Mystery snail eggs & inverts journal

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

5/27/22 : Well well well… what do we have here? I removed my HOB from the tank temporarily to do maintenance and found a clutch of mystery snail eggs! I don’t know too much about this other than recalling some videos I watched a month or so ago. What do I do?! Hmm… 

#1. Freak out (done)

#2. Watch those YouTube vids again (done)

#3. Create snail incubator (done)

#4. Hit the CARE forum. (Hi!)

 A bit of background:

My mystery snail is undoubtedly my favorite character in the tank. She (?) is full of personality and loves to parasnail down from the glass or driftwood when I drop in some Snello. So this was an easy decision. Raise the snails!

But wait a sec… I only have 1 mystery snail. How did this happen? Are these eggs even viable? How long were they behind the filter? Months or days? Folks, we are going to find out! (er, somehow.. mainly we wait.)

Fortunately I keep a little fish journal with measured parameters and what I do to the tank. @Guppysnail suggested I start a little snail breeding journal on here too. Great idea! So here we are.

The mystery snail (York) was added on 3/5/22. One Nerite (Hampshire) was added on the same day. However, I’ve never seen them interact. Eggs were discovered on 5/27/22. A fellow forum member said a mystery snail can hold onto sperm/fertilized eggs for “quite some time”…

to be continued…

previous thread with egg discovery here!

Edited October 23, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea
added links

[Guppysnail]

I have never had any of the tiny ones hatch. I guessed that they were infertile eggs being expelled or a learning to lay clutch. I’m eager to see if your little one hatches. The larger one looks like a go though 😍. I’m excited for you (though I won’t show up on your doorstep like your snail fan club) 🤣.

I love your writing style. It’s definitely going to be fun following along!  

[anewbie]

My snails lay them on the lid all the time (they have to be out of the water to hatch; but in a humid location); if i don't find them in time or fail to remove them - i end up with 10's if not 100's of little snails taking over my tank. Now and then i'll send some out to folks for free; other times i'll drop them in the loach tank when they get dime or nickle size. 

 

If they are below the water line (in water) they will eventually rot. I think the last time i missed one of those things i ended up with around 200+; you know too much a good thing. Oh now for some sad news. My 3 year old mystery snail died. It was a giant among mystery snails. Gonna kind of miss it... oh well. Btw those web site they say they only live a year don't know what they are talking about. I have a nerite snail that keeps on ticking.... though thankfully it finally stopped laying eggs.

Edited May 31, 2022 by anewbie

[Katherine]

On 5/31/2022 at 5:38 PM, anewbie said:

Btw those web site they say they only live a year don't know what they are talking about. I have a nerite snail that keeps on ticking....

I agree. I've had my nerite for 2.5 years and he wasn't tiny when I got him. I'm glad to hear you've experienced the same with the mysteries.

 

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea I'm excited to follow along and see how this works out! Care to share pictures of your incubator setup?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I’m sorry that you lost your snail @anewbie. I feel like my mystery snail is huge too. Definitely the size of a half dollar if not larger.

My incubator setup is a Tupperware with 3 holes punched at each corner for ventilation. The bottom layer is a paper towel soaked with tank water and wrung out. The middle layer is styrofoam. The top is a dry paper towel, and that’s what the eggs sit on. The idea is to keep the eggs on a dry surface, yet in a humid environment, and that is why the styrofoam is in the middle. So the top paper towel doesn’t wick the moisture from the bottom one. The Tupperware just floats on top of the water. I have some fish in a tote right now and there was plenty of space in there between the water and the lid, so that’s where I put ‘em.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

5/29

Two garden snails are on the screen of my sliding glass door when I wake up. This is a sign. I’m meant to raise these mystery snails, and I officially have a fan club. 🐌🐌

Kids, cover your eyes. I’m not sure what they are doing! 🙈

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

5/30 

Yawn, stretch… ⛅ Brew coffee.. ☕ Good morning, fishies! Good morning, snails! Wait, what?!! Another clutch?!  A lot bigger this time. Tinge of fear & panic hits right between the shoulder blades. And then this little voice in my head whispers softly, “Greater success rate.”

At least this time it is on the front glass of the tank. Welp, let’s do it. 👍 This is happening. Since the first clutch so small, I will incubate this one too. 
 

Also here is a pic of York carrying her carrot. 🙂 I told you she’s a character!

[Torrey]

On 5/31/2022 at 3:34 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

5/27/22 : Well well well… what do we have here? I removed my HOB from the tank temporarily to do maintenance and found a clutch of mystery snail eggs! I don’t know too much about this other than recalling some videos I watched a month or so ago. What do I do?! Hmm… 

#1. Freak out (done)

#2. Watch those YouTube vids again (done)

#3. Create snail incubator (done)

#4. Hit the CARE forum. (Hi!)

 A bit of background:

My mystery snail is undoubtedly my favorite character in the tank. She (?) is full of personality and loves to parasnail down from the glass or driftwood when I drop in some Snello. So this was an easy decision. Raise the snails!

But wait a sec… I only have 1 mystery snail. How did this happen? Are these eggs even viable? How long were they behind the filter? Months or days? Folks, we are going to find out! (er, somehow.. mainly we wait.)

Fortunately I keep a little fish journal with measured parameters and what I do to the tank. @Guppysnail suggested I start a little snail breeding journal on here too. Great idea! So here we are.

The mystery snail (York) was added on 3/5/22. One Nerite (Hampshire) was added on the same day. However, I’ve never seen them interact. Eggs were discovered on 5/27/22. A fellow forum member said a mystery snail can hold onto sperm/fertilized eggs for “quite some time”…

to be continued…

previous thread with egg discovery here!

ORD 😍🥰😍

 

This will be fabulous to follow!!!

[Guppysnail]

I love when they hold things with their foot. I can almost hear them saying “Mine! All mine.”

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/31/2022 at 10:16 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

On 5/31/2022 at 10:16 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

My incubator setup is a Tupperware with 3 holes punched at each corner for ventilation. The bottom layer is a paper towel soaked with tank water and wrung out. The middle layer is styrofoam. The top is a dry paper towel, and that’s what the eggs sit on. The idea is to keep the eggs on a dry surface, yet in a humid environment, and that is why the styrofoam is in the middle. So the top paper towel doesn’t wick the moisture from the bottom one. The Tupperware just floats on top of the water. I have some fish in a tote right now and there was plenty of space in there between the water and the lid, so that’s where I put ‘em.

Here is the incubator, layer by layer.

[Guppysnail]

ORD 😍. This is so well thought out. I’m so curious to see how the styrofoam helps the clutch. I might try that with my magenta’s. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/1/2022 at 6:59 AM, Guppysnail said:

This is so well thought out.

Thanks @Guppysnail, but I can't take credit for it. I got the idea from a YouTube snail breeder's vid (Link).  The pushpins were my own personal touch though. That's because my styrofoam wasn't big enough to take up the horizontal space.  I got the styrofoam out of a little box that holds my ceramic salt & pepper shakers. I like the video that you sent me to about making an incubator. I had already made this incubator before I saw that video, but the 2 videos are similar: one has the sytrofoam and one doesn't.

Are your magentas mystery snails or bladder snails?  I think we need a pic!  🙂

Edited June 1, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Guppysnail]

On 6/1/2022 at 9:18 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Thanks @Guppysnail, but I can't take credit for it. I got the idea from a YouTube snail breeder's vid (Link).  The pushpins were my own personal touch though. That's because my styrofoam wasn't big enough to take up the horizontal space.  I got the styrofoam out of a little box that holds my ceramic salt & pepper shakers. I like the video that you sent me to about making an incubator. I had already made this incubator before I saw that video, but the 2 videos are similar: one has the sytrofoam and one doesn't.

Are your magentas mystery snails or bladder snails?  I think we need a pic!  🙂

Magenta’s.  I just got these six young ones so you see where the shell is adjusting to my water. I’ll get more photos later for you. I’m on pleco meeting (and hopefully pairing) drama watch right now…fish are why I don’t need TV

Edited June 1, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/1/2022 at 9:24 AM, Guppysnail said:

I’m on pleco meeting (and hopefully pairing) drama watch right now

Haha. Wow! I just peeked at your journal! Those plecos are beautiful! 😍

The magenta is pretty too.  Do you think I will get various color shells if mine hatch?

Edited June 1, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Guppysnail]

On 6/1/2022 at 9:46 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Haha. Wow! I just peeked at your journal! Those plecos are beautiful! 😍

The magenta is pretty too.  Do you think I will get various color shells if mine hatch?

This entirely depends on who they mated prior to you getting them. Mine were always chestnut with a white foot. All the babies were chestnut. My niece had some of my chestnut and she had ivory’s so here’s were all ivory or chestnut. Totally guessing on this one because I never researched but the magentas may have been a one off here and there someone continued to breed to make them magenta. I never had room to hatch my last magenta groups eggs so I don’t know if any odd colors will show. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Well, you guys are coming along for the ride, because I have no idea who York got busy with before I got her.  🤣  We will find out the colors together! 

[Guppysnail]

I call shotgun 😁

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

5/31 I found ANOTHER clutch when I woke up! This would be clutch 3! 
 

Utilizing some CARE forum advice, I will not attempt to raise more snails. I feel a bit sad and guilty, but I do not have an adequate base of operations here to accommodate more snail friends. Hence, I made the tough choice to freeze the clutch. I got this clutch right after it was laid and York was exiting the area (sorry, York. You’re a good snail and you worked hard to create this miracle) so rest assured, no snails inside. 
 

I froze the clutch in a ziplock and will crush (hammer) it later, then refreeze (just to be sure). 🥺 It’s tough making a decision like this.

In other news, I snagged a 10 gallon on sale for $9.99 and a stand should be arriving in today’s mail. I got a co-op sponge filter running in my display tank. Gonna get that nice & seeded.

Edited June 2, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Guppysnail]

I know how hard clutch disposal is. I alway look at the flip side big picture ecosystem management aspect to make make it tolerable. The overpopulation would endanger the group so it’s best for the colony. Mine usually lay in spurts of 3-5 clutches then take a break for a bit then lay a few more. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Exactly. I don't want to put them at risk by getting ahead of myself. I'm new to this, after all, so I have to pace myself!  I'm wondering if the clutch, after freezing and crushing, could be fed to the fish?  A nice organic diet?  When I removed it from the wall, the fish were nibbling the stuff that came off.  I noticed when I remove clutches, there is always a little bit of damage to it. I don't really know how to get around that.

Also, yesterday another garden snail showed up at the back door!  What is going on?!  They know my house is snail central? Must've been a long journey because she went in her shell and started to dry when the full sun came out (that's when I noticed her). I moved her to a shady spot in the garden on a paper towel moistened with tank water to give her some recovery before she continues her journey of epic proportion!

 

[Guppysnail]

I let my clutches dry for a day then slide them off. I sometimes still crack one or two but that day wait makes a difference.  Unless you have massive tank space…I do not…allowing all to hatch is just not doable. They will snack on the clutch I have seen this in ones that fell in the water before I seen them. It will foul your water fast though. I would not do it. If you try start with a smidge of the clutch vs the entire thing. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/2/2022 at 8:30 AM, Guppysnail said:

I let my clutches dry for a day then slide them off.

This makes me think back to my original post where I wasn't sure whether the clutch was there for months or days. I just so happened to take the filter off THAT DAY to find it behind the outflow.  And that filter had not been off the tank in several years.  (I had been maintaining the filter media, but this was probably the first time I cleaned the gunk out of the filter box. Don't judge me, people! 😝)

I think it was mere coincidence that I found that clutch and it was freshly laid, because that clutch, if I'm being honest, was pretty gooey. I'm sorry to say that some things squished when I took it off the wall. I ended up using a razor to prevent further damage during removal. I bet if I knew better to wait, I would have had less egg loss because it would have hardened up a bit. Live & learn. At least other people that find this thread on the forum can learn from my mistakes. 🙂

Edited June 2, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea
grammar

[Guppysnail]

On 6/2/2022 at 10:06 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

had been maintaining the filter media, but this was probably the first time I cleaned the gunk out of the filter box. Don't judge me, people! 😝)

You have me beat. I NEVER take the box off the tank. I maybe pull tubes every 5-8 months if it’s to slow flow and pull out the impeller. I’m a ..I don’t fix what’s not broke …kinda gal 🤣

my first clutch was still gooey. It took a few times being over eager to realize if I have not seen it there for a full 24 hours I don’t touch. I’m a slow learner I suppose. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

It must be a common new snail breeder's issue. And I KNOW I was definitely over eager too! 💗🐌🥚

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I came home from work and noticed that York has some hitchhikers on her shell. Any idea what these are? They are smaller than a grain of rice, and I cannot tell if they move or not. Yesterday I added some micro sword plants from Co Op to the tank, but I salt dipped them first (except for the roots). The Java moss didn’t get dipped.