Questions about Black Mystery Snails

Oct 29, 2005
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#1
So my husband and I are setting up our 55 gal tank for the first time and a few years and we make a small 2 gallon one he got me a sick tank. I am not a fan of Pleco's so we get snails. So after 2 weeks of some Red tetras being in this guarantee. I decide they are good to go into the 55 and to my surprise along with the 2 snails I bought there are about 15 little baby snails. So I move the 2 big ones and decide to let the babies grow in the sick tank. Now they are about a month old and I was moving the tank into a bit more sun for a few days, hoping it will grow them some algae because they are getting so big. And I notice the tank is covered in what appears to be Egg Sacks. I was wondering if anyone could tell me
1. Can they reproduce at only a month old
2. Will the egg survive being they are in the water and not out of it?
3. Identify from my photo that these are indeed black mystery snail eggs and not some fungus
4. How many snails should I have in 2 fifty five gallon tanks?
5. Snail egg Gestation time (meaning how long for the eggs to hatch)
 

#3
I got about five baby snails on my water plants and thought they'd be fine and within a month they had taken over the tank completely, and all my water plants were eaten or dying. I was cleaning the eggs off the glass of my tank daily and they were still breeding up. My tank was an axolotl tank, so I had to take them out, load it up with salt before pulling it down and resetting it back up again.

My tank is 60 litres, a lot smaller to yours but I think if you're not careful the same thing will happen. The eggs in your photos, look the same to what I had. When I first seen them, I thought it was some kind of insect larva.

I'm not much of an expert with snails, but I've always had an Apple Snail in my tanks and never had a problem with them. I know you're not a fan of Plecos, and neither am I for the reason I've found them kill some of my fish, but I'd try a Borneo or Hong Kong Pleco. I had one, never worried the fish and they only ate the algae. The only issue I've found with them, is, they grow very slowly.
 

Feb 27, 2009
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#4
1. Can they reproduce at only a month old
2. Will the egg survive being they are in the water and not out of it?
3. Identify from my photo that these are indeed black mystery snail eggs and not some fungus
4. How many snails should I have in 2 fifty five gallon tanks?
5. Snail egg Gestation time (meaning how long for the eggs to hatch)
There are over 100 species of snails that can be called Mystery snails, which are also known as Apple snails. I know of no Mystery snail that can reproduce at only 1 month old. Are you sure the small ones are Mystery snails and not some other species that can reproduce much younger?

The majority of Mystery snail species lay eggs above the waterline, but some are laid in the water.

The photo shows eggs and not a fungus. If they are Mystery snail eggs or not, only time will tell. It is a 'mystery'!

The bioload of snails is not a lot, but Mystery snails are larger than most, growing 2+ inches in length.

There is no set time for snails to hatch. Usually 2-3 weeks is normal, depending on temperature.
 

Feb 27, 2009
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#5
I got about five baby snails on my water plants and thought they'd be fine and within a month they had taken over the tank completely
Snails only reproduce and 'take over' a tank that is overfed. Their reproductive rate is directly tied to the amount of available food.

all my water plants were eaten or dying.
Few snails will eat a healthy plant. Snails are often found on a decaying plant and it is assumed they are causing the plant to die. In the vast majority of cases, the snail is only there BECAUSE the plant is dying, as it is eating the dead tissue.
 

#6
Snails only reproduce and 'take over' a tank that is overfed. Their reproductive rate is directly tied to the amount of available food. Few snails will eat a healthy plant. Snails are often found on a decaying plant and it is assumed they are causing the plant to die. In the vast majority of cases, the snail is only there BECAUSE the plant is dying, as it is eating the dead tissue.
That's interesting to know, as at the time, my axolotl wasn't eating as I just got him, and there was no algae in the water nor dying plants. I do know - on the next trip after I got my plants - that there are snails in a floating tank within the tank the plants were in. It's not the first time I've bought water plants and had snails breed up like that, but the first time they took over like that. I've since replanted my tank and got another axolotl and probably am over feeding them as they do eat like pigs and the tank is over run my algae and I've only seen two snails in there. . .

When I pulled out one of my plants before I reset up the whole tank, there were holes where they had eaten, in a perfectly healthy leaf. Thankfully the plant is now growing back as it was rather expensive.