Breeding Tylomelania Snails

[armthehomeless]

Does anyone know what triggers breeding in these guys? I have three variants . . . and two are breeding . . .but the third one is the one I really want to get going. All are in houston tap water running through a carbon bottle

Thinking about it, the oxygen content in the tanks that the tylos are breeding is probably higher than the one where they aren't. Do you think that has anything to do with it?

Or . . . are they simply not breeding because I want them to? As soon as I stop caring will they go wild?

[Mzungu]

Or . . . are they simply not breeding because I want them to? As soon as I stop caring will they go wild?

I think that's the case, Tim.

Which ones aren't breeding?

I got mine as a hang-on to a shipment at work for free. Just kinda wanted to see what they were like, and so far they've had about 10 babies. They're in my 5g QT tank, nothing special, just a small little sponge-type filter along with about once weekly water changes (this past week being the exception). From what I hear, though, they only lay one egg at a time, so a couple months and 4 adults later I have 10 or more babies...

What tank are your "desireables" in? How do their shells look? Are you dosing any calcium? What's your water change schedule?

[Mzungu]

P.S. Mine ate pretty much all the plants in the 5g - are yours in a planted tank? Maybe allowing them to forage for free had some impact?

[mnemenoi]

I got 4 Yellow antennae Tylo's (Tylomelania patrichalis?) and threw them in my planted tank. It is fairly dense and seems to maintain a Ph of about 7.3-7.4. They all quickly disappeared and have stayed that way for nearly 2 months. Now I occasionally spot one or two, but never actually moving. I assume they are fairly nocturnal, but after about 3 months I noticed an explosion of either Assassin snails or Tylo's. There were only those 5-6 I received from you Tim, but it had to have been at least a dozen or two of differing size, guess I'll see as they grow out a bit.

I do seem to remember reading something online about the water in their native Sulewesi being very oxygenated and somewhat hard (8.1?), perhaps its just that species? It might be something in the tank yanking out a certain mineral they might need (Calcium, Phosphate, Trace mineral)? Just a few ideas.... I think I have reserved myself to just letting them thrive or not without sweating them. All the other pest snails and Assassins seem happy (thus the introduction of the Assassins) and I'll hope they follow suit.

[armthehomeless]

A little more information on my tylos:

• I have Yellow Rabbit Snails in a 36" 30 gallon tank with cardinal shrimp. substrate is PFS and it has rocks and a couple pieces of manzanita wood. Excess plant get thrown in this tank (which get shredded by the snails). Both a cardinal shrimp and yellow rabbits are producing fairly regularly.
• I have orange rabbit snails in a 6' 215g with PFS, lace rock, and Vallisneria. The snails reproduce minimally in this tank (I see a baby every once in a while . . . could be the same one). I do notice that the snails eat the val.
• I have poso orange rabbit snails in a 36" 30g with yellow shrimp and LF L144s. Substrate is Aquasoil, and is filled with plants. These are not breedeing at all.

I perform water changes of 40-50% once a week. My the pH of my tanks are slightly higher (~7.8-8.0).

I tried researching several sites to find out if plant matter aids in breeding, but can't find anything?

[Mzungu]

So the pH of the tank with the AS and the poso orange rabbit snails is also around 8? Maybe the AS is the culprit...?

[nacra99]

You can add some animal based protein & calcium.... aka fish flake made with fish / shrimp meal.
It is important to keep the pH on the alkaline side. I have had a group in a tank with slightly acidic water / soil (AS) and it caused huge holes to develop in the shells.

[armthehomeless]

I'll move them to another tank then . . .

[mnemenoi]

I found a young Yellow antennae Tylo (Tylomelania patrichalis?) today and spotted a few of the adults after looking about the jungle of my planted tank. Hopefully it will be one of many, though it appears to have been born quite some time ago as it was already half the adult's size.

[Fancyfish]

So what do their eggs look like? Anyone have a picture? And how old do they need to be before they start breeding? Or what size do they need to be? And are they male and female in one snail or do they have seperate sexes?

[armthehomeless]

So what do their eggs look like? Anyone have a picture? And how old do they need to be before they start breeding? Or what size do they need to be? And are they male and female in one snail or do they have seperate sexes?

Tylos (at least the ones I have) are live-bearing snails, so there are no eggs. I think the breeding size/age varies a little bit from species to species as there are several species that get almost twice the size of other tylos.

According to http://www.allesumdieschneck.de/html...a_english.html they need both males and female

As front-gilled snails they are dioecious, there are males and females. It has not been proved yet but it is highly probable that the male fecundates the female by passing a spermatophor.

The young snails develop in the breeding sac of the female until they hatch. In the fan-shaped sac they are covered in a nutritional substance, which suggests that they are ovoviviparous.The embryos are – depending on the species – between 2.8 and 17.5 mm in size.

There is a groove starting on the right side of the body running along the foot whose function has not been cleared up entirely yet. It probably serves reproductional purposes, running along the foot and ending on the head in a mantle fold behind the tentacles.

Mura from water-box.de was able to watch a snail giving birth: The mother snail turns to the side so the groove's mouth lies sideways. After a short time a soft white egg appears under the opening where the (reproductional/birthing) groove ends. The egg is transported along the groove, presumably with the help of contractional waves, down towards the snail's foot.This process took about 5 minutes. Once there the white mass started to dissolve, a totally developed young snail appears and starts crawling, looking for food. A singular observance.

[nacra99]

So what do their eggs look like? Anyone have a picture? And how old do they need to be before they start breeding? Or what size do they need to be? And are they male and female in one snail or do they have seperate sexes?

I've seen this a couple of times but for the life of me it never occurred to me to take a pic.
They don't lay eggs per say, but they do give birth to their young in some sort of an amniotic sac. For the lack of a better description, it looks like a little rice ball or a white tapioca pearl (bubble tea lovers will know exactly what this looks like) about 1/8" to 1/4" depending on the size of the species.

Newly birthed young (or any other snails in the vicinity) will slowly eat their way out of this gooey white ball within hours leaving no traces of it behind.

I've also seen pics on the internet, but i don't remember exactly where i've seen it.

[nacra99]

I've also seen pics on the internet, but i don't remember exactly where i've seen it.

Duh...!!! silly me....
I just saw it in armthehomeless' link above..... about halfway down the page