and then there were two!

[ciaobella7122]

Holy jeez do I have snails or rabbits?!?!?! I was excited to find one clutch last week but I was speechless when I came home only three days later to find another clutch! Actually I almost had a heart attack! So for the first clutch it's just been 7 days and for the second it's at 4 days. Right now I have them in a breeder thing on a moist sponge. I'll be getting another tank for them to hatch in hopefully by Friday. I think at least one clutch is parented by a yellow and a purple and the other is either the same or both parents are purple. I am super excited and can't wait to see what colors come out!

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j177/ciaobella7112/S7001858.jpg

On the left is the new clutch (4 days post lay) on the right is the more advanced 7 day old clutch. There are some that already looked as though they've opened but I haven't seen any babies, what is that all about?

[lorindaleigh]

Holy jeez do I have snails or rabbits?!?!?! I was excited to find one clutch last week but I was speechless when I came home only three days later to find another clutch! Actually I almost had a heart attack! So for the first clutch it's just been 7 days and for the second it's at 4 days. Right now I have them in a breeder thing on a moist sponge. I'll be getting another tank for them to hatch in hopefully by Friday. I think at least one clutch is parented by a yellow and a purple and the other is either the same or both parents are purple. I am super excited and can't wait to see what colors come out!

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j177/ciaobella7112/S7001858.jpg

On the left is the new clutch (4 days post lay) on the right is the more advanced 7 day old clutch. There are some that already looked as though they've opened but I haven't seen any babies, what is that all about?
My guess it would be dead ones. Not all of them make it. Maybe the eggs open up if the snail died. Just a guess.

[jackiomy]

I have had 8 clutches so far and only one had babies. It was the one I missed on a back wall under the filter. It was open so I don't know if they actually hatched out or if the clutch just fell apart. I have had another for almost a month and I think it is a dud too. :( I can just wait and see. Matbe I shouldn't have frozen the other ones.

[ciaobella7122]

Thats why I didnt freeze the second one. I was scared the first could possibly not produce so I am going to TRY to hatch both of them and see where I get. I have people to take quite a few babies and I'm sure I can sell whatever else through here or to my friend at my local mom and pop fish store. I'm really hoping I get SOMETHING out of it lol. I plan on keeping 3-5 for myself also!

[stezatois]

i simply leave mine in the tank to hatch. My 1st couple of clutches were test clutches i think. I figure momma knows best and leave them where she puts them. Mine have hatched out at 7-10 days. I have started to call the babies pin heads to differentiate between different ages of young, coz thats about the size of them when they hatch.

[stezatois]

as for keeping some lol i cant decide, i wanna keep them all lol. I have so many colours to pick from. They are starting to develop their personalities now.

[ciaobella7122]

I don't know exactly how many I'll keep until I see what colors come out. I very well may keep more. I'm hoping to upgrade my whole tank but that can't happen until I move and I'm not yet sure when that will be, or else I'd probably keep them all! Unfortunately because it's not an invert only tank I don't want to grow them out in my main tank, that's why I moved them. I have some pond snails that I crush everytime I see them and when they're babies I'm afraid I'd not be able to differentiate. I changed out substrate and everything and I still missed a clutch of pond snails somewhere. They're so stinking frustrating!

[stezatois]

i place a floating breeder box under the clutch, and stick it in place with a mag float to catch babies as they hatch with a small ammount of substrate or carbon to stop them falling thru the holes at the bottom and they can then be emptied into a grow out if needs be.

[wendamus]

If mine ever produce a clutch, they'll be in a 5 gallon with an inch of space at the top. Does that mean I don't need to worry about a breeder's net, since my tank isn't very deep anyway?

[ciaobella7122]

you don't have to use a breeder net in any tank, I'm only using one because I want to move the babies to another tank not have them in the main tank. You can leave the eggs there and they will simply hatch into your tank. I think they need a little more space than an inch at the top to lay their eggs without drowing any though. You may want to drop your water line another half inch to an inch.

[ciaobella7122]

I am sad to report that both clutches were complete duds :( I carefully pulled them apart after 16 days each and they were just filled with goop. The second clutch had what looked like they could have developed into babies but no shell was formed on them. So well see what the next clutches bring.

[Lupin]

Only 16 days? You could have left it for 5 weeks just to be really sure.

[msjinkzd]

I have never had a clutch take longer than 2 weeks. In colder areas, up to 3 weeks is normal but its still alot longer than typical.

[ciaobella7122]

oooh no! well ill know better next time for a lot of things. number one i'm leaving them in the tank right where they are because i know i damaged some in trying to move them and I will leave them much longer next time. that makes me sad, however my snails have been trying to escape again so Ive lowered my water level and Im hoping magic happens again. although i read in another thread that first clutches are commonly infertile. is this true?

[ciaobella7122]

Got a third clutch last night on the back glass. The plan is to leave this one right where it is and just see what happens. I'll deal with moving them or whatever I have to do once they hatch.