Are These Snail Eggs?

MajorFishLover

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I recently bought two more live plants for my aquarium this was however the first time I have bought plants that were inside a tank from Petco and since I only just started buying live plants I am kinda clueless to what those weird spots are on one of my plants
I originally thought they may be baby snails or snail eggs (do they lay eggs..?) since after I put the plant in my tank I noticed one baby snail however those white/brown spots (eggs?) keep moving and never seem to leave my plant nor have I seen them actually move but they don't seem to bother my fish I have a photo I'll upload and hopefully someone has a idea what those things are and if I should remove them
 
Does sound like you have common / pond snails by your description.
 
And yes, snails do lay eggs, usually in small clusters.
 
Here's an example of snail eggs, C shaped cluster of clear eggs, pic taken from my tank, you can see the thermometer next to it for size comparison 
 
Snail Eggs query copy.jpg
 
Yep... I take mine out as soon as I see them.  I personally don't like them. 
 
MajorFishLover said:
I recently bought two more live plants for my aquarium this was however the first time I have bought plants that were inside a tank from Petco and since I only just started buying live plants I am kinda clueless to what those weird spots are on one of my plants
I originally thought they may be baby snails or snail eggs (do they lay eggs..?) since after I put the plant in my tank I noticed one baby snail however those white/brown spots (eggs?) keep moving and never seem to leave my plant nor have I seen them actually move but they don't seem to bother my fish I have a photo I'll upload and hopefully someone has a idea what those things are and if I should remove them
 
Agree with others they may be snail eggs.  Thought I would just mention that snails are not bad at all, quite the opposite.  Sometimes aquarists new to plants assume that snails need to be avoided like the plague, but that is not true.
 
The small snails, like pond snails, bladder snails, Malaysian Livebearing Snails, etc are very beneficial and part of a healthy aquarium.  These critters eat organic waste, including all fish excrement, missed food, and dead plant matter.  They break it down faster so the bacteria can get at it sooner.  And snails get in to places you would never be able to clean.  They also eat algae (though not sufficiently to deal with problem algae) keeping plant leaves clean so they can respirate and take in nutrients.  I consider snails my helper, never an hindrance.
 
Byron.
 
Oh don't worry it's fine if they are snail eggs since I already have four mystery snails in my aquarium but should I just leave the eggs alone and try not to bother them? Or since I have a breeder net in my tank with four baby Platys should I put the possible snail eggs in my breeder could there be a chance my fry might hurt them?
 
The fry won't pay them any mind. Just leave them be and they'll grow up soon enough. If you do ever discover you are overrun with snails, there are several easy ways to remove them, but you shouldn't need to do that.
 
Byron said:
 
I recently bought two more live plants for my aquarium this was however the first time I have bought plants that were inside a tank from Petco and since I only just started buying live plants I am kinda clueless to what those weird spots are on one of my plants
I originally thought they may be baby snails or snail eggs (do they lay eggs..?) since after I put the plant in my tank I noticed one baby snail however those white/brown spots (eggs?) keep moving and never seem to leave my plant nor have I seen them actually move but they don't seem to bother my fish I have a photo I'll upload and hopefully someone has a idea what those things are and if I should remove them
 
Agree with others they may be snail eggs.  Thought I would just mention that snails are not bad at all, quite the opposite.  Sometimes aquarists new to plants assume that snails need to be avoided like the plague, but that is not true.
 
The small snails, like pond snails, bladder snails, Malaysian Livebearing Snails, etc are very beneficial and part of a healthy aquarium.  These critters eat organic waste, including all fish excrement, missed food, and dead plant matter.  They break it down faster so the bacteria can get at it sooner.  And snails get in to places you would never be able to clean.  They also eat algae (though not sufficiently to deal with problem algae) keeping plant leaves clean so they can respirate and take in nutrients.  I consider snails my helper, never an hindrance.
 
Byron.
 
i will say that snails is one of the most disputed matters in fish keeping as to whether snails are good over time from what ive seen more and more people believe they're good which i personally believe they eat algae are free and are interesting additions which add diversity and a new dimension of size to your aquarium but some fish keepers have reportedly had snails eat their plants but there is no evidence for this it is normally due to that they are eating dead bits of plant which there is usually allot of in a new shipment of plants they come with
 
Well I have two new problems involving my snails..

Problem 1: My tank is starting to get overrun by those pond snails I have at least 14 that are about half an inch or slightly smaller and maybe 5 (possibly more) who look newly hatched and they have started to take over my breeder net that's holding my baby fish (or fry if you prefer) I'm starting to worry they might hurt my baby fish

Problem 2: I keep finding more snail eggs but I have no idea where they are coming from I know my large apple snails didn't lay any because all the babies are brown and my apple snails are gold and have a completely different shell shape I'm even finding the eggs on the complete opposite side of the tank that my live plant is on (it holds most of my snail eggs)

Is there any way to possibly get rid of these snails? Maybe a humane (as possible) way since I don't have the heart to crush them I will also try to upload a picture of them in a minute since most (counting the eggs that I can see) are hatched

EDIT: I tried to upload the photoessays but couldn't however the snails actually look exactly like giant African snails only much much smaller and they have lighter brown spots a over their shells
 
Fourteen pond snails is not a lot by any standard; I have dozens in my tanks, hundreds in some.  Even a small tank like a 10g is not over-run by 15 or so pond snails.  I am assuming these really are normal pond snails; the larger snails would be a different matter.
 
Snails will lay eggs on almost any surface.  I've seen them on plant leaves, on filter stems, on the glass walls of the tank, on chunks of wood.  If you really need to control them for some reason, remove the egg clusters as you see them.
 
Keep in mind that the snails will only multiply if food is available.  So they are still doing a service, as obviously they are finding food (fish excrement mainly, but also uneaten fish food, dead or decaying plant matter, etc.).  They will not harm fry, and having them keep the fry area clean and tidy is a real plus as the fry will be healthier.
 
Byron.
 

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