Breeding Mystery Snails | Fool-Proof Guide

Found a clutch of mystery snail eggs in your aquarium and wondering if you can raise the babies? Or maybe you're just looking to take your skills as an aquarist to the next level by trying your hand at breeding? You're in luck! Mystery snails reproduce readily in our tanks and breeding them can be a fun project.

Below, you'll find everything you need to know about setting up a mystery snail (Pomacea diffusa) breeding project, from telling males and females apart to what the ideal breeding tank looks like.

Male vs female mystery snails

If you're looking to breed your mystery snails, one important thing to know is that, unlike many other snail species, Pomacea diffusa is not hermaphroditic. The snails are either male or female, and both need to be present for successful reproduction.

For basic breeding operations, in order to make sure you get both males and females, it's easiest if you start with at least 5-6 mystery snails. If you do get the chance to check them out at the pet store before you buy, it is possible to tell the difference visually, but you'll have to take the snails out of their tanks. You may have to practice a bit to learn how to tell whether they're male or female.

There are different tips out there for sexing mystery snails, such as by looking at their size. The males are almost always smaller than the females, but it's still easy to mix them up.

The most reliable method is to look for a male reproductive organ:

• Take the snail out of the water and hold it with its body facing you.
• Wait until the snail comes out of its shell and moves its head and body to the left (your right).
• Female snail: behind the head is a membrane with a hole on each side.
• Male snail: same story, but the hole on the right (your left) is partially covered with a sheath.

Did you know? Lifting a mystery snail out of the water for a while to check whether it's male or female won't harm it at all. These snails have both gills and lungs, so they don't mind being exposed to air for a bit.

How do mystery snails reproduce?

It's pretty straightforward. If you have healthy, well-fed male and female snails that are at least around three months old, it will happen whether you want it to or not!

When the snails are in the mood, the male will start following his female(s) of choice around the tank. Eventually, he'll crawl on top of the female's shell to mate. Holding on tight, sometimes for hours, the male will transfer his sperm to the female while she goes about her day as she normally would.

The breeding process isn't meant to fertilize eggs that are already developed and ready inside the female. Instead, she stores the male's sperm to use when she feels conditions are optimal. This may be soon after mating, but she's also able to wait for months if need be.

Breeding mystery snails in 5 steps

1. Set up your breeding tank

The nice thing about mystery snails is that they're really not fussy. The genus Pomacea is an invasive species in many countries exactly because it breeds so readily! You can raise these snails in a normal community aquarium or choose to set up a dedicated breeding tank.

If you've opted for the former option, you may have to invest in a simple slotted breeder box. Egg clutches are laid above the water line so that their tankmates can't eat them, but once the baby snails hatch, any fish that are large enough to crush them will do so. This includes loaches, some cichlids, and similar.

For a dedicated mystery snail breeding tank, you'll need the following:

• Aquarium or food-safe storage tub with a volume of at least 10 gallons, with a hood or lid.
• Gentle sponge filter, plus a heater to keep the water at a consistent temp between 68°F and 84°F.
• The pH of the water should be at least neutral; a pH up to 8 will work.
• Some décor and live plants; substrate isn't really necessary, but you can use it.
• If the room doesn't get natural light, use a lamp to simulate a day-night cycle.
• Important: there should be at least 2" of space above the water line, as the eggs can't develop underwater.

2. Select your snails

As we've discussed, if you have male and female snails that are at least around 3 months in age, they will breed. However, half of the fun of mystery snail breeding is in the fact that there are so many different color morphs. Snails of different colors can be combined to produce offspring of certain hues, and it's often possible to predict what color the babies will turn out.

We discuss the 8 main color morphs in our full post on mystery snail color varieties. You'll also find information there on mystery snail genetics and how you can use knowledge of it to produce snails of your chosen color.

Tip: The Shrimp Farm offers mystery snails in all common colors, including mixed packs. Check out our mystery snail assortment!

3. Inducing breeding

It's unlikely much intervention will be required on your part in order to get the snails to breed. The most important thing is to make sure they're well-fed. Calcium in particular is important for a snail's development, so you should offer a varied plant-based diet of foods like algae tablets, blanched vegetables, and special snail pellets.

The aquarium water should be cycled and clean. Weekly 25% water changes are important, especially in smaller tanks, as mystery snails do produce quite a bit of waste due to their size.

Tip: If the water temperature is at the lower end of the acceptable range and your snails aren't breeding, you could consider raising it a little to see if that gets them in the mood.

4. Caring for the egg clutches

If all went well, you should soon start seeing the first egg clutches appear. The females prefer to lay these at night, so just check all the areas of the tank that are above the water level every morning. The clutches start off light pink to off-white in color and look like elongated masses of jelly bubbles (between 50-200 eggs in total).

If you're using a breeder box, hang it just above the water line. Carefully detach the eggs from the surface they were laid on (usually the glass) using a razor blade or your fingers. As there are so many, it's not a problem if you accidentally crush a few. Place them in the breeder box to develop.

Breeder box or not, most important thing you'll have to do for the eggs is to make sure they stay nice and moist. Drying out causes the embryos to die. If the aquarium has a hood as we recommended, and the water is warmer than room temperature, this is usually no problem. If you're worried, you can install a small mister.

Do remember that mystery snails can lay unfertilized eggs. Keep an eye on the masses to verify they're actually developing: they should go from squishy and pinkish to white and covered in a protective calcium layer in the days after they're laid.

How soon the eggs hatch depends on the temperature. At high temperatures, like if the eggs are right next to the tank light, it may take a little more than a week. If temps are lower, you may have to wait over three weeks. It can take an entire day for all the eggs to hatch.

Tip: If you're not ready for a mystery snail invasion, you should remove any egg clutches you find. You can easily scrape them off the tank walls, crush them, and dispose of them.

5. Caring for baby mystery snails

When your brand new baby mystery snails hatch, they'll drop to the bottom of the aquarium or breeder box. They're very small, around 0.01", but if you take a close look you'll notice they're perfect copies of the adults.

Now, the most important thing is for the babies to have access to plenty of food. As such, it's a good idea to avoid cleaning your tank too much from the moment the clutches appear. This allows time for nutritious algae to develop, which greatly improves the babies' survival rates.

If you're keeping the babies in a breeder box until they're a bit bigger, or if you'd like to supplement their diet, you can offer normal mystery snail foods like veggies or algae tablets. They eat loads and grow surprisingly quickly!

Troubleshooting

Although mystery snail breeding is very straightforward, you can still run into issues. Here are the most common problems aquarists run into and some possible causes:

• Snails not breeding: Are you sure you have males and females? Check the water quality and temperature to make sure everything is OK. If the snails appear unhealthy, like if their shells are cracked, you may have to feed more calcium-rich foods.
• Eggs drying out: Does your aquarium have a hood? Is the water warmer than room temperature? You can check the air moisture level using a cheap humidity meter; it should read around 80-90%.
• Eggs not hatching: Have they been submerged for extended periods of time? Is the temperature too low or too high? Is the environment clean enough to prevent fungus and bacterial growth? Additionally, if you handled the eggs, you may have done so too roughly.
• Baby snails dying: Is there enough algae growth present? You may have to feed more. Check the water quality and consider whether their tankmates may be eating them.

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