erichatesmice
Member
Hey guys, I've had my tank set up for about 10 months now.
Last Sunday, at around 1am or 2am in the morning, a bunch of my Trochus snails released sperm/eggs into the water column. The tank turned milky white and my filter sock overflowed in a single day. The did it once more yesterday. Now, I've had my Trochus snails do this at least twice before. I am positive that I have at least 3 generations of snails, since I still have my original snails (started with 5), and about 15 newer snails that have nearly grown to adult size. I know they're newer because they don't have any coraline on them. I am also seeing lots of baby snails come out every night.
NOW HERE'S THE INTERESTING PART. Tonight, my filter sock almost overflowed AGAIN. When I checked the sock, I saw dozens, maybe hundreds, of little red dots flitting around. I pipetted out a few and this is what they look like:
Their front half is red. About the size of a period. Their back half is long and clear, maybe the length of a hyphen. Very translucent. At first I thought it was a hair stuck to the first guy but they all have it. They have two very long, elongated black eyes. Reminds me of mantis eyes. They move by flitting around.
The only things they resemble in my tank are my 3 red hermits. I've had them for all of the 10 months the tank's been running. I have recently seen two of them "touching" with their legs with no apparent aggression. Yesterday, I saw one with a new shell, something I have NEVER seen after a month I've had them. I have never seen these guys before, in the filter sock or tank, ever. I do not think I have red bugs, or any red parasites.
Is it possible they are baby hermits? Does their hatching coincide with the release of a food source, like snail eggs? It's really cool, but my sock is filling up fast and my skimmer is running like crazy.
I have NO macro lens:
Last Sunday, at around 1am or 2am in the morning, a bunch of my Trochus snails released sperm/eggs into the water column. The tank turned milky white and my filter sock overflowed in a single day. The did it once more yesterday. Now, I've had my Trochus snails do this at least twice before. I am positive that I have at least 3 generations of snails, since I still have my original snails (started with 5), and about 15 newer snails that have nearly grown to adult size. I know they're newer because they don't have any coraline on them. I am also seeing lots of baby snails come out every night.
NOW HERE'S THE INTERESTING PART. Tonight, my filter sock almost overflowed AGAIN. When I checked the sock, I saw dozens, maybe hundreds, of little red dots flitting around. I pipetted out a few and this is what they look like:
Their front half is red. About the size of a period. Their back half is long and clear, maybe the length of a hyphen. Very translucent. At first I thought it was a hair stuck to the first guy but they all have it. They have two very long, elongated black eyes. Reminds me of mantis eyes. They move by flitting around.
The only things they resemble in my tank are my 3 red hermits. I've had them for all of the 10 months the tank's been running. I have recently seen two of them "touching" with their legs with no apparent aggression. Yesterday, I saw one with a new shell, something I have NEVER seen after a month I've had them. I have never seen these guys before, in the filter sock or tank, ever. I do not think I have red bugs, or any red parasites.
Is it possible they are baby hermits? Does their hatching coincide with the release of a food source, like snail eggs? It's really cool, but my sock is filling up fast and my skimmer is running like crazy.
I have NO macro lens:
