Wierd New Snails

OgreMkV

Father of Earth's Next Emperor
Apr 26, 2007
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Port Arthur, TX
ogremkv.wordpress.com
I haven't put anything new in my tank since Hurricane Humberto (I think that was late September. Then I added five otos and 2 Bolivian Rams.

I look in my tank this afternoon and see a snail, about 1/8 of an inch long. With a pointed spiral shell. If it was 3 million years old, I'd call it a turitella, but I'm not sure if that genus is extant or not.

Anyway, I go eat and come back. I look in my tank to see if the little guy has moved. He has... and he brought eight friends with him.

Where in the heck did they come from? I haven't added plants since I started the tank. Surely the eggs didn't take 8 months to hatch. Could they have been growing this whole time and I just missed them?

My one 'normal' pond snail has gone from smaller than a dime's diameter to slightly larger than a quarters diameter in about three months, so surely these new guys haven't been in there that long.

Any ideas... they are too small for my camera (no micro lens). The shells are tan and have a very sharply pointed spiral shape.
 
By the way you're describing them, I think they're Malaysian trumpet snails. They were probably there all along and you didn't realize them because they're mostly nocturnal and they bury themselves under your substrate during the day.

But being that small, sounds like they were introduced recently.
 
SnailMTS040413a.jpg


there is a pic right there.
 
If you have 1 pond snail, you will soon have many. They don't need a mate to breed.

Yeah, I've had that pond snail in there for a while and no babies yet... It's huge, but hasn't bred yet that I know of.

By the way you're describing them, I think they're Malaysian trumpet snails. They were probably there all along and you didn't realize them because they're mostly nocturnal and they bury themselves under your substrate during the day.

But being that small, sounds like they were introduced recently.

That's what I was thinking. They are very tiny and they are all the same size, so they must have come from the same litter. If their shell wasn't so different, I'd just say the pond snail bred, I have no idea.

I just checked some things and those are the trumpet snails.

Looks like I'll have bumper crop... anyone need a few?
 
Pond snails will only "boom" if you have alot of food for them to eat, you must not be overfeeding. I find them to be a good measure of how well i am taking care of my tank and if I am overfeeding.
Lots of people like mts because they stir up the substrate.
 
My loaches love those! All I ever find are empty shells. :grinyes:
 
My one 'normal' pond snail has gone from smaller than a dime's diameter to slightly larger than a quarters diameter in about three months, so surely these new guys haven't been in there that long.

This doesn't sound like a pond snail to me. What most people refer to as "pond snails" are genus Physa or Physella, and don't get much bigger than 3/8". If yours are bigger than a quarter, I'm guessing mystery or apple snail?

I agree with the others on the pointed snails though; probably Malaysian trumpet snails. They aren't all as green as the one Mgamer20o0 showed. Mine are more brown-stripey.
 
I have pond snails the size of pennies, but no larger. Do you have a pic of your snail? Good call soobie, i missed the finer point of size!
 
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