help snail question

[mike6969n]

ok i need some info please, i want to clean the front glass of my aquarium, but i have some very reproductive nassarius snails that have decided to lay eggs all over the front glass. they have been laying them in waves the first 15 or 20 have hatched and are in the larvae stage, the others are only a few days old and haven't hatched yet. it took about a week and a half for the first ones to hatch so i can wait until they hatch to clean it, but how long is the larvae stage and how long should i wait to clean the glass, it appears that the larvae are going to hang out in the thin layer of algae growing on the front. if i scrape the front will it kill the larvae.
thanks mike

 

[tnn1567]

I have tons of snail eggs on my tank and I usually scrape them off. If I don't scrape my glass, the purple coraline algae will take over.
If you scrape them off, you are more likely to hurt the eggs, but than you may have some that will survive.

 

[candycane]

I am going to guess at something here, so don't get mad if I am wrong. But i would think that you don't you nassarius vibex snails. Do they look like little snails that have small black, cream or gray smooth shells? Because there has only been like 2 cases of Nassarius Vibex snails breeding in captivity. The others are Nassarius snails, they just generally come from people in one of the Carolinas or around San Francisco.

 

[mike6969n]

candy cane not really sure what the question was. they look tan in color and have kind of bumpy shells, they look exactly like the pictures i have seen. not sure what kind of nassarius snails they are, but they are definately nassarius snails, they stay in my sandbed and leave their tubes up and come out at dawn and dusk or when i feed my tank. i also have cerith snails laying eggs, but they at least put them on the back so it doesn't bother me to leave them there. i just want to clean the front before it gets too bad. it was fun to watch them laying the eggs though. one goes up and lays the eggs while another kinda just follows behind the other i guess the second one is the male fertilizing the eggs. i have two pairs that are laying eggs. i have like 10 in my tank, but just the two pairs have been laying eggs.

 

[candycane]

Basically if you do have Nassarius Vibex snails, I would call someone. Call the aquarium in Chicago, New Orleans, tell someone that you have the things breeding. Because mostly all of them will crawl up the glass and lay eggs, these eggs will then develope what appears to be a small embryo inside of it. These eggs will never fully hatch. However it appears that you are saying that yours do. Which if that is the case, has happened about 3 times now.

 

[mike6969n]

thanks candy cane, i will do that, i have actually watched them lay the eggs it takes like a week and a half and then they hatch into little larvae, but i just don't know how long i need to wait to clean the front, i don't want to kill the baby's, because i like those snails the best, i love to watch them come out of the sand when i feed the tank and they just look cooler than the others. even though i am kind of partial to my fighting conch. how can u tell the difference in the two types of nassarius snails.

 

[bang guy]

Ilyanassa obsoleta are often (wrongly) called Nassarius. My guess is that you have these (eastern Mud Snail).
Scraping the young off the glass will kill them.

 

[mike6969n]

thanks bang guy, if i took a picture of them and posted it could you tell me which ones i have? and do you have any idea how long the larvae stage lasts or a safe way to clean the front of my aquarium without harming them

 

[kpk]

I always look at it like this. If you have them on your front glass so prominant than I'm sure you have them on the bottom, side glass, back glass, rock etc. That shouldn't hurt too much. I have them breeding also, and I usually scrape them off...

 

[mike6969n]

ok no i just looked up the ilyanassa obsoleta snails on two different websites and that isn't what i have i have the nassarius snails, and the eggs look totally different from the eggs of the ilyanassa obsoleta. these are much smaller and white as opposed to yellowish brown and they aren't in clumps but in single dots in a row on the aquarium. they lay about 10 to 15 at a time. it is really neat to watch.

 

[candycane]

Yes, we all witness this. They crawl around the glass and "poop" out an egg every few inches. Then the eggs sit there for a week and develope embryos that then almost look like the snails. Until I see a picture of about 30 mini nassarius vibex snails, I am still in doubt. Because everyone that has them, they lay eggs. The eggs then form into what looks almost like small teardrop. However - NONE of them should ever fully hatch. How many babies do you have crawling around your tank right now??? Cause I can say that I breed both clams and trochus snails HEAVILY!!! But would find it VERY odd if anyone that didnt have a 44 thousand gallon tank bred nassarius vibex snails.

 

[bang guy]

I sure would like to see a picture of one of these adult snails. Generally speaking Nassarius sp. have a long feeding planktonic period after hatching. That makes it nearly impossible for them to reproduce in a captive environment.

 

[mike6969n]

ok, it has been about 2 weeks since i last responded to this post and i still haven't been able to clean the front of my tank. they have continued to lay eggs on the front and both sides, some have hatched and some haven't. i have watched them very closely over the past couple of weeks and i would say that i have about 75 to 100 larvae in there now. some are older than others, because they are getting larger i can't wait until they develop their shells and get off my glass. they are neat to watch, but i kinda like to look at the rest of my tank inhabitants as well. as soon as i get a chance i will post some pics of my adults and i will try and get a pic of the larvae, but they are really small. i also have had cerith snails laying eggs on the front, but i don't think they hatched.

 

[mike6969n]

is there anything that i need to be adding to my tank to help these babies out. what are they feeding on? do i need to lower or raise my sal. its at 1.024 now. what about temp? my tank stays at 80 degrees.