Snails in the aquarium... part 2?

Question

So... I haven't added ANY new rocks, plants, live food (such as ghost shrimp or feeder guppies),or even fish since last October. The ONLY thing that has EVER been different but yet consistant is the food that we DO feed them. Some sort of flakes recommended by the petstore for MOST of our fish... and green algie chips for that jurassic sucker fish. I think the snails may have come from those chips.... My fiancee STILL thinks I'm nuts.

What do you think NOW?

Answer 1

The processing of the algae chips should kill any snail eggs, however it is theoretically possible for you to have gotten a poorly manufactured batch of chips that allowed a few snail eggs to have survived. Of course, the extended period of being out of water and in a sealed dry environment would then have killed them. Or if not there is the high heat they most likely would have seen during shipping. I would rank that up there with them spontaneously developing in the tank. Sure that is a source, obviously, but if the food is a commercially manufactured food I simply cannot see that as a possible source.

MM

Answer 2

The addition of any plants would not have to be new to suddenly see snails. Especially if they are the kind of snails that live under the gravel. (small, with a pointy shell) They came in on eggs somehow, and not in processed food. You have put something in that tank that was in water before. Plants, driftwood, rocks, etc,... I would bet that some types of snail eggs can even go dormant when dried (like some fish eggs, betas for example) and spring back to life when reintroduced to water.
Snails are a very natural part of the ecosystem, and I would embrace them if I were you. They perform useful functions, such as eating algae and any extra food that falls to the bottom. But if you get too much algae on your glass, they will start to over populate in an unattractive manner, due to the growing food source. If you just maintain your algae level and don't over-feed your fish it should help to control the population. Of course not everybody is as much of a naturalist as I am. If they really make you crazy, you can buy products at any pet store that will kill them instantly. They are copper-based, usually. But really, try to appreciate them and see if you can get them under control as described above. Good luck.

Answer 3

In answer to this (and your previous question comment), snail eggs are mostly covered by a gel layer, and aren't capable of surviving outside of water - they need to be kept moist.

The exception to this would be apple snails which lay their eggs above the water level and have a carbonate "shell" around the eggs to give them some more protection against drying. But even with these, if the humidity isn't high enough, the eggs can't hatch. See the breeding info under "ecology" in this link: http://www.applesnail.net/

It may help more if we knew the species of snail you're dealing with in your tank as well. Maybe you could identify the species from this link and post an addition to this question: http://www.thesnailstore.com/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=2

At any rate, I'd have to say that the processing of the food, plus lack of moisture and airtight packaging would make the survival of snails/eggs in commercial food highly unlikely.

Answer 4

it was more then likely the algie chips the flakes are processed and no way they could survive that......... the algie chips are just pressed dried algie no real processing like the flakes

but then again snail eggs or eggs period take a while to hatch so it may have just came in the plants

Answer 5

i think they came in last october and you are just now noticing them....the food doesnt have any live matter in it...the algae chips would not have snails in them...

Answer 6

it may have happened but i don't think so because if you think about it it not really possible