SHARK Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 I have 4 big brown Mystery Snails & they have started to try & leave the water, would this be something to do with breeding, with the water warming up. I have them in cold water with my goldfish fry, they clean up all the left over food & waste. The water temp is about 20 - 22 so was wodering why ??????? Any ideas would be great. Thanks the SHARK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 They trap air in the shell, it is how they "breath". They also lay their eggs out of the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 i had a mystery snail once (only one, no idea of sex) but every now and then i would see it out of the water near the top of the lid too. i had no idea why it did it cause it never did anything other than stay up for five minutes then slide back down the glass :lol: alan- i thought they breathed with that little arm like thing they put up to the waters surface? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 You may be right, I know theytrap air in the shell as they have no way to "breath" underwater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocean4freedom Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 Best thing about aquariums and this forum - I learn something new everyday! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 That's cool aye Ocean, didn't know that either. I had a couple that I got from Pick-a-pet in Papamoa Tauranga, they grew up really big in a fry tank of mine, then I put them one in my large discus display tank, survived a while then the discus bit through it's shell and ate it's insides out through the shell, was nasty getting it out (70cm deep tank too!), then the other one in the discus grow out tank slithered over the intake of the powerhead...thought it would be able to slither away, I was wrong, couple of things I learned there lol As a side note, never saw them breed or any eggs etc, can they change sex does anyone know? I heard some snails can do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiuh Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 hmm....im not sure about mystery snails..but i thought most of the snails species are hermaphroditic? thats why they breed like crazy!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 You may be right, I know theytrap air in the shell as they have no way to "breath" underwater Would that make em float? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocean4freedom Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 Well I came home a few weeks ago to find a bunch of bright orange shiny eggs on the glass lid of one tank. Looked really funky and left then for a few weeks. Nothing happened and also figured that I didn't really want any more snails so went to scrape them off. I was most surprised to find they were actually very hard, not as soft and squishy as they looked. The fish loved them! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 As I believe snails are hermaphrodites, but the cannot reproduce on their own, they need another snails goodies to fertilise eggs, the reproduction of snails is very grusome ( i studdied it in 7th form bio at school) the two snails move along side each other and them using a spear like appedage they inject their goodies into the body of the other. then eggs are laid and then........ well you know the rest! untold small snails :roll: :roll: :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 ok so i was wrong, check out link, certain snails can only reproduce sexually, check out second section in regard to eggs out of water http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/How_do_mystery ... t_one_time it appears that the previous post (mine) relates to the common garden snail hey at least i admit my mistake,lol :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 and now you have learned something new so the day was not wasted 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 luke- your snails shell would have been weakend by the lack of calcium (and other stuff i dont know about probably) in the water and will soften so much it can be cracked open by fish. found that out myself (didnt die or get eaten tho) so i put it in another tank that had a higher kh and gh and its shell went back to normal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 They lay their egs above the water and they drop into the water as they hatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHARK Posted November 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 Well some interesting stories. I think some people on this site no alot & some no nothing, thats why i like this site..........lol........i have been breeding different types of fish, cold & tropical for 25 years & still have lots to learn. Also breed Turtles, Red Eared Sliders & Blue heelers/dogs. Have done some of my own looking around & asking a few questions. And this is what i have found out, for anyone that is interested. They dont need to come out of the water to breath, they can live very happily with out leaving the water, they have a long tube that comes to the surface that they take air in through, but thats not to say they dont come out of the water to breath aswell. From what i gather they need to pair up to breed, cant do it by them selves. They lay there eggs out of the water so the fish or other critters dont eat them, when the hatch they drop into the water. They also like to go walk about, the chap i spoke to has had them for 30 years & sometimes he finds them all over his garage floor in the morning, they like to get around. They are part of the Apple Snail family & can grow very large, not as big as the yellow Apple Snail, but big, tennis ball size, so looking forward to that. They can devastate a planted tank in days, so not much good if ya like a planted tank, wont last long with these suckers. They can live for up to 25 to 30 years if they are in the right environment, they also need calcium to stop there shells from going soft or pitting out, just like Turtles, same sort of thing. If you feed them heaps they grow very fast. Thanks to those people who had something to add. Cheers SHARK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 they have a long tube that comes to the surface that they take air in through thats the arm thing! i used to love watching him put it up and he sort of jiggled while he was breathing :lol: if they can survive without leaving the water why would they (Im not saying they cant, just wondering). would it be 'fun' or does it have a purpose (other than breeding)? They can devastate a planted tank in days i guess my Gary (original huh?) loved his mummy too much to eat all my plants in my planted tank :lol: is it unusual for them to not eat plants (he loved his peas, corgette and algae wafers) or do they just start eating them when they are hungry? i dont keep snails (other than ramshorns which i didnt ask for and malaysians for my substrate) but they are pretty interesting critters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 I used to breed them way back in the dim dark ages when they were called ampullaria. The little kids used to watch them working on the front glass for hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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