Cerith snail overload

[matttaylor]

Has anyone else ever had them reproduce in their tanks? I had 2 egg masses laid in my tank, both hatched, and now i have litterally thousands of little cerith's running rampant in my tank!:smokin: I've never seen anything like this. Is there anything i can do to help them grow, or at least have a good amount survive to marketable size? They're incredibly small however you can clearly make out the rice shaped shell.
Sorry for the picture quality, i'm a macro newbie!

 

[BeanAnimal]

I have maybe a dozen that surfvived. I did nothing to protect them...

Do you have a fuge you can put them in? Some will make it regardless I would imagine.

 

[Blown 346]

Your going to have one clean tank. With that many snails you can retire.

 

[matttaylor]

I'm actually half tempted to set up another tank and try to raise as many as possible to sell. However, the logistics and location for another tank will probiably halt any effert.

 

[matttaylor]

Update,
i have just confirmed that they are in fact cerith snails! Several of them have now grown enough to start developing color on the shell, and after observing them under a microscope, i am now a father to several thousand cerith snails, and with any luck will be able to retire in a month or so!!!!!!! as long as my fish don't eat too many

 

[TekCat]

you could send me some

 

[ODOG]

I continually have these reproduce in my tanks. You will be surprised how many make it, but mine do seem to grow slow. I have some new little baby ceriths right along with another type that I haven't identified yet. I never see the eggs though....did you see yours?

 

[matttaylor]

yes, the 2 egg masses i know of were laid on the glass, approximately 2 weeks apart. As soon as the first mass hatched the second one appeared. There might have been more, but those were the only ones i saw.

 

[DHyslop]

About 6 weeks ago I had a cerith start laying egg masses. I'd find a new patch of zig-zag every few days to a week. After 7 days or so the eggs would disappear. I am not aware if they hatched or if the eggs were eaten. I haven't noticed any little ones on the glass--how long did it take yours to become visible?

I would sure like to have a few thousand cerith snails

Dan

 

[matttaylor]

they were visible about 2 days after the egg masses disappeared. they look like little dots for about a week or so but if you use a magnifying glass you can see the shell and flesh. After about two weeks they get bigger and begin looking like little snails.

BTW i just found another egg mass today. I think it's time for a cerith breeding tank!

 

[Fredfish]

Cool. I have columbellids reproducing in my system, but did not realize ceriths could as well.

Fred

 

[RandyStacyE]

Occasionally I see some egg masses on the glass. From now on I might start removing them from the glass carefully with a thin razor blade an place them in my sump to see if they actually survive.

 

[matttaylor]

I've never removed the eggs from my tank. They just manage to survive. Here's a couple of new pics from this morning. All of the little dots are cerith's. Sorry for the bad photo quality. My good camera is being used by the in-laws, so i'm left with a camcorder for pics.

 

[revclyburn]

scrape some off and send them to me, I could use them

edwin

 

[RandyStacyE]

Luck Duck!

That's awsome I love snails. Whenever I see eggs they disappear very quickly.

 

[matttaylor]

If all goes as planned once these guys reach marketable size i will begin selling them cheaply. But so far i've only seen 2 that were big enough to sell. The main problem is that once the lights have been on for about on hour they begin falling off the glass and some of my fish begin eating them. Luckily i no longer have my mandarin so i figure i'll have about a 50% survival rate.

 

[wds21921]

Wait till you start naming them Matt LOL.

Good luck with them and I hope they can help to offset at least some of the cost for you.

 

[matttaylor]

with any luck they'll offset everything. Now it's time to go do some research on these guys.

 

[Ooulophilia]

I can't see a market for these guys - they come from mexico and most are smuggled over the border, there are plenty of resourceful guys who are willing to drive to LA. Why do you think cerith snails and "cortez" hermits are the cheapest?