Raising Baby Mystery Snails

[nmb7895]

I have 2 Mystery Snails in my aquarium. One is ivory, the other is black.

Anyway, I had thought they were both male. Turns out I don't think that was true. I found my white snail on top of the black snail... ermm... doing their thing, so I'm pretty sure the white is a male while the black is a female.

Anyway, I love Mystery Snails. Absolutely adore them, and they aren't really pests compared to the Ramshorns I also keep.

Would it be a good enough idea to try and raise the babies and then maybe try and sell them to my LFS? I don't really want my aquarium overrun with mystery snails, but they're no problem to take care of and don't like the plants I have, so I don't see why it could be too bad. Worse case scenario, I remove eggs. Mystery snail eggs take awhile to hatch and are impossible to not notice.

But anyway
How do I raise the eggs? Do I just let the cluster hang out at the top and do its thing, making sure not to cover the sac in water?

What color baby would a black and white make anyway?

[OneCraftySAHM]

Just wondering what ever happened with your snails? I think I have the exact same scenario happening right now. I have one ivory snail and one black snail and they are at the top of the tank and there is a cluster of what looks like bubbles on the side of the glass right at the top. Not sure what to do. Will the other fish eat them, should I just leave them alone? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Wild Turkey]

Since this thread is old but never answered, and now someone has the same question I dont see any problem answering. Just for future reference though, in most cases starting a new thread is better than hijacking another.

The apple snails "riding" eachother is the mating process.

A short while after, the female leaves the water to lay her eggs above the water line (on the glass or underneath the lid). Lowering your water level an inch or so makes this easier and equates to less stress for the snail.

You wont get over-run with them, if you dont want any additional batches of snails (easily 50-100 snails per clutch) just scrape the clutch off the glass before it hatches. The incubation period is about 2 weeks.

As the snails grow their shell grows with them. In order to maintain proper shell growth/health you need to provide them with a ph of 7.0+ and a high calcium diet. Calcium in the water column doesnt hurt either, and can help you achieve the higher ph. I like using crushed coral to get the calcium into the column instead of adding it with water changes.

As for food, Kensfish.com sells a calcium-enriched sinking wafer which is excellent for this.

As for colors, in my experience when you mix two established colors like black/white you tend to get some of each, some mixed and sometimes some with stripes (more rare).

Good luck!

[OneCraftySAHM]

Thank you for answering and sorry about hijacking, I wasn't sure if starting a new thread was appropriate or not and since the OP never got an answer to his question, I thought it would be ok. I'll know for next time thumbs2:

I'm not sure if this is just slime or eggs. I never saw one on top of another, I just happen to see them close together and a trail of slime with what looks like bubbles and gunk in it. The ivory one has now been on top of the slime for a few hours...not sure what is happening at this point, lol. I've never owned snails before so this is all new to me. I'm going to lower the water level now and see what happens.

Thank you again for the reply.

[nmb7895]

I've seen them mate a half a dozen times since I made this thread, and still no egg sac.

[OneCraftySAHM]

I actually never saw them mate, I just noticed some slimy stuff on the glass with what looks like bubbles...here are a few pics, sorry I'm not the best picture taker. Not sure if this is eggs or not but I'm guessing so...

After I lowered the water...

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Before...

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Wild Turkey]

If the apple snails are laying eggs you'll see it, it will look like a big wad of chewing gum.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[OneCraftySAHM]

Yea, I did that search several times and they don't really look like that...so I'm not sure what is happening. They look like a cluster of eggs, some being a little brownish/pink, some clear. The snail has not moved, she slide down after we lowered the water but she is still in that same spot. I really love these little snails, I hope nothing is wrong with her.