Snail eggs keep falling in the water

[djmatthewblack]

I have a mystery snail that keep laying eggs on the underside of the lid of the tank.  They will stay up there for about a week and then I find them in the morning on the bottom of the tank.  I feel bad and would like the eggs to hatch.  One time the eggs were laid when the lid was left open, but I am afraid if I leave the lid open the snails might escape and not find the way back to the water.

Anything I can do to help the situation?  Maybe tape some sort of netting around the eggs?

[PlanB]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

The tricky thing about the clutches is if they fall into the water or get to wet, they will drown, if they dry out, they die as well. Maybe you could lower the water line, turbid water might be wetting the eggs too much. It would also make the airspace very humid to keep the clutch healthy. I've also heard of people hanging them in hair nets or floating them on pieces of styrofoam on the water surface. Good luck!

[loopy119]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

Yeah, when you find the eggs, make sure they weren't just hatched and still gooey, and splash a little water on them to loosen them from the surface. Once you have them off, you can use a breeder net and float them in there on a piece of styrofoam and, depending on your temp, you should have babies in about 2 weeks. Good luck!!

Rebekah

[djmatthewblack]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

Thanks for the great info PlanB and loopy119

[PlanB]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

No prob! I threw some mysteries into my pond one spring, then woke up one morning and found my statues, bridge and rocks covered in snail crustiness.

[Philbert]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

So...the eggs need to be near water for humidity, but must hatch out of the water to live? Do they crawl to water when they hatch?
I just found a gooey white mass stuck to my lid, and they are probably from the mystery snails in that tank, most likely.
I want to hatch them, so I should find someting to float in water to hatch them?
I set them on top of my plastic fry-hatching box; those cheap plastic ones you get in LFSs to put spawning females in, that float. That should do it?

[PlanB]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

Baby mysteries will crawl into the water after they hatch. If you keep the water 3-5" from the lid, they should be all right.

[Philbert]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

Why 3-5"? The spawning box is 1/8" inch from the water, and I drip a few drops of water on them to keep them from drying out 2 or three times a day.
Is that too close for wet reasons? I sure wanna hatch these eggs.

[PlanB]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

Just to make sure excessive splashing from filter or feeding/excited fish doesn't wet the clutch too much which will drown them. If the eggs get too wet, they can also dislodge and fall into the water. The mysteries in my pond always laid their eggs a couple inches right over the water on various plants and decor to catch the evaporating water. A humid environment should be all that you need and a closed lid with plenty of airspace for water to evaporate but for it stay trapped in the tank should be pretty ideal. Plus if there's a lot of space, it will trigger the snails to lay more eggs if this one doesn't make it. Clutches don't always hatch.

If you're doing the floating on the water surface method just as long as the eggs don't get too wet or travel under the filter's cascade (if you're using an HOB), they'll be fine. But again, trapped humid air should help them along. Dripping water on them might be too much... actually, too much humidity where condensation forms on the eggs might also be too much. You can just vent the humidity if you think this is about to happen.

Give the eggs three weeks to hatch.

Good luck Philbert!

[Philbert]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

I have a wooden hood over the tank with the flourescent fixture not too far away from the eggs, so humidity buildup isn't a problem.
I anchored the floating box with my Hornwort, so no movement of the box. That's why I do the drip method, to keep the eggs from drying out. No possibility of splashing water, either from the outflow of my Eheim or the fish.
Cool...although if I don't get employed pretty soon I may have to eat the eggs!

[PlanB]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

I got some tiny shrimp to add to your tiny omeletes.   Man, when I was unemployed, my koi started looking pretty good...

[Philbert]

Re: Snail eggs keep falling in the water

Koi...ummm-um.

Get me some flippers, a snorkel, and a sharp stick...and head for Hermann Park at 4 am. The Poor Peoples Food Bank.