They Hatched!

[guppler]

I almost sent a message as soon as I noticed, but we were kinda busy for a while. It was actually new years eve when I was feeding the comunity and noticed achange in appearance of the clump of eggs I had resting just above the water on the bunkbed eversince they fell in. at first I thought mould, but I looked closer and saw that the darkened area was actually they egg case cracking where tiny new snails were coming out. I spashed them with water about once a day until the magority had dispersed, and now I can see a couple on the opposite end of the tank from where they hatched any time I look. Most are probably hiding in the gravel with the cories that hatched a week earlier. I'm sure somebody will eat some no matter what I do, but I might have to get a better filter for my quarantine tank because it's getting green again, and the hatchets might be fine in the comunity, but I'm not sure i should trust the yo yo and coolie loaches. Maybe next time I'll try to catch apple snails in a breeder box and move them to a guppy tank, but as long as the cories keep spawning in the comunity the loaches are probably just as likely to eat them as the snails. I wish they would just eat the pond snails and rams horns.
I'm glad I have more apple snails again, but I don't know if I can expect another egg clump until my babies grow up. 2 of my old golf ball size ones died in the last week or so and I don't know how long the rest will last. I did finally put in a cuttle bone, but some of the snails look pretty eroded and I'm still working on the acidity. I need to check it again.
They do grow slowly compared to my cories and guppies.
I'm almost afraid to vacuum the gravel much, because I'll want to sift out the mystery snails before I dump the water. Then when I move heavy clay ornaments i just hoping I'm not squooshing anybody much. fishies have time to move as long as i set things back down slowly, but the snails aren't so quick and they look more like gravel.

 

[CoryDoc]

I had the same thing happen in my tank. I had two clusters of eggs hatch about a two month ago and my two adults die within the last week. There are about 20 baby snails left and they about the size of a kernal of corn and they are starting to grow a litter faster now. Its easier to count them now .

Good Luck

 

[guppler]

thanks corydoc.
I guess I don't even know how many I have now. I actually sold some for a dollar each in my art class last semester. Once I caught a brood in my goldfish tank and counted out 257 tiny snails as i moved them to the comunity. My first snail was really quite prolific, but her kids have only produced 2 broods so far and I don'tknow how long I'll have any from that generation. The babies the age of the ones I sold are aproaching marble size and the newest ones are still very tiny, but I expect some to eventually catch up with the smallest ones from the previous brood. i wonder if the black snail is going to get any genes into the mix.
Mostly I was just glad that these little ones hatched because I thought the might not after falling in and finding them submerged.