# Baby snail?



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

I can only think this is a hitch hiker off one of Ameekplec's plants... 

I can see a very very tiny snail. It sticks to the glass and eats stuff very much like the nerite I have does... but it seems to be sort of like a limpet in form... what is it?

I'd get a pic but I can't at the moment. 

Ameekplec what sort of snails did you have in your tank with the Monosolenium Tenerum?


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I had MTS (malaysian trumpet snail) and some kind of planorbidae or some other spiral and flat snail in there. If it looks like a little limpet, most likely it is a baby MTS.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

I got a bunch of those, this does not look like one of them at all.


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Does it look circular at all? The only other snail in there are the small flat round ones (I have yet to id them). Besides that, I can't think of what it would be.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

its oval with a cone shaped "hat" the soft body and motion is similar to a nerite.


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Funny you should mention these, because I have never ever seen them in my tank. Until tonight.

About 3 -4 mm in length, mostly translucent, except for the shell which appears like a brown hat?

Good eye sunstar, I had never noticed them in my tank before. Must be some sort of freshwater limpet, and I can't imagine them getting very big, as I've never noticed them before.


----------



## mamadoo (Aug 27, 2008)

Another silly question....are snails a good thing? Last time I bought plants I got little bitty round ones (they multiplied really fast when my husband was feeding the fish because he fed way too much, but when I started the feeding they cut back in #), and I didn't like having them. Are different ones beneficial?
Thanks
Sorry, didn't meant to quote!



ameekplec. said:


> Funny you should mention these, because I have never ever seen them in my tank. Until tonight.
> 
> About 3 -4 mm in length, mostly translucent, except for the shell which appears like a brown hat?
> 
> Good eye sunstar, I had never noticed them in my tank before. Must be some sort of freshwater limpet, and I can't imagine them getting very big, as I've never noticed them before.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

the bitty ones with plants I try to keep out of my tank. When I see them, I remove them I do not want them... as for the limpets.... I want more information on them before I decide what to do with the things

I usually see things ameekplec. I sit with my nose against the glass watching life. I am waiting for my ghost shrimp to have her babies when I noticed it.

Aquarium....the world of discovery


----------



## mamadoo (Aug 27, 2008)

You mean I'm not the only one that sticks my nose to the glass and watches what's going on in my tank? (when it was going ) Whew!
I seriously find it more interesting than tv.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

I don't own a TV. So I agree


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

I have also spotted a hydra and a couple nemetodes. This is facinating!


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Ah, hydra. Introduce fish to the tank, and they will disappear over the weeks.

I stopped noticing things a lot in tanks, as there isn't enough time in the day to sit and really stare at them 

Except my zebbies  They get it good.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

I'll drop the molly back in the tank with claude.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

And there appears to be a few in my main tank too... wow, I am ahving a very interesting time with these creatures.


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

My experiece was that they appeared in my tank from somewhere, flourished when there were shrimp in there (no fish), but as soon as fish were added, they were gone in a few weeks. Must have been eaten, to the delight to some larger fish. Hydra can catch and kill fry, so watch out.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

That is my concern. 

I've been reading up on them. I am going to attempt to keep my fry tank free of them, it's just been nuked. Unfortunately, I was hoping to obtain beneficial bacteria from claude's tank. This will not be the case. Unfortunately, I will have to cycle it the hard way. I got some young platy who will do the job well.

Question, what is the minimum amount of time to wait for a cycle to complete itself?


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

The recommended minimum is 2 weeks, but every time you add anything, it will throw it off. Established media shortens it to a few days/not at all, depending on media volume/tank volume/fishload. My suggestion is to add some filter media, and just add a molly - they're very resilient, and won't be affected by cycling as much.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

The cycling on Claudes tank was nearly instant when I did that one. I did a test shortly after setting it up and all paramaters were good.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
nitrate: safe...I forget what exactly.

Here. If I were to add the filter media, and I use scrubby pads as my mechanical filter, so I can remove a layer or two to use in a different filter and simply replace it. Will doing this introduce the cute, cuddly, frilly little hydra? Of should I simply just do the molly thing?

if you haven't figured it out, I can get incredibly paranoid at times. I can't help it. but when my creatures are at stake....I stop at nothing to make thier lives happy and healthy.


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Go the molly route, if you're really paranoid. 

Personally, I would just use the filter floss as is, and release a juv or grown (the hydra can only get a fry, and a young one at that), to take care of the hydra.


----------



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Besides the Nerite and MTS (from Eric), red ramhorn, I do have 3-4 other kinds of snails in my shrimp tank and the population is slowly increasing. My visitors appear to be more fascinated than I am, as most of them don't know snails spawn and propagate easily. So far I've not had issues with any of these snails and my plants, so I'm not doing any snail hunting yet. I'm just letting them multiply so I can feed dwarf puffers when I finally get them.

Anyway, what is a *hydra*? I've not heard of this before.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

A hydra is a type of very small fresh water anemome. Where they are quite facinating, they can also be quite dangerous.


----------



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Sunstar said:


> A hydra is a type of very small fresh water anemome. Where they are quite facinating, they can also be quite dangerous.


sounds cool! How many do you have? Are you planning to sell them here?


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

hydra... are extremely small. you need to be really doing nothing important to spot them 

they kinda look like this... |-< the vertical line is glass or a plant. and about that size too.


----------



## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Most snails are beneficial, only a small amount are actually "bad" and typically they are only bad because the owner overfeeds.


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

snails are so barely a problem in my tanks.


----------

