Do I have snail eggs?

[regaldragon]

Yesterday, I went to go feed my fish, and I was surprised to see a small swirl of white stringy-looking stuff on the glass of my tank, about halfway up from the sand. Taking a closer look at it, I realized it wasn't quite a string, but a lot of little blobs that were kind of connected. The string is in a mostly circle like shape, and there are parts of it that overlap in the center. It hasn't changed at all in the last day. The only thing I can think of doing this is my snails, since the only other thing that can get halfway up the glass is my Regal Tang. I'm sorry, but I don't have a digital camera, so I can't post a picture... hope someone can tell me what this is!
Thanks very much!

 

[bang guy]

Sounds more like Nudibranch eggs but it could be a snail also. What types of snails do you have?

 

[regaldragon]

I have sand sifting cerinth snails (10) and turbo snails (10). I don't have any nudibranches in my tank, so I guess it must be the snails. There's no possibility that it could be something else besides eggs, could it?
Thanks!

 

[regaldragon]

Okay, so today I turn on my lights to find that squiggly stuff on the glass mostly gone (there was some residue left), and a LOT of little black lines moving around on the glass. I'm sure there are even more on the sand bed.
Also, I noticed two of my other snails pulling larger, but very similar strands around. One was trying to crawl up the glass with a long bit of it, and it fell off before he got very far up. There was another one that stuck its strand just about a 1/2 inch up the glass from the sandbed. If all these hatch, with the same amount of baby snails, am I going to have a serious problem on my hands? And should I be looking into finding someplace where I can buy a LOT of snail shells soon?
Thanks for the help!

 

[bang guy]

Ahhh, now you said squiggly... that is the trademark of Cerith Snails. They often reproduce in captivity. You threw me off when you said swirl
Most won't survive and those that do can be traded away to eager hobbiests. You don't have to worry about buying snail shells. Snails grow their own snail shells, that's where they come from.

 

[regaldragon]

thanks for the info! How long of a time frame am I looking at before they start growing like crazy? Do I need to supplement the water with anything to help them like Calcium? Thanks again!

 

[stumpdog]

Regal-
Scratch what I told you earlier this evening. Bang Guy has way more experience than I.
Sorry-
Jeremy

 

[regaldragon]

No problem, Jeremy-- you BOTH have way more experience than I, so any guess was a good one

 

[bang guy]

Just maintain what you're doing. Ceriths wouldn't reproduce unless they were doing well. Some fish will eat the baby snails as well as shrimp and crabs so they may not live all that long. Some should survive though.

 

[regaldragon]

Very cool. I've already seen a couple of my bluelegs munching on the newer strand of eggs which is laying almost on the sand bed. They don't seem to find it too tasty, but they are eating some of it. Are there any ways I can make it so less of the snails get eaten? How will they get their shells, and do I need to supplement the water with anything like calcium?
Thanks again!

 

[bang guy]

If you have a refugium you could put the adult snails in there until they leave some egg strands behind. The babies would have a much better chance in a refuge.
The baby snails will grow their own shells.
Regular water changes will provide all the Carbonate and Calcium required for the snails unless you have a high coral population.

 

[regaldragon]

Just added a 7 lb piece of fiji LR into my tank a few minutes ago (got it for $5/lb!), and I noticed about a dozen tiiiiiny snails on my glass! The babies apparently are making their own shells. This is really cool to get to see this stuff!