How long can pest snail eggs remain dormant and still hatch?

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alli789

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This is probably a weird question but I know pest snails are nearly indestructible so I need to ask:

I have a tank that I believe to be snail-free for nearly a year. I got live plants in January and they were alum dipped and quarantined before being added to my tank. It was very successful - I found one single snail in the tank which I was able to remove and I haven't seen any since that one about 9-10 months ago. Last weekend, I thought I spotted a tiny snail while doing a water change. It may have just been a small rock shard, but I thought I saw it move. I lost track of it and I'm scared I'm going to have a baby snail explosion if I can't find it, but I'm wondering is it even possible that it could've been a snail? The egg would've been nearly a year old and hatched very recently. Is this possible?
 
I am hardly experienced when it comes to snails, but seems unlikely the egg would go dormant & hatch in that length of time. I’m going with the small rock theory. Do you use gravel?

I have an ongoing red ramhorn snail problem in 2 tanks. Foolishly purchased on eBay. I pick out & discard gravel sized ones everyday. A major nuisance! I have occasionally picked up a “snail” only to find it‘s gravel.

Hope someone more experienced than me can help! This is an interesting situation.
 
This is probably a weird question but I know pest snails are nearly indestructible so I need to ask:

I have a tank that I believe to be snail-free for nearly a year. I got live plants in January and they were alum dipped and quarantined before being added to my tank. It was very successful - I found one single snail in the tank which I was able to remove and I haven't seen any since that one about 9-10 months ago. Last weekend, I thought I spotted a tiny snail while doing a water change. It may have just been a small rock shard, but I thought I saw it move. I lost track of it and I'm scared I'm going to have a baby snail explosion if I can't find it, but I'm wondering is it even possible that it could've been a snail? The egg would've been nearly a year old and hatched very recently. Is this possible?
I would also go with the rock theory. I highly doubt snails would go unnoticed for 10 months and that eggs would be dormant for 10 months in a good environment and then hatch now. If you do in fact have a snail problem, I would try using bait such as lettuce, and pull it out when a good number is on it. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry. Snails aren't even that bad, they are mainly just unsightly. If you end up getting a major snail problem, you can try assassin snail. 2 or 3 of them will clean up babies in a few weeks easily.
 
Don't worry about snails, they are a pretty good indicator of aquarium health, a small sustainable population should do your tank no harm, if the population explodes there is only one cause and that is there is sufficient excess food to sustain their population which is generally indicative of over feeding or rotting plant matter. Eradicating them completely is very difficult without using copper treatments which I would never recommend anyone uses anyway.
 
I would also go with the rock theory. I highly doubt snails would go unnoticed for 10 months and that eggs would be dormant for 10 months in a good environment and then hatch now. If you do in fact have a snail problem, I would try using bait such as lettuce, and pull it out when a good number is on it. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry. Snails aren't even that bad, they are mainly just unsightly. If you end up getting a major snail problem, you can try assassin snail. 2 or 3 of them will clean up babies in a few weeks easily.
I need to hire a hit snail to whack the red ramhorn problem I have in 2 small tanks, 10 & 5 G. Do assassins take on kids? We’re talking tiny ones here, ~1/8 - 1/4“
 
I need to hire a hit snail to whack the red ramhorn problem I have in 2 small tanks, 10 & 5 G. Do assassins take on kids? We’re talking tiny ones here, ~1/8 - 1/4“
Yes, they do. And for a small sum too, only about 3.99 per batch. They also reproduce and make more assassins too!

Yes, they do in fact reproduce, but they make less and it's easier to control the population. I have a pair that's been breeding for about a month straight. I've only ever seen 1 baby though. They mainly subsist on the bloodworms and flake food that the fish don't eat.
 
They don’t whack their own kind? Seriously considering ones for the 10 G betta tank & 5 G with a few guppies. I’d relocate the resident nerites to other tanks. I saw some at TLF recently.
 
They don’t whack their own kind? Seriously considering ones for the 10 G betta tank & 5 G with a few guppies. I’d relocate the resident nerites to other tanks. I saw some at TLF recently.
They do actually. I've seen it. Would make Top Ten Anime Betrayals for sure.
 
If snail eggs dry out, they die. Unless you added new fish, plants or something from another tank in the last few weeks, it is unlikely to be a snail.
 
They do actually. I've seen it. Would make Top Ten Anime Betrayals for sure.
1EEFCCB8-78DA-40DF-B014-66E3482A99FB.jpeg
 
This is probably a weird question but I know pest snails are nearly indestructible so I need to ask:

I have a tank that I believe to be snail-free for nearly a year. I got live plants in January and they were alum dipped and quarantined before being added to my tank. It was very successful - I found one single snail in the tank which I was able to remove and I haven't seen any since that one about 9-10 months ago. Last weekend, I thought I spotted a tiny snail while doing a water change. It may have just been a small rock shard, but I thought I saw it move. I lost track of it and I'm scared I'm going to have a baby snail explosion if I can't find it, but I'm wondering is it even possible that it could've been a snail? The egg would've been nearly a year old and hatched very recently. Is this possible?
I'm curious to know the outcome of this. I've just set up a new tank but everything in it is from my old tank which had been sitting with only a few inches of water in it for a really long time (filter broke and took me ages to finally get it all sorted). There is absolutely nothing new in my tank apart from the tank itself and the filter, and I never had snails before, and now they are everywhere! I have no idea where they came from. Super weird.
 
I'm curious to know the outcome of this. I've just set up a new tank but everything in it is from my old tank which had been sitting with only a few inches of water in it for a really long time (filter broke and took me ages to finally get it all sorted). There is absolutely nothing new in my tank apart from the tank itself and the filter, and I never had snails before, and now they are everywhere! I have no idea where they came from. Super weird.
Post a picture of the snail so we can ID it.

If the tank had water in, even a small amount, it would be enough for snails to live in.
 

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