keep the eggs moist. I could not breed mine until I did this other than in Tupperware. The snails won’t waste energy to make and lay eggs if they don’t think they will hatch. I would not cover the whole tank maybe half if you try this. I worry about gas exchange if I cover it all. I can explain better if you like be this is the ideal you my not see eggs because the snail don’t “believe” that eggs with hatch. Once conditions are right they may lay clutches. sorry about the pic out of order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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