apples
Apple snail babies : growing upby cow ( mei )
About a week plus ago , I discovered a thick finger like mass of eggs . This has since been confirmed to be that of one of my Apple snails . They are about an mm each , pinky brown and firmly stuck together an inch above the waterline . This is the first time I had seen Apple snails and I was not too confident that they would hatch . I decided that if they did not hatch Mr Lobby the crayfish would get to enjoy Escargot Caviar . I am not sure at this point in time how to sex the snails . I cant tell Mr from Mrs . The following is a diary on their growth and development .
Day 1 -- 25th July , 2001 , ( Wed ) :
I found two eggs broken and assumed that they had hatched . Must have been about a week and a half since they were laid . Someone on a list that I belong to suggested moistening the shells abit and helping them hatch out with a small instrument like eg a needle . I had a case of brain fartus and used my finger . Ended up mashing alot of the eggs . Small things fell from the shells into the water . I later saw tiny dots , yellow brown moving about . I had a 5L tub which I filled with 2 inches of old tank water and part new water and placed a rock and some strands of Java Moss and some of plants . Finally I decided to scrape the egg shells off the tank into the tub where the majority of snails are now residing for the moment .
Day 2 - 26th July , 2001 , ( Thurs ) :
There is snail egg shell all over the tub and tank . It has been suggested that I get something with limestone in it to help up the calcium content of the water . My knowledge of water chemistry is little and I toyed about with the idea for quite awhile before making a trip to the LFS to scout about for coral .The baby snails seem to stay mostly in one spot . I tried crushing a frozen pea in but not too many seemed interested . Likewise for a sinking tablet .
Day 3 - 27th July , 2001 , ( Fri ) :
The LFS is out of coral . I will have to try again tomorrow .
Day 4 - 28th July , 2001 , ( Sat ) :
I hope to get some coral bits today if I can find the time to visit the LFS . I emptied some water by tipping the tub and adding fresh treated water . The baby snails scurried about after the tub was settled . At the last check many were hovering about the water line .
Day 6 - 30th July , 2001 , ( Mon) :
Snails are scattered . They dont seem to move about much . Hanging about for most part about the water line . Or could it be that they are active during the night ? I have to try and keep awake one night to find out. I saw some feeding off a boiled cucumber I dropped in . Some hanging about on the strands of plant that are floating in the tub . Other than that no obvious feeding . Who knows maybe they are feeding off things that are too small for me to see ?
Day 7 -- 31st July , 2001 , ( Tues ) :
I observed some baby snails feeding off the boiled Bok Choy leaf I dropped in . They are tiny but noticeably bigger than they were at hatching . The leaf seems to be wilting somewhat but it doesnt seem to bother those feeding off it . My sister has noticed that her snail prefers to eat a leaf that is starting to . My adults are abit spoilt haha . They eat just about anything . I suspect that they must be feeding off microscopic bits of food in the water or feeding more actively at night when they cannot be observed .
Day 9 - 2nd Aug , 2001 , ( Thurs ) :
Not much to report except that the babies have been seen feeding but off the starting-to-spoil boiled potato cube and Bok Choy leaf . I take it that they prefer rotting food ?? hmmm . This is really unlike the adults I keep . I tried pellets but that messed up and I didnt observe any great feeding activity . No great movement about either unlike the adults . Occasionally some are seen hanging off the strands of whatever stringy type plant I have in there .
Day 12 -5th Aug , 2001 , ( Sun ) :
WAILLLL I made a rather bad booboo . Did a big water change just a day or two back and most of the snails I think died . Usually after a water change they crawl back up and hover about the waterline of the tub . This time about they stayed down and in their shells . I thought that they must be hiding because they were stressed out or something but 24 hrs later they were still there . I now have just afew left . Those still alive are either in the net trap or in a jar . Hard to tell what they are up to but once in awhile I see them crawl up away from my regular brown snails .
Day 26 -19th Aug , 2001 , ( Sun ) :
The few I have left in a net trap with some guppies are growing well . They have a translucent shell which is that lovely yellow of the adult apple snail . There is a definite increase in their size and some look as though it wont be long before they reach half a cm . The biggest one is about 3mm ? They have been living off I guess whatever algae they can graze on it that trap and fish food that drops to the bottom . Off and on I drop in some veges or cucumber etc . Once they are abit bigger I may move some of them to a bigger space .
Day 33 -26th Aug , 2001 , ( Sun ) :
I saw one today that had reached a length of 0.5 cm to 0.7cm . This is estimated by eyeballing so I am not sure about the exact measurements . This is really cool because when they were newly hatched , they were tiny dots about 1mm or less . They are now recognisable as Apple Snails . That lovely yellow is starting to show and the shell at this stage is slightly translucent . They make for anything I drop in for food .
OT : My sister has noticed that her adult snail seems to prefer rotting vegetation . Anything she leaves in for her to eat tends to stay until it starts to spoil alittle before her snail will eat it .
Day 39 - 1st Sept , 2001 , ( Sat ) :
Since I last made an entry , the largest snail has almost doubled its length . It is a lovely yellow with a translucent shell . It could well be just over a cm now . I have some in a tiny tank with some guppy fry and a small filter .The others are in a net trap with a soon to birth but not quite there yet guppy . They eat juts about anything I drop in . Fish food tablets , boiled greens to make them sink , frozen crushed peas with the skin removed , fish food flakes .
Day 43 -- 5th Sept , 2001 , ( Wed ) :
The snails are really hitting a growth spurt . One is VERY CLEARLY recognisable as an Apple Snail . Each time I look they are visibly bigger . I have observed an air bubble under the shell . It doesn't seem to bother the snail although I haven't the faintest idea what it is . Mine have grown up in my salted molly tanks . I hope to adapt one or two to totally fresh water eventually .
Day 46 -- 8th Sept , 2001 , ( Sat ) :
Cool . Through the lovely translucent yellow shell I saw something pumping . An open close flutter action . I then realised that it was most probably the snail's heart beating . Each time I look ( daily checks ) they are getting bigger . One is over a cm now . ( well about there ) . I have taken two out of the molly tank's net trap and am in the process of weaning them off salt to transfer them to the crayfish's tanks .
Day 54 -- 16th Sept , 2001 , ( Sun ) :
A definite growth spurt !!! Some are now fast catching up with the size of my thumbnail . The yellow has a lovely shine to it . Some snails seems to have a bubble under their shell and it is sometimes possible to watch it feed on the underside of the water's surface when I drop bits of food . I don't see the adults doing that I guess because they are too heavy to skim the water . On occasion too they form a funnel with their foot just like the adult snails and draw in the food bits . The other day they all made for a small cube of freeze dried tubifex worms . I finally found a zuchinni in an upmarket supermart and they don’t carry it all the time . Tried that too and it seems welcome .
Day 60 -- 22nd Sept , 2001 , ( Sat ) :
I have one that has overtaken the size of my thumbnail . I noticed too yesterday something that I didnt earlier ..they leave a slime trail . I dont notice that with my adults then again maybe it is because they are roaming free in the other aquariums while these babies are in a net trap hung over the side of my 4 ft tank . It felt like someone had drooled over the snail . The bubble under the shell is clearer now and I am trying to figure out what it is . However I do realise that it isn't anything bad so I am not too fussed up about it . Today I found a small baby apple snail in my 2 ft tank where there are 3 adults roaming . I really can't recall if I put it there but then again I dont see any egg cases in that tank .
Day 71 -- 3rd Oct , 2001 , ( Wed ) :
Have some that have reached about an inch now . Still the same clear lovely yellow with a strange bubble under the shell . I know nuts about snail anatomy and what that is , is anyone's guess . Its lung ? Just a bubble under the shell . Whatever it is it doesnt seem to be harmful so I let it be . They eat just about anything and everything and seem to sense when I drop flakes into the trap for them to eat . Those who care for a snack will make their way to the water's surface and start forming a funnel with their foot . This draws in some water and the food goes in as well . Sometimes if it doesn't work because the food has drifted to the other side of the net trap , I drop some food directly into their funnel and they drop only when they have collected enough for a feed . I feed these growing snails several times a day in small amounts but leave a piece of some vegetable in their trap at most times . Those in the trap seem to be bigger than those allowed to wander free .
20th November 2001 ( Tuesday ) -- Duhhh I now realise that the BUBBLE thingy may be the lung chamber . Ever felt like a dumb dumb ? *L*
thanks to C marvin for use of the pictures
click on the picture above to get to a journal on betta breeding