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Snails breeding with convict cichlids?

6K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Fat_Fender_40 
#1 ·
Has anyone else seen this? Each time my convicts start a brood, a snail will practically live in the cave with them and I will notice baby snails also.

They've done this with two different caves too. It'll be about a week after the fry hatch, that I'll notice the snails.

What's going on here?
 
#2 ·
Well 2 questions. The first one is what type of snails? The second one is how many baby convicts do you get and how many should they have?

I am thinking that the snail is going in there and laying the eggs so the baby snails have something to eat on when they hatch and the adult snail is likely eating some of them also.
 
#3 ·
There's been about 75 or so per brood. I actually have two breeding pairs of convicts. The snails are mystery, but look exactly like a few from the Brig snails offered in the barter forum.

If that's the case that the snails are eating the eggs, I don't mind. I my snail population isn't at all rampert with a hand full of adults and a few babies. It's storing the fry that keeps my hospital tank occupied.

How long should I leave the fry in the main tank for? I took the first broods out after about two weeks, but left a few in the main tank and they grew bigger faster than the ones I took out. But about a month after hatching they've disappeared on me. So if I kept them in the main tank, is there a certain amount of time before they should be taken out?
 
#5 ·
Your over thinking it. there is no way that snails and convicts could breed with each other. When you tank has baby snails they are all over the tank or what is most likely happening is your convicts are collecting food for their fry and putting it in the cave and your snails are going in there and eating it.
 
#6 ·
Okay. The convicts basically leaves the snail alone. Every once in a while, when I watch them, a convict will take a nip at the snail, but very rarely.

When I sucked up all the fry and put them in my hospital tank, I had three baby snails discovered in that tank, but none in my main tank that I've noticed yet.
 
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