Apple snail eggs

fred funk }{

I have four Golden Apple snails in my tank. Today I noticed two clutches of eggs up on the rim of the tank, a couple of inches out of the water. I have little or no experience with snails or their eggs for that matter so I don't know whether to remove the eggs as I don't really want to be over run by snails or leave them be and maybe find a new home for them when they're a bit bigger.

Any advice welcome.

Here's a picture of the eggs.

Silverfish

The snails will hatch out and drop into the tank, so depending on what fish you have in there, they will most likely be eaten. You won't really be overrun unless you decide to raise them.
Presuming the fish don't eat them though, they won't all make it anyway, out of a clutch of about 100 I got 30 survivors, they ate non-stop and they poo non-stop as well, I was doing 2 x 50% water changes a week to keep up with them. Eventually I just got rid all but two, got 20 euro credit for them so that was nice.
If you decide to keep them, float a breeder trap underneath to catch them as they hatch, and you can feed them in there too until they're big enough to be let loose, otherwise they might starve, die and pollute the water. They're really cute too, so once they start hatching you'll want to save them all.

They'll also need calcium for healthy shell growth, you can add cuttlefish (the type for budgies), Tums, or just calcium blocks. Also lots of lettuce and veg.

fred funk }{

Thanks for that Silverfish. I have Tanganyikan Cichlids so they wouldn't really have a hope of surviving if they were floating about in the water. I actually have a fry trap tank that I might put to use and try save a few.

My water is hard so calcium isn't a problem but do they require calcium to munch on? and Roughly how long does
it take for them to hatch?

Silverfish

It takes about 2-4 weeks, mine were out after 3, and some stragglers in week 4.
If your water is hard, they should be okay. They will need a constant food source, so a few algae wafers will do, they do eat a lot.

This is a handy site for apple snail info.

Even has recipes.

fred funk }{

Right, I'm now the proud father of approx 75 baby Golden Apple snails

I have them in a small plastic fry tank that has little slits on the under side that a few are managing to get through but apart from that they're awesome little things.

@Sleepy Any idea what's best to feed them out of the fridge?

Silverfish

Congrats!

Sadly they won't all make it, cos right now it's survival of the fittest, so there'll be a bit of a drop off. I had about a gazillion babies but only ended up with about 40 adults.

Anyway, they like lettuce (not iceberg) , cucumber, spinach, and they'll eat any fish food that's going as well. It's quite funny to watch them savage a load of lettuce though.

fred funk }{

I put in a small bit of an algae wafer and a green bean I found in the freezer hopefully they'll munch away at them all night. They're very tiny and very cute.

It's actually crazy in my tank at the moment. I have three sets of fry from three different species on the go and now have a batch of snails :eek: Don't know what I'll do with them all. It's hard not to save as many as you can.

fred funk }{

Update: baby snails are doing great and not many fatalities that I can see. There's also a good few in the main tank.

Degsy

Whatchou going to do with them?

fred funk }{

I'll give them away Degsy. You want some?

vibe666

I might take a few of your hands when they're a little bigger if you're looking for homes for them?

If you want rid sooner rather than later, I have a fry hatchery i could keep them in for a while till they're a bit bigger.

fred funk }{

vibe666 wrote: »

I might take a few of your hands when they're a little bigger if you're looking for homes for them?

If you want rid sooner rather than later, I have a fry hatchery i could keep them in for a while till they're a bit bigger.

Yeah, you can have some. I'll wait till they're a bit bigger first. Cool little things all the same.

suziek21

@ fred funk great thread, but was shocked when i saw the picture ........ gee am thinking of getting snails but dont' want this happening in my tank

suziek21

p.s also , whats a fry ??

fred funk }{

suziek21 wrote: »

@ fred funk great thread, but was shocked when i saw the picture ........ gee am thinking of getting snails but dont' want this happening in my tank

Cheers suziek. The babies are much bigger now are doing great without that many deaths. I wouldn't worry too much about being over run as I deliberitly saved the baby snails and that's why so much survived.

suziek21 wrote: »

p.s also , whats a fry ??

Fry are/is a baby fish.

suziek21

o.k good point Fred Funk, think 1 or 2 of them will look cool in the tank. definitely on my list to get.
thanks for the small fry verfication, i'm a newbie to all this lingo :-)