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View Full Version : A mass snail spawning event in my sps tank.


Travis
08/27/2006, 09:52 PM
I got to witness something pretty awesome tonight. My snails went through a mass spawning event. I've had many occasions in the past where I've seen 1 or 2 snails spawn at a time but never have I witnessed snails mass spawning. It was beautiful. Snails everywhere in the tank were climbing on top of each other in mounds of 2-10 snails each and each snail would release sperm or eggs depending upon their sex. Many other snails remained solitary and released their spawn. I managed to catch the event early and shut down all the pumps except the Tunze stream which I ramped down to 50%. I also kept the spray bar loop running to keep the eggs and sperm in suspension. An hour into the event and the tank became pretty cloudy and most of the acros were extendeing their mesenterial filaments (feeders). 2 hours into it and the tank was very cloudy and it was difficult to see more than 6 inches into the tank. At this point the acros are extending their mesenterial filaments more than I have ever seen in my experience in this hobby. At this point I started up the sump loop but removed the filter socks and kept the skimmer off. If the tank does not clear up in an hour or so I will put the filter socks back on and turn the skimmer on. I would like to leave the products of the spawning event in the water as long as possible to feed the corals but my concern is that there is so much in there that it could start depleting the 02 levels and start becoming a health hazard for the fish and corals.

I could go on typing forever about how excited I am and how cool everything is to see but I will let the pictures speak the rest. My apologies for the poor quality of pics. The pics did not turn out the best because not all of the lights were on yet and the tank was so cloudy.


http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/egg%20mass1.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/eggs%20and%20sperm.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/eggs.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/eggs1.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/eggs2.jpg

Travis
08/27/2006, 09:53 PM
http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/eggs3.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/eggs4.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/lots%20of%20eggs.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/mother%20nature.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/spawning.jpg

Travis
08/27/2006, 09:54 PM
http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm%20and%20eggs.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm%20and%20eggs1.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm%20and%20eggs2.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm1.jpg

Travis
08/27/2006, 09:55 PM
http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm2.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm3.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm4.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm5.jpg

DaddyJax
08/27/2006, 09:55 PM
Nice pics!! That is crazy, kinda makes me not want to sleep and just stare at my tank!

Travis
08/27/2006, 09:55 PM
http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm6.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm7.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm8.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/sperm9.jpg

Travis
08/27/2006, 09:56 PM
1 hour into the event:
http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/full%20tank.jpg

2 hours:
http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/full%20tank2.jpg

2 hours side shot:
http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/side%20shot.jpg

Travis
08/27/2006, 09:56 PM
some mesenterial filaments from my soli 1 hour into the event:
http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/soli%20mesenterial%20filaments.jpg

http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/soli%20mesenterial%20filaments2.jpg

and 2 hours into the event:
http://notlehs.com/travis/snails%20spawning%208-27-06/soli%20mesenterial%20filaments1.jpg

Travis
08/27/2006, 09:58 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8026760#post8026760 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaddyJax
Nice pics!! That is crazy, kinda makes me not want to sleep and just stare at my tank!

Thanks. Surprisingly, this event occured about 1 hour after the lights came on. I run my lights at during the evening in the summer to conserve on electricity so this event occured around 8pm.

herefishyfishy2
08/27/2006, 10:02 PM
Amazing indeed!!

NuclearReefs
08/27/2006, 10:21 PM
Thats Awsome Travis.. WOOT!

bboats
08/28/2006, 10:53 AM
thats crazy stuff

pk1
08/28/2006, 02:12 PM
That is very cool....thank's for the photo's. Nothing like some snail porn to get my monday going! J/K!! :)

davebell24
08/30/2006, 09:12 PM
WOW, Mine did it tonight, It must be something in the water, I still had my VHOs on., I first thought their was something wrong ,then I saw it, all of them , It was amazing,

Plato
08/31/2006, 12:11 AM
Thats great. I had the same experience about two years agao. I was messing with the tank on nite and I was able to witness the same event.

jacob30
08/31/2006, 08:02 AM
I also had the same thing happen about a month ago. It was unusual to see all of the snails towards the top. I wonder why they do this. Very cool.

jacob

kirstenk
08/31/2006, 08:10 AM
BRAVO!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v440/kkmircat/clap.gif

Jovreefer
08/31/2006, 02:40 PM
must me the time of the year or something... I had "a" snail do it a few days ago too! (only have 1 turbo)

Awsome pics! I now know I have a male snail lol