Snails Out Of Nowhere? ! ?

[llmdolphin]

Ok....some may remember I have just set up a tank over Thanksgiving holidays. My brother had this tank for a few years but his current job doesnt allow him to keep a tank because he travels too much. So....he gave away his fish and took his tank down a few months back. He brought it to us over Thanksgiving and we set it up and bought three columbian tetras....nothing else....all the accessories are his......well....two days ago we see this lovely little snail crawling up the side of the tank......where in the world did he come from??/ Do their eggs lie dormant???

Very strange......but a welcome surprise as I was going to buy some anyway...
Laura

 

[gayno]

Have you added any plants at all?? Or any ornaments/bogwood that was taken from a tank in your LFS??

Snails hide on these and when you get them home, wander off to munch on algae. If there is too much algae for it to handle on its own, it will reproduce a-sexually so the cleaning job gets done quicker.

HTH

Adam

 

[Vegan Peaches]

Consider it a blessing, snails are fascinating ^^ Granted, I've never had an annoying infestation of them, but I still find them amusing. Wierd that it came out of nowhere, considering everything was taken apart 0.o It could have come with the tetras and y'all just didn't see it in the bag

 

[llmdolphin]

Consider it a blessing, snails are fascinating ^^ Granted, I've never had an annoying infestation of them, but I still find them amusing. Wierd that it came out of nowhere, considering everything was taken apart 0.o It could have come with the tetras and y'all just didn't see it in the bag

Nope...nothing new in the tank. Everything was given to me by my brother and had been packed up and even travelled several states away.

I am glad to have it as snails were on my list of things to purchase......

Laura

 

[Ethos]

I got a surprise like that the other day. a very tiny snail, maybe 2mm long was crawling on the glass in my SW tank. From the LR I guess....

 

[Synirr]

Did you keep the old substrate that was in the tank when your bro had it up and running? Snails can live deep within moist substrate for quite a while. I once took gravel out of a tank while converting it to sand and left it in a bucket for several months, then used it in another tank and magically snails appeared

 

[dgwebster]

my sister stocked a brand new tank with using washed gravel, fake plants and ornaments stuck the fish in and about 2-3 months into it found a snail in her tank. This must have come from the fish. the gravel was a silicon based factory made. same thing though, was absolutely tiny, about 2-3mm in size

 

[fi$hys]

it is likely 2 be snails that hitchhiked on the plants.They will eat your plants so be carfull.
mat

 

[llmdolphin]

Did you keep the old substrate that was in the tank when your bro had it up and running? Snails can live deep within moist substrate for quite a while. I once took gravel out of a tank while converting it to sand and left it in a bucket for several months, then used it in another tank and magically snails appeared

I guress this is what has happened then! Everything is fake and plastic.....same stuff he used but it had been taken down for quite a while.....guess the little guy survived all that time in the rocks....pretty cool!
Laura

 

[Teelie]

I had this happen on my Kuhli tank. I have snails in a tank about three feet away but no ornaments or decorations were swapped from it to the other and both are seperated by the equivalent of the grand canyon for snails to traverse so I don't know how they did it, just that there is now a small population in the Kuhli tank.

My theory is there's a snail fairy that comes and visits your tank.

Not all snails eat plants or reproduce asexually though, so don't worry about it unless you actually see it eating the leaves or there are more of them smaller than the one you've already got.

 

[llmdolphin]

I had this happen on my Kuhli tank. I have snails in a tank about three feet away but no ornaments or decorations were swapped from it to the other and both are seperated by the equivalent of the grand canyon for snails to traverse so I don't know how they did it, just that there is now a small population in the Kuhli tank.

My theory is there's a snail fairy that comes and visits your tank.

Not all snails eat plants or reproduce asexually though, so don't worry about it unless you actually see it eating the leaves or there are more of them smaller than the one you've already got.

I have fake plants....no worries there....I wouldnt mind if it reproduced....just saved me some money because I was going to buy some once my tank is all up and running well....its only about two weeks old now.....

Strange thing.....but very fun.....however they got here lol!
Laura

 

[fi$hys]

cool but strange

 

[tenxiong]

It happened to me also, I thought my tank was dirty until I got a closer look. There were a whole community of them, so I went and bought some snail-a-side and wiped them all of them out. They're just like parasites to me.

 

[Teelie]

Most of them are hamless, only a few are true pests and snailicides can kill other things besides snails in the tank.