Baby Mystery Snails!

[MCools]

Over the last few weeks I have found about 4 baby mystery snails in my tank! I'm exited about this, but at the same time I'm a little worried that my goldfish will eat them all before they get a chance to grow up. They are so small that when I found the first one on the front glass of the tank I thought the glass had a chip in it! Then I took a (much) closer look and noticed it was moving...and had tiny little hair-thin antenna, lol! I've since found them on ornaments and the back glass, as well.

The strange thing about this is that for the last month I've only had one snail in my tank, and I've never found a clutch of eggs. After I found the first baby, I looked on the underside of my HOB and everything, but no luck. Don't mystery snails lay their clutch above the water line? I only have one live plant in my tank, and it's been in there longer than the snail.

So what are the odds of any of them living to adulthood (or at least get too big to eat) with my goldfish in there? Are baby snails like bugs, where if you see one it means you have 100 more?

[Wild Turkey]

Are you sure theyre mystery snails? They usually need both sexes to propagate, but if you havent found any clutches or signs of them, they probably arent apple snails, more likely pond snails.

Some goldfish eat snails, some dont ime. Mystery snails will eventually get big enough for him to not eat them most likely, but he can still stress them out. Just keep an eye on the GF and see how interested he is.

[MCools]

I had 2 mystery snails for about a month, but one didn't do so well and died. That was about a month/month and a half ago. They have to be mystery snails because I've never had pond snails. I also haven't done anything to introduce them into my tank. I'm not a fan of pond snails. I saw about 6 different baby snails today, but they are so small it's hard to tell if the goldfish has noticed them. I did see him shoot up to the top of the tank like he saw food once yesterday, I kinda figured he grabbed one up then.

[Wild Turkey]

You said you had a live plant, did you use any method for killing snails/snail eggs before introducing the plant? If not, thats probably where they came from if they are pond snails. Not a big deal but they are not most peoples favorite.


Hopefully they are apple snails but if you cant find any evidence of a clutch I would say its doubtful.

[Alasse]

Apples are either male or female, so you would need two

Do they look like minature adult apples? And from the time they drop into the water they definately look like the adults (except smaller). They are also not really tiny. Apples babies also grow really fast .

Apples lay their eggs above water line, you would definately see reminants of the eggs clutch if it was apples.

Can you get a pic?

[MCools]

Well, Wild Turkey, I hate to say it but you were right. They are pond snails:scry: .

I took two out of my tank and put them in an old vase I had, and now there is about 50 in there. They are the same color as my mystery snail though, which I think is a little odd. They are all still really tiny, too, the biggest is less than 1/4 inch in diameter.

Question: I put that plant in my tank in early August. I didn't see a single baby snail in there until I had my mystery snail for about 5 weeks (around December 10th). I originally bought 2 MS back on October 7th but one died after about 4 weeks, so I did have 2 at one time. Why didn't I see any baby snails before then? It just seems to me that if they came in on that plant I would have found some much sooner. I mean, everyone says they breed like rabbits! Could I have had a hitch-hiker with my other two snails and not know?

[Wild Turkey]

More likely the plant was already covered in snail eggs which then hatched. Your story is pretty typical. Personally, I dont mind them all that much but I prefer MTS or Ramshorns. If you dont overfeed they shouldnt become a problem IME.