Mystery snail eggs & inverts journal

[Katherine]

I haven't done any snello for mine yet. They've just been getting regular repashy, but I do want to add some calcium powder to the next batch.

On 6/20/2022 at 4:15 AM, Torrey said:

I have also discovered my snails like to clean/eat crushed oyster shells, anytime they need a mineral boost.

Do you think crushed coral would work similarly? I've got some on top of part of my substrate and see one on there occasionally but haven't watched closely enough to see if they're munching.

Edited June 20, 2022 by Katherine

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

This review was under crushed coral on ACO shop: 

Dani R. (Beaverton, OR, US)

 

Great Product for Snail Tank

I was having trouble keeping correct parameters stable for my 10 gallon mystery snail tank. I added the crushed coral to a mesh bag after rinsing and it has really helped. The snails are happy and I am less stressed.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that it raises pH.  pH above 7 is good for snails, but you'll want to see what the needs of your other tankmates are.  Also, is it sharp?

They do benefit from calcium in the water column as well as consumed calcium.

On 6/20/2022 at 1:05 PM, Katherine said:

They've just been getting regular repashy

I've been considering repashy for a new Snello batch.  Is it easy to make?

Edited June 20, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Katherine]

On 6/20/2022 at 12:41 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I've been considering repashy for a new Snello batch.  Is it easy to make?

It is super easy. Just add some hot water and stir.

 

On 6/20/2022 at 12:41 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

One thing to keep in mind is that it raises pH.  pH above 7 is good for snails, but you'll want to see what the needs of your other tankmates are.  Also, is it sharp?

Raising PH is actually why I put it in. My KH and ph from the tap are low. Mine isn't sharp though I imagine it could vary by brand.

[Torrey]

Crushed coral alone can only raise pH so high, as the acidic water that dissolves the crushed coral (or in my tanks crushed oyster shell) is no longer acidic at 7.0 pH, slowing the process greatly. The higher the pH, the less the crushed coral (or oyster shell) dissolves.

Most tnks stabilize between 7.2 pH and 7.8 pH, unless there are other factors impacting water pH.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Mystery Slugs

So, this happened on my last clutch. Before the “real hatching” I got what I believe were mystery slugs. Well, it happened again. Is that what these are? Any thoughts? This is inside the breeder box which has a lid.

I was doing my usual leftover food clean out and noticed this. Multiple! And boy, do they have strong suction. Just like a snail. 
 

 

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Hey all. @HenryC helped us out; he said they are called limpets (micro snails).  Neat huh?   (discussion link)

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I should note that last time I got limpets, everything else started hatching the same day. Let's see what happens when I get home today.  Do you think I will get any different colors?  I think I will either get gold or gold.  🙃

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Grr. No hatching. During breeder box cleaning I always take the styrofoam (that floats the eggs) out so I can work. Well, it had some hitchhikers and one of them took a ride to the bottom of the tank and had to get turkey basted back up! Beam me up, Scotty! I bet she was pretty dizzy after that adventure. She is safe & sound in the breeder box again. 
 

Here’s some pics of them hitchhikers!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Just got home and discovered 2 minis!

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Some more activity!  
 

 

A bunch of the eggs are still quite firm and may take a few more days to hatch.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

This morning I found 3 snails in the tank (outside of breeder box), each having their own grand adventure!  They found plants and stuff that they wanted to help clean.  They too, got "beamed up" with the turkey baster. 😆 I'm sure they would have been fine. My HOB intake is wrapped in filter floss & rubber banded. The fish didn't seem interested, not even the Bolivian Ram which likes to pick at stuff on the bottom, and I saw that she noticed one, but she didn't care or attempt to approach it.  But I'm not ready to have the group disperse just yet, so back in the box they go.  It seriously does look like a UFO abduction when I suck them up!  👽

I'm certain there are more snails in the tank. On day 1 when they could fit through the slats of the breeder box, that is the first thing they went for, ignoring all food. I've heard they are escape artists!

P.S. Thanks @TeeJay - I got the new turkey baster you recommended, and the stuff doesn't fall out of this one.  It was critical for this mission!  (Also the cleaning brush that comes with it can be used for cleaning filter intake tubes or sponge filter tubes) 

Edited June 23, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea
added stuff

[TeeJay]

On 6/23/2022 at 8:52 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

This morning I found 3 snails in the tank (outside of breeder box), each having their own grand adventure!  They found plants and stuff that they wanted to help clean.  They too, got "beamed up" with the turkey baster. 😆 I'm sure they would have been fine. My HOB intake is wrapped in filter floss & rubber banded. The fish didn't seem interested, not even the Bolivian Ram which likes to pick at stuff on the bottom, and I saw that she noticed one, but she didn't care or attempt to approach it.  But I'm not ready to have the group disperse just yet, so back in the box they go.  It seriously does look like a UFO abduction when I suck them up!  👽

I'm certain there are more snails in the tank. On day 1 when they could fit through the slats of the breeder box, that is the first thing they went for, ignoring all food. I've heard they are escape artists!

P.S. Thanks @TeeJay - I got the new turkey baster you recommended, and the stuff doesn't fall out of this one.  It was critical for this mission!  (Also the cleaning brush that comes with it can be used for cleaning filter intake tubes or sponge filter tubes) 

Alien abduction! Love it. They can be quite crafty. Yes it has worked well for me so far. And the brush was a bonus.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Well, the babies don't like broccoli, but York was happy to have it.  They don't like canned green beans either. 🤷‍♀️ I guess baby snails are picky. York has eaten everything I've offered her except for spinach.

When I checked on the babies yesterday afternoon, they had eaten pretty much everything I put in there in the morning (except the broccoli). In the morning I had added 2 algae wafers, a piece of calcium chip, 5 crab cuisine, and broccoli. So, in the afternoon I dropped in 5 more crab cuisine.

This morning I gave them 10 crab cuisine (the pellets are quite small) and a zucchini round which I know they like. And they still have their java moss.  During breeder box cleanout I did find an empty shell. A tiny one. Bummer.

I do keep a small journal about how much they are eating so I know what quantity to feed because in the beginning I just had to guess.

Every day I marvel at how much the snails are growing.  Often when I look at them in the afternoon I swear they are bigger than in the morning. 

The rest of clutch 2 seems dormant. I'm disappointed. I hope it does something. I misted it. I don't know if that helps it or not.  At least I got like 6 babies hatched out of it so far.

Also my HOB was not hardly working today!  Barely a trickle and a film forming on top of the water. Clogged intake floss.  So guess who was doing filter maintenance early in the morning before going to work?  Heh.. not my favorite thing.  Anyway, all I had to do was swap it out for coarse ACO prefilter sponge.  I had planned to swap it anyway during the next water change because the floss looked ugly. I know finer sponge and floss is better for the baby snails, but it clogs too quickly. Much better now. I still think this sponge will be ok because even though it is coarse, it is quite thick.

Edited June 24, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea
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[Guppysnail]

Getting my snail kids to eat their broccoli is always a pain.  I’m convinced if they had a dog the broccoli would be tossed to it 🤣

Edited June 24, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Got some sort of algae in the snail grow out tank. If only I had some way to remove it? 🐌

This tank is ready. I’m just not sure how old the snails should be before I move them. And I would not move any newborns. The first crew was born 6/8. What do you guys think? I will use 100% same tank water the day they get moved.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The zucchini floated but that didn’t stop anyone! 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The word got out that a zucchini was floating and a Friday night party started at the top of the box!

Also a little snail was taking a ride on a big snail. 

And for as much as I fret about clutch 2, I seem to have snails of THREE different sizes? (And the limpets too.) Things might be hatching when I’m not aware or around. 🤨

I think they are running the show and they know what they’re doing.

Edited June 24, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Brandon p]

On 6/24/2022 at 1:28 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Got some sort of algae in the snail grow out tank. If only I had some way to remove it? 🐌

This tank is ready. I’m just not sure how old the snails should be before I move them. And I would not move any newborns. The first crew was born 6/8. What do you guys think? I will use 100% same tank water the day they get moved.

I would be surprised if mystery snails would take care of that. In my tanks different snails and fish eat that. In my experience mystery snails like things that are green. But that’s just me I’m sure others have had different experience 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/24/2022 at 9:01 PM, Brandon p said:

would be surprised if mystery snails would take care of that.

Yeah I’m not really sure? I am also not sure what kind of algae it is, whether it’s hair algae or brown diatoms or something else. I’m really not good with plant ID. 

[Katherine]

On 6/24/2022 at 8:06 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Yeah I’m not really sure? I am also not sure what kind of algae it is, whether it’s hair algae or brown diatoms or something else. I’m really not good with plant ID. 

Not diatoms, from my understanding those stay almost dust-like in appearance.

[Brandon p]

There are some people in this chat that are way more knowledgeable about it if they were worried I’m sure they would have said something. I was talking about the algae on the heater. The rest I think will be ok

Edited June 25, 2022 by Brandon p

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/24/2022 at 10:12 PM, Katherine said:

from my understanding those stay almost dust-like

Oh that’s what diatoms are? I think I already went through the diatom stage in the days after I squished the filter stuff into the tank. Or it was just bits of filter media gunk laying on stuff. I wanted to remove some of that brown from the sand yesterday, and I thought that was the diatoms still, but it wasn’t. What lays on the sand now is the stuff like the heater has. It is kind of “ gripping” the sand. I plan to keep the light off today.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Some goodies came in the mail today! A fun sign and ingredients for a snail food recipe. Plus a cuttlebone and some more calcium chips. There are 2 recipes that I can choose from. I plan to make the first recipe.

For these recipes the ratio is 1 part Repashy powder to 2.5 parts water.

Storage: refrigerate 2 weeks or freeze 6 months. (If freezing, recipe can be made as a flat sheet and stored in a Ziplock, then chunks can be easily snapped off as needed).

I also recently watched a Cory video where he made Repashy and before it set he dipped things into it to coat them (ie: a coconut hut, a pleco cave, a piece of PVC pipe). Then after it set, he put the items in the tank for the fish to graze on. I may try this with a small ceramic ring that came with a plant. Right now I’m using the ring to weigh down zucchini in the breeder box. 🙂 

Edited June 25, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea
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[Brandon p]

On 6/17/2022 at 9:50 PM, pcb09 said:

Calcium chips?

 

what exactly are these and where does one acquire?

I have the hardest time keeping mystery snails alive even in well established tanks. I throw cuttlefish bone in and have moderate to moderately hard water and still no 

You may want to check if the water has Ca in it. Not all hard water has Ca. Mine has almost zero Ca. I breed snails still but I raise them in a separate tank and keep the old shells in that tank. The snails will chew on the old shells and tha Ca is broken down and mix’s with the water. Most people don’t have many tanks to breed different fish and snails so leaving shells in is disliked by many. Check the Ca in the tap water you add and it may help you know jiw much Ca you need to add.