Snails eating fish eggs?

[TeeJay]

I am thinking of trying to breed my Cory cats. My concern is that I have bladder snails in that tank. Would I have to worry about the snails getting to and eating the Cory eggs before I can get them into a separate container. Say they spawn while I'm at work or overnight while I'm asleep.

[TheSwissAquarist]

Snails are opportunistic feeders who will eat most things (I have tried to spawn danios in a tank with bladder snails) eggs included.

I recommend you put them in a separate spawning tank or a container with a bit of java moss after conditioning them.

Look on the KeepingFishSimple YouTube channel, he recently bred gold laser corys.

[Cinnebuns]

While I can't say for sure about bladder snails specifically, I do know that most snails will eat eggs. That said, I do breed my cories in a tank very full with many different types of snails. It has mystery, Japanese trapdoor, and about 7 different types of nerites. I will say usually if I do not pull eggs that night and wait for the morning, there are only a few eggs left, but I also think that's more the guppies and gourami as well as the other cories rather than the snails.

Here's why:

I use a spawning mop. It not only simulates the type of plant they like to lay in, but will hide the egg from predation. It's not perfect. I often see fish go inside the mop egg hunting, sometimes immediately after a female lays, but it does a very good job. Like already mentioned, there are many mosses that can also do this job. The added benefit of a spawning mop is it is easier to pull out of the tank and check for eggs. You will still get a much higher yield if you check the mop multiple times the night they are spawning, but you can still find some the next day this way. I've even found eggs close to hatching stage that I had missed in previous checks before. 

There are many YouTube videos explaining how to make a spawning mop. It's pretty simple. Just make sure the yarn you are using is 100% acrylic. 

Here's a pic of my mops in my tank

GOOD LUCK!

[Odd Duck]

I just spotted this little darling in my 100 G nanofish tank.  It’s the first juvie bronze (Corydoras aeneus) I’ve seen in ages since my gold nugget pleco has developed a distinct passion for cory eggs, not to mention all the other cories, Kuhli loaches, bristlenose plecos, etc, in this tank.  This little one has managed to survive despite all the odds against it.  This is the first time I’ve spotted it and it somehow seems to know it’s past “eating” size at about 3/4” long nose to tail tip.  It’s acting like it’s survived a rite of passage coming out and running the glass, hanging out with friends, diving in and out of plants, etc.  It’s own little cory celebration!

Plus I’ve got at least 10 species of snail in here between various nerites, spike snails, ramshorns, mysteries, Japanese trapdoors, etc.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Odd Duck

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/29/2022 at 2:04 AM, Cinnebuns said:

most snails will eat eggs

Makes sense. They eat dead fish too.

[Tommy Vercetti]

I just collect the eggs and hatch them in a fluval specimen container hanging on the side of the same tank the eggs came from.

[modified lung]

If I find ramshorn, bladder, malaysian trumpet, or japanese trapdoor snails in the cups where my CPDs lay their eggs, I still find lots of eggs in there too.  However, if I find a snail leech or flatworm in the cup, there are usually no or only a couple eggs.

Based on that I don't think those snails eat viable eggs but I think the leeches and flatworms do.

[Brandon p]

On 7/29/2022 at 2:19 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Makes sense. They eat dead fish too.

I don’t have a big issue with snails eating eggs. The only ones I worry about are mystery and nertile .