Rabbit snail eggs, but how?

[Rtc/tsn]

In the 75g with my flowerhorn and 4” spotted Raphael catfish I noticed this week a tiny snail and at first I thought maybe one of my mystery snail had managed to lay eggs hidden away from my flowerhorn and me somehow but then last night I noticed it was large enough to ID and it’s a rabbit snail, the snail disappeared for maybe 2 months I thought maybe it was being harassed by the flowerhorn so decided to burrow but then last night the snail pops up and is just grazing on algae like nothing ever happened and and on the back wall about an inch off the substrate on the wall was maybe 7 smaller snails which I could only see because they were against a thick algae patch, when one or more pop back up I’ll take pictures but I’m just wondering how the rabbit snail could have this many babies without me or more likely my flowerhorn or spotted Raphael finding the eggs.

 

[deeda]

Definitely take some pictures of the young ones for a proper I.D.

 

[Rtc/tsn]

Definitely take some pictures of the young ones for a proper I.D.

I definitely will, I should have last night but I was too in shock and just really confused on how this happened but I’ve noticed that they aren’t out while the lights are on and once the lights back and the smaller ones almost immediately went into the substrate but 2 larger ones plus the largest one which I’ve seen a few times with the light on stayed out a bit longer on the algae

 

[jjohnwm]

Rabbit snail eggs, but how?

Well, when a boy snail and a girl snail love each other very much...

 

[Rtc/tsn]

I managed to get a few pics of a couple of them and they are most definitely rabbit snails but I just don’t get how me and the fish didn’t notice the eggs. Theres maybe 5 that I can individually find right now and they’re still hidden in the substrate a bit

 

[phreeflow]

Malaysian Trumpet Snails….they’re pests that just hitchhike in on plants or decor. Reproduce like crazy if tank is overfed.

 

[twentyleagues]

I was betting mts also...but the one pic does look like a rabbit snail, less like a mts.

How many adult rabbit snails do you have?
How long have you had them?

 

[fishguy1978]

Your description of lights out/on activity sounds like mts to me. They are live bearing pests. The larger snail in the first pic doesn’t look like an mts. Second is to blurry.
Use a small glass jar or plate and leave an algae wafer on/in after lights out. Check it after an hour or so for snails and that will help confirm.

 

[FJB]

I believe they are mts, which are parthenogenic and carry developing young to term inside the adult. No need of more than a single snail to establish a population. Most rabbit snails (actually more than one species but mostly one in the hobby) have orange bodies and are separate sexes, requiring male and female snails.

 

[Rtc/tsn]

I was betting mts also...but the one pic does look like a rabbit snail, less like a mts.

How many adult rabbit snails do you have?
How long have you had them?

I have 1 adult rabbit snail in this tank and I’ve had him for over a year and a half, I haven’t put any new decorations, plants, substrate, filter media or anything recently that could have transferred MTS plus I don’t have any in any other tank. My suspicion is that they’re just too small to see against the rock and sand substrate and so maybe I was only seeing them when I was really looking for them.