Accidental Nassarius Miracle Discovery

sunce_22 · #1 07-24-2009, 07:45 AM

So a few months back I posted a thread on a forum asking if it was possible to breed tonga nassarius snails, because I found mine had some eggs on the glass, I was eager and curious.
A few "local" experts on the forum explained that even though they are laying eggs, which they will regularly, perhaps 1 out of thousands may survive!

Terrible odds I thought, ok well just don't worry about it then

so tonight Im about to go to sleep, and I decide to take a peek in my tank to see what could be lurking in the dark (its only a 20G but you never know)

I look in to see a few random little snails on the glass, then I take a closer look, They resemble tonga super nassarius snails! No way! I couldn't believe what I was seeing!

It gets better...

I decide that perhaps they are maybe a random hitch hiker, that I cant get too excited, so I throw some hermit crab pellets into the tank... that was when they came out...

In 10 mins I saw about about 200 - 2mm tonga nassarius snails crawl out from sand and head straight towards the pellets.

Not only was it improbable that they could survive... but they are thriving!!!! I had to tell someone!

P.S. I tried to take photos, but I dont have a super camera like many of you! lol so the photos didnt work out. Thanks for reading though!

Carmen · #2 07-24-2009, 01:31 PM

Totally AWESOME!!!!!! Very Profitable ! WHOHOO!

Myka · #3 07-24-2009, 01:43 PM

Very cool!! Use a magnifying glass and take a photo through it. That's what I do for small stuff like snails and Zoas.

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #4 07-24-2009, 04:50 PM

Congrats. Now you have lots of "trade-bait"

You should post here when the babies are ready to be re-homed. I would love to get some tank-raised Tonga Nassarius snails. They are awesome in seahorse tanks for cleaning up uneaten food.

Anthony

sunce_22 · #5 07-24-2009, 05:08 PM

I would love to do that! However because there isn't any information about breeding them, let alone raising them... I really have no idea what their growth rate is going to be.

I will take some photos of them tonight with a magnifying glass.... if I can find one. (Where do they sell them?)

It was very encouraging watching them eat the pellets I dropped in yesterday! Im excited to see how this goes

I have about 4 or 5 adults in that tank. They are ALWAYS laying eggs on the glass! I always just left them there, hoping maybe one in the thousands would survive. Good luck I guess!

findingnemo1 · #6 07-24-2009, 05:40 PM

I also had some that layed eggs about 2.5 months ago and then sure enough i saw the little babys with there pokie things all over the glass and sand. I would say i have about 30 babies i guess..As soon as i feed the tank they all come out of the sand...In 2 months they are now about 1/2 inch i guess.....I only started with 4 of them as we'll.

sunce_22 · #7 07-24-2009, 07:15 PM

Isnt it exciting when you accidently accomplish something you should be able to do? lol. Sounds like they grow very quickly, what are you feeding yours?

findingnemo1 · #8 07-24-2009, 08:10 PM

They u are hitting the algae clip at night as my lawnmower blennie is a slow eater

And then as soon as the mysis hits the water they are all out of the sand.

It is very cool i must say and gotta like the free clean up crew....I have started taking them out of the cube and putting them in the 90 so they have more food...

sunce_22 · #9 07-25-2009, 12:10 AM

I am definitely going to test them out with some mysis shrimp tonight. i cant wait to watch these guys grow!

findingnemo1 · #10 07-25-2009, 12:13 AM

I turn all the flow off in my tank as i feed the nems at the same time. So what the clowns dont catch falls to the sand and they just go nuts....

I will try and get a few pics of mine as we'll and then it will show you the size of them now...