Snail eggs??

[normal9]

Hi all

I bought 2 snails for my 12g tank as recommended by the staff at pets at home.

I've woken up this morning and seen what appears to be eggs stick to my thermometer and glass behind the filter.

Should I remove these? I was told snails can be pests

 

[wildroseofky]

Can you get a photo? If not, do they look like a bunch of grapes? Are they above the water line? If so they are mystery snails. If you let them hatch you will end up with a ton of babies. Pull them off the glass, freeze, or crush and throw away. You can cut the egg sack off the glass and just cut out a few eggs to hatch. If the eggs are under water and laid individually they may be nerites and will not hatch in freshwater. Clear masses of eggs could be ramshorns and they will hatch. More information would help to identify them.

 

[normal9]

It's hard to get a pic of most of them because they are quite hidden but I managed to get this one.

They are all underwater and sort of close together but apart, not in clusters

 

[wildroseofky]

Those look like nerite snails. They are almost impossible to scrape off and the nerites lay them everywhere. Fortunately they cannot hatch in freshwater. They need salt water to hatch. Unfortunately they lay a lot of eggs. Nerites are great for algae cleanup.

 

[normal9]

How often will they lay them? I do have salty water but hope they don't all hatch :/

 

[wildroseofky]

They will lay them pretty much all the time. They need male and female to make them fertile but a female can breed and then hold onto the sperm for some time and continue to lay fertile eggs for months. They need a salinity between 1.005 and 1.010. If your tank is freshwater with just a little salt added I do not believe that would be enough for them to hatch. Here is a link to an ehow article on breeding them How to Breed Zebra Nerite Snails | eHow

 

[Rivercats]

The eggs won't hatch and actually will disintegrate over time. The ones on the thermometer can be wiped off or scraped off with your nail. I'd remover the thermometer from the tank to do it. On glass a magnetic algae magnet will usually remove them without much issue. As for the amount they will lay... I have found they seem to lay in spurts in my tanks. I won't see any eggs for some time, then suddenly I'll see several for a few weeks, then they stop laying again for some time. It just depends but I find the eggs can be removed fairly easily except on plant leaves.

 

[normal9]

Thanks for your replies. I'll just scrape them out she I do my next water change then. Pesky little things lol

 

[normal9]

are these nerite eggs too? They look different

 

[Khuligirl93]

Nerite eggs are white, very hard, and flat. I don't think either of your pictures look like nerite eggs honestly. It seems like it would be very odd for a nerite to lay eggs one day after being introduced to a new tank. In my experience it takes them a few months to adjust to a new home and start laying eggs.
What other fish do you have?

 

[normal9]

Just neons and bronze Cory's. Could the eggs be theirs?

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Corydoras eggs.

That's what I thought at first.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f29/corydoras-paleatus-breeding-corydoradinae-284980.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/92891884@N04/11290424934/

Cory eggs.

 

[normal9]

Oh wow!!! I hope they get ferris ilex them. Thanks ?

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Oh wow!!! I hope they get ferris ilex them. Thanks ?

No problem, good luck. What is ferris ilex?

 

[normal9]

Oops lol auto correct. I meant I hope they hatch. Do I need to do anything special or can I just leave them there?

 

[Rivercats]

Actually it's quite common for nerites to lay eggs right away when introduced into a tank as the new/different water conditions often stimulate them to lay.

OP in your first picture look how the eggs are laid spaced apart. Nerites usually lay either in a straight line or they drop and egg, move a bit, drop another eggs and so on. The eggs in the second picture actually look like cory eggs. Fertile eggs are not white but amber colored.

 

[normal9]

Ooh I see.


It's quite hard to see as the eggs are on one of the corners of my tank but do you think these have been fertilised?

There's at least 4 different clusters of eggs that I can see

 

[Rivercats]

They look white to me in the picture but you can actually see. If they are white then they aren't fertile. If in doubt just leave them and see if they hatch. But don't be surprised if other fish in the tank eat them.

 

[normal9]

Thanks I'll keep my fingers crossed and wait it out ?

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Regarding the Cory eggs

Cory eggs are laid fertilised, after the female deposits them no further care or action is taken by either the male or female fish. Apparently it is possible to move the eggs, I have never done this. I just move the fish to another tank and take the filter etc, then run an air stone for the eggs. That's fine for 6 weeks or so. (See previous links for pictures etc.) the Flickr page has a full account of breeding corydoras. I was lucky in that I finally managed to document the entire process. Receiving, producing, holding, laying, spawning and growing out.

When I'm purposefully breeding this fish I separate them first to a breeding tank after the eggs are laid the fish are removed.


Additional food, infusoria to begin with, make a culture or buy ready made.
Then as they grow start feeding them larger food stuff. I can explain more if you like? It's all available over the counter but there are some cheaper alternatives.


The eggs and fry are considered food to the parent fish.
Dead eggs will grow fungus.
The batch I bred at Christmas, every egg was white. As far as corydoras paleatus goes, the eggs are normally white until they hatch. I'm not sure I recall seeing brown eggs, but, I haven't bred bronze corydoras.