Subj : Mysterious Snail Explosion
To   : Jeff Snyder
From : Carol Shenkenberger
Date : Thu Apr 02 2009 04:46 pm

    
 > CS> Oh we are here and there.  Right now, trying to figure out how I have a
 > CS> snail explosion.  I mean, I got maybe a hundred of them little things ov
 > CS> night.
 > CS>
 > CS> Humm.  No new plants, and no snals in the tank for over a month.
 > 
 > Hello again Carol. The fact that you discovered them over night suggests one
 > thing: you had a snail egg pouch stuck somewhere and didn't even realize it.

I suspect so.  Old one before dying must have been preggers somehow and left
a final gift.

 > Depending on the type of snail, it was either a small, clear, gelatinous blo
 > which could very easily have been overlooked, or it could have been a more
 > foamy-looking thing, kind of like a sac of praying mantis eggs. And the thin
 > is, not all snails lay their eggs in the water. I remember many years ago,
 > like around four decades ago, when I discovered that a large snail -- I can'
 > remember the variety now -- laid such a foamy egg pouch on the inside of the
 > light fixture where it was nice and warm. I honestly don't know what the

No sign of that now, if there was one.

 > incubation period is for snail eggs, but if the parent was one of those tiny
 > snails, you could very easily have missed it, as depending on the size and
 > color of your gravel, it could very easily have blended in. Also, some will
 > borrow just below the surface of the gravel, near the glass sides of your
 > tank. One could have also been hiding within the fronds of one of your plant
 > assuming that you have any.

I suspect below the gravel or inside one of the ornaments.

 > The cure: I really don't recommend any chemical solutions. Even if used
 > properly, they could still mess up the chemical balance of your water, and
 > possibly kill plants or livestock, or both. The best solution is to either

No live plants, but I don't want to kill the existing fish either.

 > take the time to closely inspect your tank and manually remove them before
 > they reach maturity, or to purchase a fish which eats them. Right off hand, 
 > don't recall which fish those might be. The manual approach can be tedious,
 > but it won't cost you any money.

A snail eating fish would be good!

                 xxcarol
 

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