Surprise under the lid

[johncl]

I have a red cherry shrimp tank that also houses some snails both ramshorn and apple. I found a clutch of eggs under the lid and was wondering if anyone could confirm that they are indeed from the apple snails and not the ramshorn? Also was wondering if any one knows how long before they hatch?

 

[fishy12]

keep them moist mine got dry and died.... I wld say snail idk wht kind

 

[fishy12]

look like the ones my common and mystery snail made

 

[msjinkzd]

those are pomacea diffusa eggs (mystery snail). They should take 10-14 days to hatch. You might consider dropping your water line an inch or so to make it easier for them to lay the eggs.

 

[johncl]

I keep the water line at least two inches below the top of the tank. Should it be lower? They are in a ten right now but will be moving to a 30 soon. My daughter and I picked these up from craigs list and were told at the time they were purple striped briggs snails and after doing a limited amount of research came to the conclusion that, briggs, apple and mystery are names used to describe the same snail.

msjinkzd......... Thanks for the id and info. In one of the other replies it was suggested to keep them moist is this something I should try to do?

 

[Otto_VonBacon]

My snails lay these ALL THE TIME. It seems everyday there is a new clutch. Most don't hatch though I see the occasional herd of little snails smiling down the side.

 

[msjinkzd]

I prefer to incubate my clutches. Each clutch can produce 50-200 baby snails just to warn you. It needs to stay moist but not wet. I find the easiest way to incubate is to take a very small tupperware container and put a single lightly dampened paper towel folded into quarters in the bottom. The fold two dry paper towels into quarters and place them on top of that. Put the clutch at the very top and tightlly lid it. You can then float it in your tank. Check it daily and remove condensation from the lid. If the towels get damp, replace them. They typically hatch at 8-9 days this way. When you notice that the clutch is turning blueish/greyish you can open it into the tank or a breeder trap. Typically after noticing the color change, they hatch within 24 hours and need to be able to get to the water immediately.

Your water level sounds fine. I was just concerned because it looks like it was laid in an awkward spot. A good rule of thumb is to drop your waterline as much as the largest snails diameter.

And you are correct, Mystery snail is one of tons of different species of apple snails. Its formal name is pomacea diffusa. They were previously described as pomacea bridgesii which is where the brigg came from. They were adn are commonly called brig snails and many of us are stubborn about changing our ways and actually calling them diffusa, lol.

 

[johncl]

I prefer to incubate my clutches. Each clutch can produce 50-200 baby snails just to warn you. It needs to stay moist but not wet. I find the easiest way to incubate is to take a very small tupperware container and put a single lightly dampened paper towel folded into quarters in the bottom. The fold two dry paper towels into quarters and place them on top of that. Put the clutch at the very top and tightlly lid it. You can then float it in your tank. Check it daily and remove condensation from the lid. If the towels get damp, replace them. They typically hatch at 8-9 days this way. When you notice that the clutch is turning blueish/greyish you can open it into the tank or a breeder trap. Typically after noticing the color change, they hatch within 24 hours and need to be able to get to the water immediately.

Your water level sounds fine. I was just concerned because it looks like it was laid in an awkward spot. A good rule of thumb is to drop your waterline as much as the largest snails diameter.

And you are correct, Mystery snail is one of tons of different species of apple snails. Its formal name is pomacea diffusa. They were previously described as pomacea bridgesii which is where the brigg came from. They were adn are commonly called brig snails and many of us are stubborn about changing our ways and actually calling them diffusa, lol.

Thanks so much for all the info. I think I'll give your method a try.A couple more questions if you don't mind. How do you remove the cluch without damaging the eggs? When you say "open it into the tank or a breeder trap" do you mean just open the container and let it float or move the eggs from the container to the tank?

 

[msjinkzd]

I just sort of pull it off. Some people use a credit card or razor blade. Its inevitable that the eggs that were against the glass will be popped The clutch is really pretty firm after 24 housr so you should be able to wiggle it off in mostly one piece.
As for what I meant about putting them in the tank. I meant to gently crush the clutch releasing the baby snails. I prefer to raise them in a breeder trap until tey hit pea-sized. This makes it easier to monitor their health and eating. It also makes it easier to keep the tank clean as baby snails are very small and its easy to vac them up.

 

[johncl]

Thanks agian for all the help I'm gonna give it a try I'll let you know how it all turns out.