Snails in sump? How did they get there?

[giar]

I found several very tiny snails in my sump. I wonder how did they get there?.

My water source is from the well
I have no plants in the tank.
I only feed frozen foods.

Thanks!

 

[TwoHedWlf]

Hitch hiked on gravel, filter media, picked up with fish, water changing gear...Just about anything.

 

[Drstrangelove]

Snails come from eggs and their eggs are very tiny (see below.) They could come from almost any moist terrestrial or aquatic source that wasn't sterilized. Shelled gastropods (commonly called snails) even inhabit forests and deserts.

 

[duanes]

When you added fish to the tank, 1 snail egg could have come along, and since snails are hermaphrodites, even just 1 can become many.
I have MTS, pond and ramshorn snails in all my tanks and sumps, and they were never intentionally put there.
But they spend the night burrowing thru the substrate keeping it from compacting, and slightly aerated, they also eat rotting plant parts, helping to break them down (to me) another plus, and also eat a little algae.
Occasionally when out of control I crush them agaist the glass so they become fish food.
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I live on an island in the Pacific, where they live in streams, trees, everywhere, and some eat paper.