Breeding Journal, Species: Nassarius cf. pauperi

General
Species:  Nassarius cf. pauperi
Social Structure:  Kept in large groups
Size of Individuals:  3/8" to 1/2"
Age of Individuals:  Difficult to tell as there are many in the tank so no way to determine the age of any of them
Date added to Tank:  July 2010

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  22 gal Acrylic
Substrate Details:  White Silica sand and some crushed coral
Filtration Details:  Connected to my main system and so it uses the large protein skimmer and refugium for waste handling
Water Changes:  Monthly, about 10% of the water volume
Water Temperature:  78°
Lighting:  None...Just ambient light from the other tanks.
Lighting Cycle:  Light in surrounding tanks is on 8 hours a day.
Other Tank Inhabitants:  None on purpose. Misc worms have moved in over time as have many pods and a few asteria stars.

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  A mix of pellet foods. I just buy different pellets from time to time and then just mix them together. Formula one and two, cycopeez pellets, Tetra, Kent, you name it it's in there.
Feeding Schedule:  Once a day in the evening.

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  Not known..I only began to notice small specimens in the tank about a month after introducing the adults
Spawn Time of Day:  evening during feeding that I have observed. Since they are nocturnal I would suspect it also happens when the lights are all out
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  It appears that spawning events happen at almost every feeding.
Courtship Details:  During feeding snails meet up and embrace for a few moments and then sperate again.
Egg Size: 
Egg Color: 
Egg Count: 

Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 
Hatch Time of Day: 
# Days after Spawn: 
Larvae Description: 


Larval Tank Details - No laval stage.
Temperature: 
Size of Larval Tank: 
Substrate Details: 
Other Tank Decor: 
Filtration Details: 
Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 
Days after Hatch: 
Date of Settlement End: 
Description of Fry: 

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature: 
Size of Grow-Out Tank: 
Substrate Details: 
Other Tank Decor: 
Filtration Details: 
Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 
Size at Transfer: 
Age at Transfer: 

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Additional Information
Miscellaneous Information: 



You will be required to provide photographic evidence in this thread of each event submitted for the MBI Program.
If your thread does not contain these photos the MBI Committee will not be able to approve your reports.

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Below is a picture of the tank:



 

The top tank is the one that houses the snail colony. Water comes from the display tank upstairs and is split. About 1/8 of the flow is passes to the snail and then the clown tank below and the other 7/8 or so goes to the skimmer. There is a light fixture over the tank in the picture but it is never turned on. The substrate is made up of about 2.5 inches of white silica sand.  And there are a few small pieces of LR on the right side in the back. The LR is mainly in there to provide cover for pods to aid in cleaning up any uneaten food the snails leave behind.

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

I cleaned the glass tonight in hopes that I might be able to see and document an egg case on the glass. I know that they are breeding in the tank because the number of snails in the tank is much higher than what I started with and there are many much smaller snails in the tank. To date however I have been unable to locate and photograph an egg case to prove a spawning event has occured. So that is my current mission.
 

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

I just saw one of the little guys last night in my tank, so I guess that they are still breeding for me, too. I can always tell them apart from the Collumbellids because the Nassarius stay so white. But I've never been able to document it.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Since they are the only snails in the tank once I can locate an egg case I'll know who it's from. I'm just not seeing them on the glass anywhere. There are several different size snails in the tank along with the adults so I know they are breeding..just need to get that proof and a battery charger for the good camera so I can get a pic of it. I tried to get some picures last night of some of the smaller ones in the tank next to some adults but the pics in get with our old point and shoot are worthless. Nothing but fuzzy blobs..

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Still no luck on the search for an egg case. I removed all the LR from the tank so that the only place to leave egg cases is now on the glass. Hopefully that increases my odds of finding one.
 

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

I turned on the lights, threw in a bunch of food and watched.

 
After a bit I noticed that one of the snails was chasing another. It would turn in the same places and was everything.. No doubt that he had his mind on one thing.. and it wasn't the food! I grabed my little point and shoot and started to record a movie of it, but of course the stupid thing ran out of space just as things where about to get good. After all was said and done one of the snails did head up onto the glass and I was sure that I'd finally get my eggs but no such luck.. It headed back down on to the substrate pretty quickly leaving nothing behind...
 
 

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

I stirred up the sand to loosen it up and rooted up some of the younger ones so I put them in a container with a few ofthe larger ones and shot a pic:
 

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Well...I still have yet top be able to locate any egg cases on the glass..
Yesterday after I fed I was able to find two very small snails both about 1.5 mm or so..if they weren't on the glass I would have never found them. White and smaller than a grain of rice on white sand makes it pretty hard to see them.

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Maybe they don't lay the eggs on a hard surface? In the sand perhaps?

They do lay on hard surface: http://www.mbisite.org/Forums/tm.aspx?m=42720

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Pretty cool though. Want to sell some? They would go well in my seahorse tank.

Rook

These guys continue to breed in my display tank. Tonight I discovered an area of the tank that seems to be a nursey for them. I counted at least 12 little tiny ones in just one small area that detrius seems to settle in when I fed the tank tonight.  Finding an egg capsule still eludes me at this point though. I check all the time and just am never able to find one of these.

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis