# Who laid the eggs???



## naenae82 (Jan 11, 2011)

Help!

The fish in my tank are out of control. I finally turned the tank light back on (my Medaka eggs finally hatched) only to find 3 clusters of mystery eggs!! They are tiny clear eggs in a larger clear sac. All 3 of them were stuck to a plant with somewhat broad leaves.

The tank community is as follows:


Bloodfin Tetras
Golden Medakas
Cherry Shrimp
Some clear-and-brown shrimp (kinda smallish)
Mystery Snails
Just for safe keeping, I moved them to the little breeding net box that my Medaka Fry are in... can anybody tell me who may have laid these eggs?

This is my first tank and I had no intention of breeding anything, it's just been happening! My Medakas laid eggs and I now have 6 happy swimming fry that hatched Tuesday, and they're already eating brine shrimp  I was afraid to turn the light on again, but when I did tonight, I noticed right away the clusters of eggs stuck to a plant in the front. It's weird because my water tests have been a bit off, due to my paranoia of harming the medaka eggs... the water is super-hard, pretty acidic, the pH is about 8.0, and there are even low levels of nitrates :-( So I'm not sure what gives about these fish spawning like crazy all of the sudden.

Anyways, if you can help me ID these eggs, thanks in advance!


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

Snails... Without a doubt. 

Shrimp don't lay eggs, blood fins do but not in clusters especially with a sac around them. A few years back I had a sack of eggs from my apple snail that was in a sac..


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

Actually, with a pH of 8.0, your water is pretty alkaline.

+1 snail eggs.


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

fishykid1 said:


> Snails... Without a doubt.
> 
> Shrimp don't lay eggs, blood fins do but not in clusters especially with a sac around them. A few years back I had a sack of eggs from my apple snail that was in a sac..


Err... shrimp _do_ lay eggs, but they keep them tucked up under their abdomens.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

fishykid1 said:


> Snails... Without a doubt.


Mystery snails are supposed to lay bright orange eggs above the water line. Not in the water on a plant.


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

Captivate05 said:


> Err... shrimp _do_ lay eggs, but they keep them tucked up under their abdomens.


Gotta be a smartie, huh?

Blood fin's don't lay eggs in a sac though. Plus I've heard they are somewhat hard to breed and also breed in soft acidic water. I'll check back on that one. I'll check, but I'm almost positive it's snails...


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## naenae82 (Jan 11, 2011)

Ughhh... I was afraid of that. I googled snail eggs, but I also read they were supposed to lay them above the water line. I guess I'll just see what hatches. If I have to get rid of the snails, I have to get rid of them... I LOVE the snails in there now (the 2 of them that I know of!) but 2 is enough for the tiny tank that I have. They do a wonderful job of keeping the BGA at bay! 

And yeah, I goofed saying my water was acidic, I meant "alkaline". The pH and alkaline are related? Sorry, like I said I'm a total noob to this stuff. All I know is that every time I look, something else seems to be laying eggs....  This is batch #3 in 2 weeks. 

Oh, how long does it take snail eggs to hatch?


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## oaomcg (Sep 24, 2010)

sounds like snail eggs but not mystery snail eggs
are there pond snails in the tank?

pond snail eggs


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

The pH scale is from 0-14. 0-6 is considered acidic; 7 is pure water; 8-14 is considered alkaline.

We all started somewhere  

Depends on what type it is... A few years back I had an Apple snail lay eggs and they hatched in like 2-3 weeks, if i remember correctly. If you start seeing eyes though, they probably aren't snails 


EDIT*** Great pic of the Pond snail eggs. I've had them before... UGH. Don't know why but they disappeared when I got my killifish.


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## naenae82 (Jan 11, 2011)

Oye... the picture posted looks like the eggs I have... how many snails do I have??! I'm only AWARE of 2 snails... thought they were mystery snails but maybe they're something different. They've got that dark brown tortise-shell pattern to them... Right now I've got them contained in a breeding net box with the Medaka fry, so if they do hatch, at least they'll be contained and maybe I can bring them to the pet store (who probably gave them to me in the first place). 

Thanks for your help everyone! ^_^


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

How big are the snails that you have?


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

fishykid1 said:


> The pH scale is from 0-14. 0-6 is considered acidic; 7 is pure water; 8-14 is considered alkaline.
> 
> We all started somewhere
> 
> ...


I can be a smarty again and say that a pH of 7 is not "pure" but neutral :icon_smil

Sorry, grew up with a chemist for a father. :hihi:

I'm about 95% sure that killies eat snails. They all started disappearing in my mom's tank when she introduced a pair as well.


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## decoman (Nov 2, 2010)

i think tetras NOT the snails i had some lay eggs there above the water line


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

decoman said:


> i think tetras NOT the snails i had some lay eggs there above the water line


Tetras eggs are not contained in a sack. They are probably pond snail eggs that OP didn't notice.


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