baby snails

Question
I guess what I was wondering was if keeping the tank a little scummy with the brown algea on the walls would be good in a way that it would provide food for the babies and if not how do I go about feeding them?  The information you provided was interesting, how do I tell weather they are mystery snails or not.  they just look black to me.
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Followup To

Question -
I have a few tanks,  one is just to keep feeder fish for my frogs.  i get "shiners" large minoes from bait stores.  the tank is a 10 gallon and I usually keep it stocked with about a dozzen fish which is apparently too much since it gets scumy quick.  I decided to put some snails in it so I got 2 small black snails.  I've only had them about a week or so and today I noticed 8 tiny snails in the tank.  I never saw eggs or them doing anything, just now I have 8 snails a little less than a 1/4" diameter.  Just wondering how they got there since I didnt see them until now.  and if you think the minoes will bother them (2.5" long each). and if I need to do anything special to keep them alive and growing.  the tank is good and scumy for them (lots of brown diatom algae on the walls)  They dont look real active though but they are all alive.
THANKS!

Answer -
Dear Mark,
I assume the two black snails are Black Mystery snails?
If you were lucky and got a male and female in your couple they could have mated and had babies. Or you could have somehow introduced the common ramshorn or pond snails into your aquarium which are similar to Mystery snails but do not grow nearly as large. These snails are great scavengers in the aquarium and can hide and come in as minute babies on aquatic plants or gravel and ornaments from other aquariums or from the petstore. Mostly coming in on aquatic plants though. They can reproduce at an extreme rate. But this it is only possible for their numbers to be extreme if the aquarium they live in is rich in food and nutrients like your Minnow tank. I'm not sure how your minnows will react to the snails they may leave them entirely alone. Ramshorn snails often require no care in the aquarium at all and it is often the aquarist's problem of trying to eradicate them! They will eat and thrive on any aquarium fish food fare they can find. They enjoy plant based sinking foods and also vegetables like sliced zuchinni or romain lettuce. Be warned though if they turn out to be Ramshorn or common pond snails and you feed them all too well. They can populate to a herd of over 100 head in no time! ;-)

I really hope this helps!
Best wishes, Remember to change your minnow tanks water more frequently please!
Karen~

Answer
A big hello again Mark,
There's nothing "wrong" with having brown algae on the sides on your aquarium. Your snails will probably eat it. But it could be a sign your aquarium is quite polluted with high nitrates indicating that more frequent water changes are definately in order.

How do you go about feeding the young snails? Simply drop any kind of sinking foods like say, shrimp pellets, community fish tablets, algae tablets ect. Into the aquarium and the young snails will smell and scout it out and be on it in no time. They will also love zuchinni and other vegetables like Romain lettuce or spinach. You can freeze Zuchinni first which causes the cells to break down and be easily digesteable for the snails. Just be sure to completely thaw it out before feeding. Leafy vegetables can be given raw but be sure to rinse them very well to remove any possible insecticides or chemicals on them. Tie vegetables down by using a small river rock as a weight and a rubber band to hold the vegetable to the rock.

How do you tell whether the larger snails are Mysterys or the babies are mystery snails? Mystery snails usually have a "trap door" which is a little disc shaped hard attachtment to their body behind the shell which they use as a 'door' to completely close any access inside their shells when they wish to be undisturbed.
*Usually common ramshorn snails do not have a "trap-door".
(For lots more info on Mystery snails (they are also sometimes called apple snails- please visit-
"www.applesnail.net")
For more info on Ramshorn snails- please visit-
"www.snailshop.co.uk/html/ramshorn_snails.html"

I really hope this helps!
Best wishes as always!
Karen~