how long does it take for ramshorn snails to lay eggs.........

[AquariumNoob13]

.....and how long does it take for them to hatch? i'm doing a science experiment where i test the reproductive ability of snails in a higher pH than snails in a normal pH....but first i need snails from the same parent. i currently have 6 snails in 6 different cups. is there any way they will at least lay eggs before monday? and for ramshorns, what IS a normal pH?

 

[thebullit]

if its ramshorn snails in the cups as you said yes you may well have eggs by monday. they do reproduce quickly and more so with over feeding. most snails do there best with a ph above 7 pref 7.4. the eggs can take a week to 2 weeks to hatch and are very small dots.

 

[closer2fine]

how big do they have to be before they can reproduce? I had some eggs come in on a plant - I thought I got them all - but am now noticing some red/pink dots.

 

[AquariumNoob13]

well today i was giving one of my tanks a look around, and i found HUGE eggs on the glass, but they weren't in a circular cluster, they were more like in a long oval...but i put them into a cup and put the snail that was in that cup back into the tank i got it from. i also did this 2 more times, but the eggs i found were not so big. so i'm hoping that the big eggs i found will be able to hatch sometime next week so i can begin my experiment. so if the snails prefer a 7.4 pH, what would be a pH that is higher that may occur naturally due to runoff from fertilizer or other products that may raise the pH in ponds?

 

[Lucky]

so if the snails prefer a 7.4 pH, what would be a pH that is higher that may occur naturally due to runoff from fertilizer or other products that may raise the pH in ponds?

Not sure, but I can tell you that mine are breeding like crazy in a pH of about 8.4

 

[AquariumNoob13]

i decided that instead of raising the pH, i added in 500 ppm of nitrate.

 

[Yadokari]

That just sounds like torture :-( Putting them in waters that has nitrates off the charts.

On a side note, having a High PH = good for snails, because it helps keep their shells intact.
Low PH will crack their shells and eventually kill a snail. Of course, this would mean a PH that is in the acidic range of 6 point something or under.

 

[AquariumNoob13]

well the first run of my experiment we accidentally miscalculate the dilution of our nitrate solution and added 5000 ppm! (ooops!!!) but they did fine for 2 weeks! they even laid eggs! but then they all died and we had to get rid of the eggs because who knows what kind of mutations they had. =/ but we started our second run and this time made sure to add 500 ppm. 0=) we just found eggs the other day and they laid them 2x as fast as the snails in 5000 ppm so we think that they may be dieing again. ='[ but we are sort of hoping they will because then we can prove the point of this experiment! (fertilizer and pesticide runoff into freshwater ponds kills the wildlife and ruins bio-diversity)