Are these eggs? (pics)

V

Vitaly

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Sep 12, 2006
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Well I have several years of freshwater and marine experience...but never seen fish court or breed in my tanks. On Saturday I added an Onion Plant (Crinum thaianum) to my tank and about 8 small neon's.

The tank is a 25 gallon tall with 2 honey dwarf gourami honey dwarf gourami and a single chinese algae eater (his partner died several months ago).

On Monday I observed a small, round gelatinous mass on a leaf of the plant (the plant was thoroughly washed before introduction into the tank).

http://www.life.uiuc.edu/~stepensk/Onion1.jpg
http://www.life.uiuc.edu/~stepensk/Onion2.jpg

I know that labrynth fish, such as gourami's, lay bubble nests. This does not appear as such but is definately organic and appears to be a little larger today than it was yesterday. However, it is not moving.

Could these be eggs...or is it something else that got into my tank from the local fish store?

Thanks for the advice and comments...

- Vitaly
 
I'd say there snail eggs. Neons require a lot of special attention in the way of water parameter if they are to breed, so that rules them out.
 
they definetly look like snail eggs,do you have snails in the tank?or did you buy a plant and put it in?im infested with snails because of buying plants and putting them in the tank.
 
Thanks Gang...

bettagurl, paku, dorkfish...

Thanks to each of you for the feedback. I would have never known what these were...until it was too late!!!

I was never a big plant person until recently. I have Java Moss, Java Fern and some small "bladed" plant that I picked up during a local fish auction. All have been in the tank for about 4 months. The tank has been running for about 6 months and I have not seen any snails.

The Onion Plant is from a local fish store and was introduced this past Saturday (Sept 9th). I noted the eggs on Monday...and here I am. I did clean the plant leaves and roots before introducing it...but I suppose something/someone snuck in.

So in my marine tank I have reef snails and they are beneficial. In my freshwater experience I know there are some snails that are good to have and others that are bad...though I have never had any.

It seems that generally people try to avoid them, right? Should I cut the leaf off and discard of the eggs...leave them hatch? I imagine the concern is that they will over run the tank in time.

Thanks again for the feedback.

- Vitaly
 
I'm not 100% sure, but they look like ramshorn snail eggs. If so, you may want to let them hatch out, as ramshorns are good at eliminating algae and cleaning up extra fish food on the bottom of the tank. They do, as they get bigger, like to sometimes munch on certain types of plants, such as anacharis. But if you don't have a planted tank these guys in my opinion are nothing but beneficial. They do however reproduce fast, and hey, if you get a bunch, just sell em. I see ramshorns for sale all the time.

If you have loaches you don't have anything to worry about anyway, as they'll gobble them up and probably stop to say thanks for the treat! Even the larger apple snails will eat smaller ramshorns.

Also, it may be good to note that these snails are hermaphroditic. Meaning, they dont need any help from any friends to reproduce. They can reproduce all by themselves.

But, if those aren't ramshorn eggs... disregard everything I said! lol
 
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DrussRob, I thought they looked like ramshorn eggs, too, so you're safe! :D

I breed ramshorns so I'm very familiar with their egg jellies. I've also got a few pond snails that came as hitchhikers on some live plants. They're in my big tank, so there's enough hiding places that I would never spot those eggs. But I think pond snail eggs look very similar, in that they are clear and laid in a little circular jelly. Both kinds of snails also lay their eggs completely underwater (which is in contrast to mystery/apple snails, if I'm correct).
 
That's absolutely correct. Pond, or what I believe to be trapdoor snails, also lay eggs underwater. While the mystery and apples lay them above the water line. One of my mystery snails laid a clutch two nights ago in my 56 gallon as I watched... crazy stuff.
 
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