Unexpected Snail In Tank

[Seal36]

I set up my new 70 litre on the 23rd of December and got live plants 12 days ago and today I saw an apple snail on the front of my glass and my kribensis had eggs but when I looked in today there were no eggs so could the apple snail have eaten them and is there a chance there is more snails in the tank. I have killed the apple snail as I don't want them and this is the first time I saw the snail so it managed to hide for 12 days and i have been looking at the tank a lot as the kribs were spawning from Tom

 

[AshleyNZ]

Yes, I believe the Apple Snail would've eaten him. On the first day I got mine, and a balloon molly, the molly was very unhealthy upon arrival, he kept sinking. The snail came over to him, 
helpless, the molly was unable to swim away. I saw what was happening and I couldn't believe it... the snail had eaten his fin off... the fish died shortly afterwards. I don't like my apple snail, I just wanted him
for algae cleaning purposes. If some other fish didn't eat the eggs, the snail definitely would've. Im sorry to hear about your loss of eggs, RIP unborn fishes

Hope you don't have any more!
 
 
Ps: Just looked and saw it says the mininum tank size for kribs is 50G.
 
-Ashley

 

[the_lock_man]

Do you mean "Apple Snail"?
 
The reason I ask is that Apple Snails are pretty big, some getting as large as 15cm shell diameter, and it's unlikely that one could sneak in on a plant unnoticed, and stay unnoticed for 12 days.
 
It is very very common for pond snails to hitchhike in on a plant, but I think it unlikely that one of these would eat Kribensis eggs. I would suspect that your eggs have hatched - either that or the eggs weren't eggs at all, they were Krib fry that still had the yolk sacs attached, and now they've lost the sacs and are still in the cave.
 
This is an apple snail
 

photo copied from applesnail.net
 
This is a pond snail

Photo nicked from a Flickr gallery

 

[Seal36]

No your right it is a pond snail not an apple. Also there are no eggs or fry as mum and dad are out the cave and swimming round like normal and will there be any other snails do you think from Tom

 

[the_lock_man]

I reckon it's more likely that the parents ate the fry, rather than the snail(s). I think I read that this was their first batch? Sometimes it takes cichlids a while to realise that they did the wrong thing when they ate those little wriggly things.....
 
Will there be more snails? Erm, yeah. Especially if you over-feed the tank, the snail population will just explode, they breed like wildfire. I would recommend an assassin snail or two. I have one in each of my tanks, they can also breed and have a certain sale value - 50p or whatever. I sold about 50 to my LFS, in return for a bag of black sand.

 

[Seal36]

Yes it was there first spawn as a pair so it could be that but Wouldn't I see snails if there were more as I have seen none for 12 days and then one pops up this morning and also assassin snails are expensive and I have read they will defiantly eat eggs from Tom

 

[the_lock_man]

I've never bred any egglayers so I don't know if assassins would eat eggs or not. They're about £4 in the shops, if memory serves.
 
One thing is for sure - the snail you have seen didn't just teleport into the tank, so if one can hide for 12 days, then another can hide for 13.

 

[hobby5]

No need for assasins. I don't understand why people substitute one snail for the other. Assasins can also multiply out of hand and the other snails are much more usefull for a tank than assasins. Imho snails belong to a healthy tank, so there is nothing to worry about. Also those tiny bladder snails or ramshorn are completely harmless to your eggs or fry. If there are more snails in your tank only time can tell.

 

[the_lock_man]

No need for assasins. I don't understand why people substitute one snail for the other. Assasins can also multiply out of hand and the other snails are much more usefull for a tank than assasins. Imho snails belong to a healthy tank, so there is nothing to worry about. Also those tiny bladder snails or ramshorn are completely harmless to your eggs or fry. If there are more snails in your tank only time can tell.

 
In fairness, it takes an awful lot longer for an assassin population to grow massively than it does for a pond snail, assassins take around a year to grow to adult size. As I said before, assassins are sellable so if the population does multiply out of hand, that's actually a nice little earner.  They are also a lot nicer to look at than a pond snail, I was watching one of mine nicking the shrimp food just last night.
 
You are quite right that pond snails are a good indicator if certain things are wrong with the tank and its maintenance (ammonia levels and overfeeding being the two that spring to mind).

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I do have LOTS of assassins, but it is true that the majority of them are so tiny I rarely even spot them in the gravel.  I like that they are slow growing, it allows me to wait until the spring/summer to worry about transporting them somewhere.  I do have about 40+ per year that I am re-homing, usually one batch in the spring and the rest end of the summer.
 
Oh and yes, assassins will eat eggs.  Mine have eaten honey gourami eggs.
 
 
(Just adding, I am always willing to give away some of mine for free if people are in my area and want to come and get them.  I have about 20ish extra at the moment).

 

[hobby5]

They are also a lot nicer to look at than a pond snail...

This is in the eye of the beholder And an explosion in numbers is in itself an indicator that something is wrong with your tank.
 
Do you really get pond snails in your tanks? Don't you mean bladder snails or ramshorn?

 

[the_lock_man]

 

They are also a lot nicer to look at than a pond snail...

This is in the eye of the beholder

And an explosion in numbers is in itself an indicator that something is wrong with your tank.
 
Do you really get pond snails in your tanks? Don't you mean bladder snails or ramshorn?
 

 
I've always known them as pond snails - I have also had ramshorn snails as well. But not since I got my assassins.....

 

[Fluval-1200]

The kribs have probably eaten there own eggs as they have seen you peering in the tank, they will think you are a predator.
 
What are you planning on doing once you have krib fry? lfs wont buy them and not many people buy them either. I cant shift mine at all, the only option i have is to give them away.

 

[Seal36]

I will be checking the tank for snails and if/when my kribs have fry the aquatics department at the zoo I work in have loads of unused tanks so I was going to see how many the many lfs in my area would take and then donate the rest to the zoo I work at from Tom

 

[Seal36]

I have now removed 4 snails from the tank and am hoping that there aren't anymore. What do you think the chances of that happening are from Tom