a visitor in the tank???

[zach]

regular pond snail

[zach]

pond snail of some sort

[Donegal Paul]

Anyone know what this is at all?

Found it just now during a water change in my 10 gallon tank.

Currently have 2 apple snails, a live plant and 2 leopard danios, though
about to add some tetra too.

anyway, ive linked to the pics rather than putting them here as theyre a bit
large for those without broadband / dsl etc.

It is certainly a snail of some sort and the apple snails have been behaving
oddly for them for a week or so. but ive seen no evidence of eggs etc which
makes me think it may have come on the plant when it went in 3 weeks ago???

http://www.a4c.co.uk/ailishandcharlie/aquarium/visitor01.jpg

http://www.a4c.co.uk/ailishandcharlie/aquarium/visitor02.jpg

these are the best pics i can get
_________________
Donegal Paul
www.ailishandcharlie.co.uk

[Mean_Chlorine]

Thusly "Donegal Paul" > Spake
Unto All:

>Anyone know what this is at all?

Yes, it's a bladder-snail, aka egg-snail, of the genus Physa. They are
often incorrectly identified as pond snails (a name more commonly used
of various species of Lymnaea).

They're probably the most common of all aquarium pest species. They
grow to a maximum size of about 1 cm, and spread between aquaria
usually through their transparent eggs, often deposited on plants.
They don't in fact do any harm (ie they eat algae and leftovers, not
plants and not, AFAI can tell, fish eggs) but reproduce quickly and
often to plague proportions.
Most snail-eating fish will eat these weak-shelled snails readily.
Malaysian Tower Snails eat their eggs, meaning you're unlikely to
long-term have both MTS and egg-snails in the same tank, and Colombian
aka Giant Ramshorn snails eat also the adult snails (and plants, and
fish eggs, so wrt Colomibian Ramshorns the cure is worse than the
disease, IMO).

Here's a pic of one of my Physa, for reference,
http://mikes-machine.mine.nu/specimens/Physa_sp_DSCN4592.jpg


Trivia: in aquaria with very hard water, the Physa shells turn opaque
white due to the snail incorporating more calcium into the shell. In
soft water the shell is chiefly made of protein, and semi-translucent:
the spots normally seen on the shells of Physa are actually
pigmentation of the mantle, under the shell.

[Mean_Chlorine]

Thusly Mean_Chlorine > Spake Unto
All:

>soft water the shell is chiefly made of protein, and semi-translucent:

Duh. That should read semi-transparent, not semi-translucent.

[Donegal Paul]

"Mean_Chlorine" said to "Donegal Paul"
> Spake
> Unto All:
>
>>Anyone know what this is at all?
>
> Yes, it's a bladder-snail, aka egg-snail, of the genus Physa. They are
> often incorrectly identified as pond snails (a name more commonly used
> of various species of Lymnaea).
>
SNIP

Excellent! thanks for that, well of course ive put the plant that it
probably came in on into my new 25g tank so if there were eggs then i guess
ill probably be seeing some in the new tank at some point, still, im
planning on keeping puffers in there so that'll take care of them
--
Donegal Paul
Lambretta Li186 - crashed and bashed
Vespa T5 Millenium - Wifey's (technically)
www.thepilgrimssc.co.uk
www.a4c.co.uk - What are YOU doing?
www.ailishandcharlie.co.uk

[Happy'Cam'per]

Yes, that looks like a Neriti (spelling) snail, they originate from
Africa...apparently they are plant friendly and EXTREMLY prolific, the
rabbits of the snail community. :)
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**


"Donegal Paul" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Mean_Chlorine" said to "Donegal Paul"
> > Spake
> > Unto All:
> >
> >>Anyone know what this is at all?
> >
> > Yes, it's a bladder-snail, aka egg-snail, of the genus Physa. They are
> > often incorrectly identified as pond snails (a name more commonly used
> > of various species of Lymnaea).
> >
> SNIP
>
> Excellent! thanks for that, well of course ive put the plant that it
> probably came in on into my new 25g tank so if there were eggs then i
guess
> ill probably be seeing some in the new tank at some point, still, im
> planning on keeping puffers in there so that'll take care of them
> --
> Donegal Paul
> Lambretta Li186 - crashed and bashed
> Vespa T5 Millenium - Wifey's (technically)
> www.thepilgrimssc.co.uk
> www.a4c.co.uk - What are YOU doing?
> www.ailishandcharlie.co.uk
>
>

[Mean_Chlorine]

Thusly "Happy'Cam'per" > Spake Unto All:

>Yes, that looks like a Neriti (spelling) snail

Nerites / Neritids have very thick shells with a short whorl and very
wide opening, and most look much like this european species:
http://mikes-machine.mine.nu/Theodoxus_fluviatilis.htm

They're indeed plant-friendly algae-eaters and can be great additions
to aquaria with not too soft water, but many of the species require
brackish or even salt water to survive.

[himegeoff]

hello all you uk pond experts :)
my kids have decided set up a coldwater tank in the shed !!
they are 11 and 12 .
so we got neat 3ft 2nd hand tank n well scrubbed blah blah
anyways we went pond dipping the weekend lots fun
and in the catch we got half a dozen snails
one being a ramshorn cos its shape and the others the common spiral !!
well watching them has been real neat the big spiral guys are 1 1/2 inch and happily eat lettuce, but there this lil spiral guy 1/2 inch long body half inch shell and my question is : why does he insist in coming out of the water and sitting on the glass ?? i watched him today he is fascinating he went all way down 12 inch glass tank side and messed on the gravel for 5 mins then straight back up and sat on glass 1/2 inch out the water ??? he is still there 4 hours later !!
any chat welcomed lol
cheers geoff

[Annie]

"himegeoff" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> hello all you uk pond experts :)
> my kids have decided set up a coldwater tank in the shed !!
> they are 11 and 12 .
> so we got neat 3ft 2nd hand tank n well scrubbed blah blah
> anyways we went pond dipping the weekend lots fun
> and in the catch we got half a dozen snails
> one being a ramshorn cos its shape and the others the common spiral
> !!
> well watching them has been real neat the big spiral guys are 1 1/2
> inch and happily eat lettuce, but there this lil spiral guy 1/2 inch
> long body half inch shell and my question is : why does he insist in
> coming out of the water and sitting on the glass ?? i watched him today
> he is fascinating he went all way down 12 inch glass tank side and
> messed on the gravel for 5 mins then straight back up and sat on glass
> 1/2 inch out the water ??? he is still there 4 hours later !!
> any chat welcomed lol
> cheers geoff
>
>
> --
> himegeoff

I once had two big snails in my tank -- they were quite big with yellow
colouring on the shells. About 2 weeks after I bought them, they wouldn't
stick onto the side of the tank anymore so after about 2 weeks of them
floating around, I thought they were dead so I ditched them. The other day
in the lfs I noticed a couple were floating in one of their tanks and when I
asked about them, the attendant said she had just been in there arranging
the plants so thought perhaps she had disturbed them?

Anybody heard of this before? I have seen them in the fish shop out of
water, but not floating before.
A

[Daniel Morrow]

Bottom posted.


"Annie" > wrote in message
...
>
> "himegeoff" > wrote in message
> .. .
> >
> > hello all you uk pond experts :)
> > my kids have decided set up a coldwater tank in the shed !!
> > they are 11 and 12 .
> > so we got neat 3ft 2nd hand tank n well scrubbed blah blah
> > anyways we went pond dipping the weekend lots fun
> > and in the catch we got half a dozen snails
> > one being a ramshorn cos its shape and the others the common spiral
> > !!
> > well watching them has been real neat the big spiral guys are 1 1/2
> > inch and happily eat lettuce, but there this lil spiral guy 1/2 inch
> > long body half inch shell and my question is : why does he insist in
> > coming out of the water and sitting on the glass ?? i watched him today
> > he is fascinating he went all way down 12 inch glass tank side and
> > messed on the gravel for 5 mins then straight back up and sat on glass
> > 1/2 inch out the water ??? he is still there 4 hours later !!
> > any chat welcomed lol
> > cheers geoff
> >
> >
> > --
> > himegeoff
>
> I once had two big snails in my tank -- they were quite big with yellow
> colouring on the shells. About 2 weeks after I bought them, they wouldn't
> stick onto the side of the tank anymore so after about 2 weeks of them
> floating around, I thought they were dead so I ditched them. The other
day
> in the lfs I noticed a couple were floating in one of their tanks and when
I
> asked about them, the attendant said she had just been in there arranging
> the plants so thought perhaps she had disturbed them?
>
> Anybody heard of this before? I have seen them in the fish shop out of
> water, but not floating before.
> A
>
>

I have read here that often apple snails will float at the surface for long
lengths of time and I have read some user(s) now feel bad after throwing out
the floating snail(s) because they could have been easily still alive and
well now that this behavior is known. Good luck and later!

[Patricia A. Shaffer]

On Wed, 12 Oct 2005 17:00:55 -0700, "Daniel Morrow"
> wrote:

>Bottom posted.
>
>
>"Annie" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> "himegeoff" > wrote in message
>> .. .
>> >
>> > hello all you uk pond experts :)
>> > my kids have decided set up a coldwater tank in the shed !!
>> > they are 11 and 12 .
>> > so we got neat 3ft 2nd hand tank n well scrubbed blah blah
>> > anyways we went pond dipping the weekend lots fun
>> > and in the catch we got half a dozen snails
>> > one being a ramshorn cos its shape and the others the common spiral
>> > !!
>> > well watching them has been real neat the big spiral guys are 1 1/2
>> > inch and happily eat lettuce, but there this lil spiral guy 1/2 inch
>> > long body half inch shell and my question is : why does he insist in
>> > coming out of the water and sitting on the glass ?? i watched him today
>> > he is fascinating he went all way down 12 inch glass tank side and
>> > messed on the gravel for 5 mins then straight back up and sat on glass
>> > 1/2 inch out the water ??? he is still there 4 hours later !!
>> > any chat welcomed lol
>> > cheers geoff
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > himegeoff
>>
>> I once had two big snails in my tank -- they were quite big with yellow
>> colouring on the shells. About 2 weeks after I bought them, they wouldn't
>> stick onto the side of the tank anymore so after about 2 weeks of them
>> floating around, I thought they were dead so I ditched them. The other
>day
>> in the lfs I noticed a couple were floating in one of their tanks and when
>I
>> asked about them, the attendant said she had just been in there arranging
>> the plants so thought perhaps she had disturbed them?
>>
>> Anybody heard of this before? I have seen them in the fish shop out of
>> water, but not floating before.
>> A
>>
>>
>
>I have read here that often apple snails will float at the surface for long
>lengths of time and I have read some user(s) now feel bad after throwing out
>the floating snail(s) because they could have been easily still alive and
>well now that this behavior is known. Good luck and later!

Apple snails have a "trapdoor" (I think the correct term for it is
"operculum") to close themselves safely in their shells. If you need
to determine if the snail is alive, check to see if the "trapdoor" is
opened at all ... if it isn't, then the snail is alive, because it
takes living muscle to keep the thing closed. If the trapdoor is open
and you can see the body of the snail, gently touch it. If the snail
is alive, it will retract into its shell and close the "trapdoor".


--
Patricia
Proud Citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia