Snails up the whazoo

[Scavenger]

After being set up for 2 weeks, it seem my new tank is quite popular among the snails. About 1 week ago I noticed a couple of very small snails on the glass in the morning. I thought they might just be a small species of snail that came with my new live rock. Well they are growing and nothing in my tank is eating them. This morning I counted 45 of them. Looking at their shells develop I'm guessing either turbo or astreas. At lunch today I noticed a couple of the mature astrea snails...well....ummm....having a private moment I guess you would say. (Lots of white stuff.) I think I may have snails for trade in the near future.

[Quinn]

Unfortunately I doubt that's the case. If it were, we wouldn't all be paying a toonie for a snail anymore. :razz: Here are some past discussions. No one seems to know where all the little snails go, or if they're truly baby snails or just hitchhikers, but I can tell you, I don't know of anyone who's snail population increases on its own. :neutral:

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9099&highlight=baby+snails

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4252&highlight=baby+snails

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3147&highlight=baby+snails

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=824&highlight=baby+snails

[DOO-E]

Teevee My LFS has a margarita snail explosion. It is odd

[Scavenger]

Well I don't know when or where the eggs got layed, but I'm very sure these are baby snails. They are quite small but look like minature versions of adult snails. I can clearly see the foot, antenna and shell. Also I can notice the growth of these guys. I don't believe these are hitchhikers as all tank contents are a combination of 2 established tanks. 3/4 the rock in the tank I aquired from another Canreefer and he has had it for quite some time before breaking down his tank for moving and he never had anything like this. Perhaps it was just lucky timing they survived. Perhaps they hit the larval stage when the tanks were merged and the stress and cloudy water kept would be diners away from them.

[Aquattro]

I had the same thing. Hundreds of little snails that looked just like small versions of the adults. They never grew into anything larger, and all have disappeared over time.
Unfortunately any thoughts of going into the "snail business" should be dismissed :neutral:

[Scavenger]

I had the same thing. Hundreds of little snails that looked just like small versions of the adults. They never grew into anything larger, and all have disappeared over time.
Unfortunately any thoughts of going into the "snail business" should be dismissed :neutral:

Ahhh Gee, I was looking forward to changing my handle to "Snail Pimp"

[Aquattro]

Ya, I thought I was going to be the west coast snail guy, and I did give out a lot of cerith looking snails, but not sure they ever grew. The little astrea looking ones just went nuts for a few months, and then vanished.

[marie]

I have a cerith type snail that came in on my first batch of live rock. They only grow to about half the size of the ceriths that you buy at the store but they breed like rabbits.Also, maybe coincidence, but the population increases dramaticaly when i go through a bout of cyano. At the moment as soon as the lights go out they come up from the sand and take over the tank. Within hours you can barely see through the front glass.

[Bert]

I have some self-reproducing cap snails in my tank. I got 3 from a fellow reefer on a frag and now there are tons. They cycle w/ my cleaning schedule. When the coralline hasn't been cleaned for a while there is no film algae for them and thier numbers dwindle. When I keep up with the coraline there is enough film algae on the glass to keep them pretty numerous. They hate light, which is good b/c they don't block my view of the tank during the day. In any case, live propigation of snails is possible, you just need the right broodstock.

Bert

[hockey nut]

lol. I see baby snails come and go but one day out of the blue I saw this huge snail. Now I know I didn't buy him so he must of come on the live rock 2 years earlier. I paniced at first cause he was huge and very different from anything else I had in my tank. He moved very fast and only stayed in the shadows. I later found out it was a cats eye. (turbo petholatus). Cool looking snail. Unfortuneatly he has dissapeard. This is truly an amazing hobbie. I wonder what I'll see next. Best Regards... :0)

[Quinn]

As in the experience of others, my small snails came in waves.

I had some interesting hitchhiking snails. Two in particular sat in one spot for weeks on end and I am wondering if they were a rock burrowing type, as they always seemed to create holes where they sat.

[trilinearmipmap]

I don't understand why snails can't propagate and multiply in an aquarium.

In freshwater aquaria there are several different species of snail and all of them multiply rapidly, in fact a common FW problem is snails multiplying out of control.

If SW snails won't maintain self-sustaining populations in an aquarium you would have to ask why. Could the problem be not enough nutrients, lack of an essential element, a toxic water contaminant, or predation? And do people with refugia have snails propagating in them?

[shotzee]

I have a number of cerith snails in my nano, and they have laid egges at least three times that I have noticed. The trouble is that I think either my shrimp or my hungry clownfish would nibble on them because they would be continously reduced. I have noticed a few baby cerith snails though (easy to notice from there characteristic shells) on occasion so I guess a few survived.

Rory

[Bert]

I think the problem starts with the fact that freshwater snails go directly from egg->snail. Most saltwater snails have a planktonic stage thrown in there to help dispersal. We all know how well planktonic stages do in a reef tank. When someone cracks the code we'll not only have tank bred snails, but also Centropyge angelfish and all that jazz.

Bert

[Quinn]

I have noticed a few baby cerith snails though (easy to notice from there characteristic shells) on occasion so I guess a few survived.


I think making this assumption is a bit dangerous. There are thousands upon thousands of species of snail, many of which resemble one another. While what we are seeing may in fact be the young of our purchased snails, there is also the possibility that they are completely different species within seperate genera or families.

http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_pages/Common_Names.html