Male snails?!?!

[brunettebaby4571]

Ok so I posted about a month ago I think maybe less buttt was wondering why my snails werent laying any eggs or anything of the sort but then today....I think I might have two male snails because now the yellow one is on top of the black one (which I thought was the male) is this possible that they are both males? And that they are trying to breed with each other? lol I mean is this normal or completely crazy? Or will it hurt anything?? I mean I know they cant breed but I was just really curious...Is it time I get some females for these boys?!

Also I was wondering if TOO many water changes were bad? I know most people do it once a week or sometimes two but I was wondering if anymore than that was bad? I added sand a while back and cleaned it for ever and than some but I guess I didnt get it quite clean enough because when I put it in the fish tank and added water it clouded up a little bit but a few water changes over a few days helped it and I havent had any problems with it anymore but yeah I was just curious if too many water changes were bad. Thank you!

Ok ok ok ONE more question and I wont ask anymore....for now hehe but I currently have a 20 gallon tank and I have 3 platys (one male two females) I did have 3 females but one died but I also have one male mollie and two snails I was wondering if I could get maybe two more mollies (female) Or would that be too many fish in there? Or could I get something else? Suggestions? Ive been looking at the Otos and I fell in love with them so I didnt know about being able to have any so I figured it was worth asking. Ive read online like one gallon per inch of fish or something but I would like a little bit more of a personalized answer. All the fish are doing great at the moment so I dont want to do anything to cause any damage so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you again (sorry for all the questions f they are silly)

 

[CatmanDru]

Ok so I posted about a month ago I think maybe less buttt was wondering why my snails werent laying any eggs or anything of the sort but then today....I think I might have two male snails because now the yellow one is on top of the black one (which I thought was the male) is this possible that they are both males? And that they are trying to breed with each other? lol I mean is this normal or completely crazy? Or will it hurt anything?? I mean I know they cant breed but I was just really curious...Is it time I get some females for these boys?!

is this possible that they are both males? Yes

And that they are trying to breed with each other? Yes

I mean is this normal or completely crazy? It's normal.

Or will it hurt anything?? No, they'll be ok, frustrated, but ok.

I mean I know they cant breed but I was just really curious...Is it time I get some females for these boys? No, they don't HAVE to reproduce. They will be fine without reproducing.

I have two male Mystery snails (Pomacea difusa). I wanted only males because I didn't want to breed them at this point in time and didn't want to have to always remove and destroy egg clusters every week or so. Since in any group of same-aged Mystery snails males are smaller than females, I picked two of the smallest snails and lucked out by getting two males. Yes, they take turns mounting each other and have done so for months and they seem fine.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Thank you

 

[Hholly]

I'm betting you could get away with 2 more mollies. Maybe someone more experienced will chime in though. You may end up with lots of babies though. As long as you're checking your water chemistry and doing your water changes, it should be fine.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

My platys have had babies but I think they all got eaten so I hopefully wont have many problems with babies hehe but any thoughts on the otos instead of the mollies? Or any other fish for that matter that would work with the fish I already have? I want something a little different that might brighten up the tank some?

 

[siva]

Ok so I posted about a month ago I think maybe less buttt was wondering why my snails werent laying any eggs or anything of the sort but then today....I think I might have two male snails because now the yellow one is on top of the black one (which I thought was the male) is this possible that they are both males? And that they are trying to breed with each other? lol I mean is this normal or completely crazy? Or will it hurt anything?? I mean I know they cant breed but I was just really curious...Is it time I get some females for these boys?!

If you want to get really serious about it, you can sex them. I'm assuming we're talking about apple/mystery snails. If their males, they have a penis inside their shell on the opposite side of their snorkel. If they're mating, chances are they are a male and female. Egg laying can take some time, so if you haven't had them for long, the absense of eggs doesn't mean they are both males.

Also I was wondering if TOO many water changes were bad? I know most people do it once a week or sometimes two but I was wondering if anymore than that was bad? I added sand a while back and cleaned it for ever and than some but I guess I didnt get it quite clean enough because when I put it in the fish tank and added water it clouded up a little bit but a few water changes over a few days helped it and I havent had any problems with it anymore but yeah I was just curious if too many water changes were bad. Thank you!

No, water change your heart out.

Ok ok ok ONE more question and I wont ask anymore....for now hehe but I currently have a 20 gallon tank and I have 3 platys (one male two females) I did have 3 females but one died but I also have one male mollie and two snails I was wondering if I could get maybe two more mollies (female) Or would that be too many fish in there? Or could I get something else? Suggestions? Ive been looking at the Otos and I fell in love with them so I didnt know about being able to have any so I figured it was worth asking. Ive read online like one gallon per inch of fish or something but I would like a little bit more of a personalized answer. All the fish are doing great at the moment so I dont want to do anything to cause any damage so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you again (sorry for all the questions f they are silly)

You definitely have room in your tank to add more fish, but mollies aren't your best option. IMO 29 gals is the minimum for them. Mollies have big bio-loads, and at full size are much too large for a 20 gal. Especially if it's a 20H. If it's a 20L with awesome filtration maybe they would work, but otherwise, I wouldn't add anymore.

Otos are great, if your tank is mature enough for them. If it's been running for 6 months or more, and doesn't contain other algae eaters, you can add 3 oto's.

The inch of fish per gallon rule just doesn't work. There are times you can have more or less than that, it depends on the specifics of the situation.

My platys have had babies but I think they all got eaten so I hopefully wont have many problems with babies hehe but any thoughts on the otos instead of the mollies? Or any other fish for that matter that would work with the fish I already have? I want something a little different that might brighten up the tank some?

You could also do bottom dwellers like 6 panda cories or 5-6 kuhli loaches. As well as a school of small tetra like neons, cardinals, or glowlights.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Ok I wasnt sure about the mollies so I thought it wouldnt hurt to ask and yeah I have had the tank running for about three months or so now and no algae eaters I saw the otos again yesterday and sat and looked at them forever lol but I held myself back and got 6 plants instead and when I came home and looked one up appparently its not even an aquatic plant! AHH I dont really know anything at all about plants and the guy (aside from selling me a plant that doesnt belong in my tank) was really helpful and I love how they look but Im going to return that one as soon as possible!! But my tanks a 20 gallon long. Also something about the kuhli loaches really scares me lol Im still not so sure about cories Ive looked at some and I think its just the whole mouth that Im not drawn toward are there any other good bottom dwellers that I could have? I went to our petco we have yesterday and was lookin around nothing really jumped outa the tank and said take me home besides a few of the Oscars (I try to avoid looking at them) lol but we have a few more local pet shops in the area Im going to take a look there and see if I can find anything that Im drawn to and see if I can have it Thank you guys for all the help! Also I have one mre question (sorry this post is so long) but I think my fish might have some internal parasites Im not 100% sure but everything Ive looked at makes me think so their poop at times is really stringy and has a white look to it...I looked at petco last night seeing if I could get anything for it but I didnt find anything so I figured it would probably be best to look and ask around on here first so if anyone knows anything about that! Thank you again!!

 

[siva]

If you are seeing more than one fish often having white stringy poops I would treat for parasites. I've used jungle parasite clear and that seems to work well.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Would they have that at petco?

 

[siva]

I'm not sure. I know I've picked it up at walmart.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Ok thank you very much!!