BIG problem with Mystery Snails..

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Amber65502

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Feb 23, 2012
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Hi! ^.^

I received a 10-gallon tank as a gift for Christmas and when I went fish shopping I instantly fell in love with the Mystery Snails I saw. Needless to say, I made the mistake of getting two of them without realizing Snails, like all animals, breed and make millions of babies. I've had them for a about a month now with no problems, but just recently they've been mating.

This is a big problem, because neither I or my mother want to breed Snails. So, we're going to give the Female a tank of her own so she won't have any more eggs. However, since I was too late to prevent this, I'm really panicking on what I'm going to do about the current eggs that are soon-to-come. I've heard some snails can lay 20 to 1,000!! And I don't want to raise them because I don't know what to do when they mature to adults, but I really don't want to harm them either.

So any advice on how many babies hatch/survive usually, and any advice on what I personally should do??

Thanks so much! <3
 
AquaticAustin

AquaticAustin

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Sep 29, 2011
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When u say lay eggs they lay them above the water in big white styrofoam clusters right? Thats how my blue mysteries lay. If thats the case just scrape.the eggs off and freeze them

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Amber65502

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Feb 23, 2012
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AquaticAustin said:
When u say lay eggs they lay them above the water in big white styrofoam clusters right? Thats how my blue mysteries lay. If thats the case just scrape.the eggs off and freeze them

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Thank you for taking the time to give me this advice, but I'm kinda trying to figure out a solution that won't kill or harm the eggs/babies, please :)
 
vwill279

vwill279

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There is almost always a market for mystery snails. If you are willing to let the babies hatch and grow for a couple of months, you could probably sell them. Price generally depends on the color and species, but I wouldnt really expect to make more than $1 per snail. Still, if you get a decent sized clutch, thats pays for that months fish food...

Otherwise, separating them is the only way to keep them from breeding if you cant bring yourself to remove and kill the clutch.
 
Somervell

Somervell

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I would suggest that you separate them. As far as I know, there are no reliable methods of birth control for mystery snails, and the market for them waxes and wanes. I have about 30 purples in my tanks right now and new clutches almost every day. I have no problem with getting rid of the egg clutches, as long as I catch them early, but it's a personal decision.

The bottom line with the snails is if you don't want eggs, you will have to separate them, but keep in mind that even after separation they can lay clutches for relatively long periods of time.
 
BettaFishMommy

BettaFishMommy

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Mar 17, 2008
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yep, female mystery snails can retain sperm for quite a while and continue popping out egg clutches that are viable long after you separate the female from the male.

i personally would scrape the clutches off and freeze them in a ziploc before tossing in the garbage. you aren't harming the baby snails, you are maintaining and preserving your tank's quality of life, since many many snails will create a much greater bioload that your tank volume and filter cannot keep up, resulting in ammonia and nitrite spikes that could kill all your fish and snails. practice snail birth control, i say! lol.
 
AquaticAustin

AquaticAustin

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Just tonight I had a a clutch of approx 100-200 baby blue mystery snails drop into my tank! lol well I had to help a little, I saw a giant pile of them retained on top of some of the dried egg casing so I plopped them in and now my walls are full O baby snails... I say enjoy it! (granted this is a snail only tank and I plan to sell the babies eventually)
 
AquaticAustin

AquaticAustin

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You know what on second thought... to keep them from laying eggs you may be able to just keep the water level up to 100%, I know when I did that the snails didnt lay any eggs but when it went down like 3" they laid 2 clutches overnight. Im not sure if they will climb over the plastic lip on the aquarium to lay them on the outside? Just a thought...
 
BettaFishMommy

BettaFishMommy

finkids make me happy :-)
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keeping the water all the way up in a tank that has breeding apple snails is never a good idea. momma snail will 'take a walk' to find a suitable place to lay eggs, and you may find her on the floor, with a cracked shell, or worse, dead.
 
AquaticAustin

AquaticAustin

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ah kk just was a thought bettafishmommy, I have heard of them walking out of the tank before just for me they seemed to wait for the water level to fall enough... maybe just dumb luck lol Would it help to cover the tank? I know my tank is just running a sponge filter and a glass top could sit snugly over the whole surface? This is as much for OP as it is for me for when I want the tank to be full
 
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