# how can this happen?????



## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

i got 1 mystery snail either november or december of last year to go in a 5 gal hex tank with a betta. i gave the whole tank to my grandma sunday. i took the snail out and put it in my new 10gal. i was looking at the tank and noticed something really small at the top of the tank by the water line. it was a baby snail!!! how can a snail have babies when there is no other snail in the tank to mate with???


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## phlyergirl (Nov 6, 2011)

Some snails can reproduce asexually. Mysteries can't, but they can store sperm. 

But probably what you have is a pond snail. You would have seen eggs at the top with mystery snails. They lay their eggs above water and they're really noticeable. Did you get any new plants or anything?


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

Yes but i washed them off before i put them in the tank. i looked real close to make sure there wasnt any on the plants, because i dont want to be overrun with snails. also i didnt see any eggs. nothing!!!!!


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## phlyergirl (Nov 6, 2011)

Washed them with what?

I've had snails transfer from one tank to the other just by using the same siphon on them. The only tank that I don't see the occasional baby snail is the one with the yoyo loaches in it.  You probably wouldn't have seen them on the plants and they could have been there.


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

warm water.... i sure hope i dont have too many in there!!! lol..... thanks for helping!!!!!


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## phlyergirl (Nov 6, 2011)

Oh yeah, water won't do it. I use a bleach solution for new plants.


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

oh....lol..... ill know next time!!!


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i have had buckets of gravel stored outside for 3 years ...heat of summer...freezing cold of winter....rinsed the gravel and put it in some tanks...
poof !!!!!!....snail infestation...
bleach is about the only way to kill the snails and the eggs....


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

this is why botia loaches are some of my favorite fish. Snail destroyers! Are your plants snail free? Well who cares I have botias


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## phlyergirl (Nov 6, 2011)

grogan said:


> this is why botia loaches are some of my favorite fish. Snail destroyers! Are your plants snail free? Well who cares I have botias


Exactly. I wish I could put them in all my tanks. I will pick one out and drop it in, within a minute one of them is ON IT.


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

lohachata said:


> i have had buckets of gravel stored outside for 3 years ...heat of summer...freezing cold of winter....rinsed the gravel and put it in some tanks...
> poof !!!!!!....snail infestation...
> bleach is about the only way to kill the snails and the eggs....


WOW!!!! THATS CRAZY!!!!!!! Good to know!!!!


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

grogan said:


> this is why botia loaches are some of my favorite fish. Snail destroyers! Are your plants snail free? Well who cares I have botias


how big do they get?


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

I have a snail problem in my 20, anything i can get? i thought the botia got kinda big.


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## snakemansnakes (Nov 7, 2011)

ZebraDanio12 said:


> I have a snail problem in my 20, anything i can get? i thought the botia got kinda big.


I absolutely swear by assassin snails.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Good idea, I'll pick one up!


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I am pretty sure that there are some good snail eating loaches that are good for a 20ga. Assassin snails are great, but they can't get them all. Mine eventually died but I do not know why. I do not think that they have a short lifespan. Now the MTS are prevalent enough that I am pretty sure they are destroying the roots of my plants. 

Next step for me: Calcium based (plaster) extended feeder tabs- snails love those things. Buh Bye snails!


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## Guest (Mar 10, 2012)

Botias, I am assuming that would be clown loaches, get to be 20 inches in the wild. In captivity they get about 16 to 18 inches. I have three clown loaches that love snails. Loaches need to be put together. They cannot be alone, otherwise they get lonely and can die. There are some loaches that are very good to have in a 20 gallon tank. But clown loaches need a big/huge tank, like a minimum of 55 gallons, some websites say the minimum is 55, others say 75, yet others say 125 gallons. But if you plan on upgrading your tank you can get a couple clown loaches and put them in your 20 gallon, they do grow slowly enough that you can wait 5+ years to upgrade your tank.


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## phlyergirl (Nov 6, 2011)

There are other botias. My yoyos are about 3.5 inches. They are little characters too. One of them played sick on me so I would move him to the QT and as soon as he got in there he colored back up and started hunting for snails (and found some :lol. Ok, he probably didn't work that out, but the end result was the same. Faker.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

http://www.loaches.com/species-index
Check that out for many options


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

well... so far ive seen 2 or three more. id have to say, even though they are not wanted, these baby snails are really cute! lol!!!


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Assassin snails and loaches both do well. Btw, at my aquarium club, we had a guy come and speak on snails and he said that the snails could actually be pregnant. (kind of weird huh?)


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

well i for sure have 3 babies. prob more! how old are they when they are mature enough to mate? right now they are around 1/4th of an inch, if that.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Dwarf chain loaches are perfect. They do like to be kept in groups of 5 as with all loaches...however they only get 2.5" max. Perfect for smaller aquariums.


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## iheartfish:) (Jan 19, 2011)

Do all loaches eat snails?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

no....not all loaches are snailers....


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## MagPie (Mar 2, 2012)

I just recently got Assassin snails for my tank, and they went to work fast. Neat looking snails. I did a water change today and found a bunch of empty snail shells.


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## PuterChickFL (Feb 23, 2010)

i think my clown loach is too small for the corkscrew snails that are starting to take over. these snails seem to dig into the substrate so maybe he's not finding them? maybe i'll try the cucumber trick


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