Newly hatched Colombian Ramshorn Snails

[Stacey]

The Ramshorn Snails that Mathew gave me have bred! Actually they started to breed immediately, but I have culled some of the the egg sacks........ anyway, today I've noticed that the babies have now left there eggs. These little critters are very small, and still mostly transparent. What do I feed them? I've got a couple of plastic plants in there covered with algae, I haven't cleaned them because that's where the eggs were......... I'm thinking I should leave them in there as is for a food source.......... I've got some NLS fry food, but I think the pellets are too big. I've got flake food too. Next question....... how do I clean the tank without sucking up the babies? The only way I can think of is to run the end of the syphon into a fish net first and pick out any babies from the pile of snail poo and uneated food. (Won't that be fun........... must remember to trim fingernails before cleaning the tank.)

[jvision]

The babies will eat the same as the parents - snails are great that way! They should hold on strong enough for you to not suck them up, but the fishnet idea would be a great way to make sure you don't lose any.

[Stacey]

Actually I think I just need to worry less! I found that even the tiniest babies seem to be heavier than the crud I'm siphoning up, and so with a lot of stopping and starting, I think I can clean the tank without removing the babies. :thumbs: I also discovered some larger babies in the other 10 gallon, the one that hasn't had any adult snails in it for quite a while. (some eggs I missed, obviously) They've been doing just fine eating whatever food that's in there, so I guess I don't have to worry about that either.

Thanks!