# Why do snails craw out of the aquarium?



## redranger (Dec 13, 2015)

In my aquarium there a lots of small snails but also 1 large snail. I kind of topped off my aquarium so the water level was a little higher than normal and the big snails climbs right out the aquarium and I find him dead on the floor! 

I don't know why a snail would leave the aquarium where it can't breath and proceed to clime all the way down the aquarium and down to the floor. This does not make sense to me. 

Does anyone know what these snails are thinking?

Thanks.


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## Ashi83 (Oct 24, 2015)

Some snails climb out. Others only climb out if they're not happy with the water quality. You should check your water parameters.


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## redranger (Dec 13, 2015)

Ashi83 said:


> Some snails climb out. Others only climb out if they're not happy with the water quality. You should check your water parameters.


There is kind of a rim around top of the tank and when the water level gets too high I guess it gives them the ability to bypass it. 

I really need to get a top for that aquarium! I have lost too many red cherry shrimp and now my favorite snail due to having no top.


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## quiquik (Dec 13, 2013)

I once saw this video of a lady that had the same problem and she lined the top rim of her tank with a thin strip of Velcro. Seems the snail did not like the feel of it and would not cross it. So I did the same with my tank. Never lost a snail but have lost 3 amano's since then.


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## Mark Fisher (Dec 29, 2011)

Not all aquatic snails have fully functional gills. There is a class of aquatic snails, called Pulmonate snails, that need air: Snails and Slugs (Gastropoda)

The common pond snail is a pulmonate snail, and needs access to air.


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## randym (Sep 20, 2015)

If your "big snail" was a mystery snail, they climb out to lay eggs. In the wild, the females attach their eggs to the underside of leaves overhanging the water. When the egg hatch, the babies drop into the water.

In the aquarium, they will lay their eggs above the waterline on the side of the tank, or on the underside of the hood. If they can get out of the tank, they will. If they can't, and there's no space to lay their eggs elsewhere, they will put them on the glass underwater, but the babies will drown when they do that.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

What snails do you have?


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## Doogy262 (Aug 11, 2013)

Some snails like Nerites can only spawn in brackish water with some salt content and it is believed that they leave the tank to search for salt water.


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## Mark Fisher (Dec 29, 2011)

Doogy262 said:


> Some snails like Nerites can only spawn in brackish water with some salt content and it is believed that they leave the tank to search for salt water.


I have Nerites in my cichlid tank. They lay eggs weekly, although they do not hatch as they require brackish water. The snails stay in the tank and have never crawled out.


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