snails?

[Reefdude]

I was checking out my little hang on fuge today and noticed several small shelled snails. Are these baby astrea/turbo snails and should I expect more of them to follow...they look like the adults in the main tank?? If thats the case I wont have to buy snails anymore..woohoo and ill have time for other things :read:

[Janice]

I have noticed baby snails as well, but they don't seem to be growing shells. :?

(Newbie Q) - Will they grow their own shells? I already put some very small little shells in there for them but they don't seem to be taking to them.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I have been wondering! :grin:

[Chris]

Snails will definately grow their own shells. As they get larger, they continually add to the outer lip of the shell right along their outside body which creates the spiral shape called a whorl.

The pattern or smoothness of the shell is supposively able to tell you something about the life of the snail... kinda like the rings of a tree. So i've heard.

Most of their important body parts(heart, stomach, testis, kidney) are located around the area where they wrap themselves in the whorl of the shell. That's why pulling them hard off the glass or substrate can lead to a lot of damage or death for certain species.

8)

[SuperDave]

Like stony corals they need to have enough Ca to promote optimal growth of thier shell. Might be something you would wish to test at least occasionally. That is just IMO.

And remember, if you don't ask it is hard to learn.

[Janice]

Like stony corals they need to have enough Ca to promote optimal growth of thier shell. Might be something you would wish to test at least occasionally. That is just IMO.

And remember, if you don't ask it is hard to learn.

Drip kalk every night as well as in topoff, have maintained levels consistently @ 400-420. I actually took a closer look tonite because I felt so silly asking that question and what do I see? TINY little bitty shells beginning to form. :grin:

[Derek B]

Hey Ben, I am going to get your thread back for you :-D My snails lay eggs in my tank all the time, but I have not seen any evidence, as of yet, that they are surviving. I too, would be interested if anyone has any info on snail propagation. Anyone?

[TexasState]

It would help if you can provide a picture. There are tiny snails that won't grow much. Some of these snails are beneficial, some are not. If you keep clams, check out the clam book by Daniel Knopp. It listed pictures of a bunch of different small snails that prey on the expensive clams.

[newtosa]

I have new snails popping up all the time. It looks like there's either 2 or 3 types that have been breeding. I will grab pictures and post them.

Ben's question - what are they - is anyone's guess (do we have anyone in the group who's as obsessive about mollusks as the rest of us are about SPSs?). The ones that have been breeding in my tank for the past 2-3 years are definitely not Astreas. I think mine are ones I grabbed in Key Largo off some always-under-water rocks in a lagoon (the other ones with pretty shells will climb out of your tank and up the wall). Again, I'll post a picture. They're the ones that put a winding row of eggs on the rocks and glass every week or 2, and I've got a lot of little tiny ones popping up all the time. I have Astreas (from Key Largo as well), but they are not breeding in my tank, that I can tell. I read several years ago that our tanks are too warm for Turbos to breed. I can't even seem to keep them alive for more than a few months, so I don't have any of them....

Derek's question - how do you establish and maintain a breeding population - I would love to know the answer as well. The mollusks I have breeding (limpets, snails mentioned above, and another kind of snail I just noticed 2 days ago) came into my tank a minimum of 2 years ago (no additions of rock or sand since that time) and could have come from anywhere. I wasn't paying much attention then, because I did not notice that new snails were being born.... Anyway, I think Janice's post was right on. Kalwasser is the answer for all of us low-tech dorks who can't afford a CO2 regulator/solenoid. I wish I could say I knew what was making them breed, but I really have no idea.

Also, I've always wondered if maybe growing snails pull more out of the water than just Ca and CaCO3. Could be a good thing if they're using up Ph, Mg, Se, Sr, etc. for their shells.

Sorry for the rambling. Anyone know of a BOOK we could buy?

Dean

[PeteH]

I have what looks like a baby smail in my tank. He moves like a snail and when he plows through algea he leaves a clean path. Here is a picture (Please be patient, our DSL is slow) On the other side there is what looks like a shell.
*Pete

[Chris]

Sorry Pete, that image was IMMENSELY huge so I resized it for you. 1600x1200 resolution is usually bad unless you're trying to show someone a really detailed image.

If you resize your images to 640x480 or at the most 800x600 it makes it easier and much quicker for everyone to see. Some people are still on dialup. 8)


Here's Pete's pics

http://www.maast.org/PeteH.jpg

[PeteH]

Sorry about that. All of my pictures are recorded at 1600x1200 by default. I will remember to resize pictures I post in the future.

Are the pictures that are posted to the forum uploaded to the forum's computer or are they loaded by users from the source every time the thread is viewed?

Does this look like a snail to you guys?
*Pete

[TexasState]

W/out a picture of the shell, we can't tell. Either a strombus or a Nassarius.

[Chris]

Sorry about that. All of my pictures are recorded at 1600x1200 by default. I will remember to resize pictures I post in the future.

Are the pictures that are posted to the forum uploaded to the forum's computer or are they loaded by users from the source every time the thread is viewed?

Does this look like a snail to you guys?
*Pete

No problem Pete, I'd just feel sorry for dialup users if they wanted to check this thread and have to wait an hour to see the pic. :grin:

You can have your images show up either way. Using the image tag you can link to a remote server/computer just like you did earlier. Or if you check the front page, there are instructions with the info needed to email me and I can create a gallery for you.. You can upload your tank pictures there(you should resize them first) then use the image tag to link directly to them on the MAAST server.

And i'd say it definately looks like a snail or limpet. ;)