Houdini of the snail world.

[William]

I just bought myself 2 very large black mystery snails [ big one is over 3 1/2 inches across, the other is about an inch smaller ]

Its been an hour since I put them in, the smaller one is visible and going about his merry business, the larger one has just up and disappeared into thin air.

I mean, he is NO WHERE in the tank at all, and the tank is sealed up tight.. has been ever since an incident with an escapee crab, so he hadn't got out.


Is it really THAT easy for a HUGE Mystery to disappear?



Sidenote: I see why they have the " Mystery " in their name now, to. :?

 

[Electrobes]

man thats strange.. is he/she above, like hanging upside down from the canopy??

 

[William]

Checked all that, and nope.

They don't burrow do they?

 

[Electrobes]

not to my knowledge.. but well.. I'll come clean. I hired one of your other fish residents in the tank to take him out. Yep thats right... he was just too big, always making fun of my ramshorn... sorry - That is wierd.. totally enclosed... and no way to escape.. what pther fishies do yo hvae in there? also no hiding spots like in caves and stuff?

 

[madasafish]

Well, I believe these snails can survive out of water for a little while. I know they seal themselves off with the hard part of their goo, just in case they're somewhere and the water level goes down. Mine sometimes chills just above the water level for a while.

Do a thorough search of the area surrounding the tank, and perhaps leave a lettuce leaf out. And I know you said you checked under the canopy, but did you check under the rim of the tank, at the top? Also, have you disturbed the gravel to check there?

 

[William]

I found him, Theres no hiding place in the tank that I can't see in if I move to look at a different angle, and he was no where to be found, then all of a sudden here he is, sliding along the bottom of the tank as if he was the hottest thing on earth, before climbing up the tank wall to rest below the water line, between my HOB intake and my heater [ which are about..4 inches appart ]

The reason I asked earlier if they burrowed, is because there is a strange indentation in the gravel that wasn't there earlier, this was before I found him crawling across the gravel..


Strange.. 8O :? 8O

 

[Scottw68TN]

Thats why they are called Mystery!

 

[madasafish]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I totally know what you mean. They really do disappear sometimes. My gold one is so remarkably colored that you'd think you'd always see him, but he often dematerializes for a few hours at a time. I got really worried about him today, as he crawled into a holey-rock tunnel exactly his size, and stayed there for quite a while. Crisis avoided, though. He's now out and cavorting....and gone again. Aya!

Never thought I'd like snails, but they're quite fun to watch. Mine never stops moving, albeit at .00005 mph (probably not much of an exaggeration). He was the perfect answer to my algae problem, too.

 

[PlatyLady]

I know what you're going through. I bought a small snail for my tank months ago. I saw it for 2 days, and haven't seen it since. I keep thinking I'm going to suck it up in a water change, but no luck. Another unsolved case!

 

[William]

Well yours is understandable platy,y ours is small.

We're talking about snails bigger than golfballs in my tank that up and disappear 8O


its alot easier for the little to disappear then the big. :?

 

[PlatyLady]

Wow! I didn't realize they were THAT big! Okay, now I understand why it was so baffling.

 

[William]

 

[Sati]

I have a little snail that I've had for 6 years and so when I don't see him I always go looking for his corpse. This guy has been through the horrible overheating because of cheap heater incident and other scenarios that would have killed him. He keeps on ticking though