Woke up to find my tank full of baby snails!!!Need info!

How do snails reproduce? Answer Most snails are hermaphrodites. This means that they are both male and female. All hermaphroditic snails can lay eggs. They can "mate" with themselves and thus only one can reproduce in an aquarium or pond. They also breed sexually as often as possible. Most snails lay eggs but some, like the trapdoor snail, give live birth. Trapdoor snails and a few other species of snails (apple, golden inca, four horned, etc.) are not hermaphrodites. They can only reproduce sexually. *http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_snails_reproduce I dunno how you got them if you dont have a snail.. Wouldnt the eggs have dried up if the tank was dry ? I'd call the pet store and ask if they'll take them, and if not, i'd just flush em all except one!! Or you will be soon overrun, i read in another site that they can lay HUNDRDS of eggs at once. 50 X's 200 = WAY TOO MANY SNAILS!! lol

First of all, I don't know that much about aquariums. My grown daughter, however, loves them. She ended up with a snail when she bought fish one time. She thought it was fine, that it would clean the tank. What it did was stop up the filter. There were way too many snails in no time at all. She finally emptied the tank, scrubbed everything (even the rocks) and put the fish back in. They didn't work out for her. But, I am sure there are different kinds of them...and I don't know one from the other.

Well ... I see you have gotten a few good answers ... about the only thing I really have to add here is that most fish will eat them if you crush them and drop them back into the tank. Yes they do clean the tank, so thats good at least, but they will reproduce like crazy too. There are many different kinds of aquatic snails so its hard to really advise you much without knowing more. Some snails you can "catch" by putting a piece of lettuce in the tank it should float and attract them making them easier to remove from the tank. Good luck! ~Rachel

Yes most snails are hermaphrodites But it takes two to tango, any two of the same species, they can not impregnate themselves. Since the tank was dry and you cleaned the decorations it sounds like it might be apple or mystry snails which lay their eggs above the water line. The will take a few weeks to hatch. The egg masses look like a piece of foam or preying mantis egg cases. Did you look at the light fixture to see if there was some white stuff that is about one inch long by 1/2 inch wide? If so then you have some mystery or aple snails. Mystrey snails only get to be the size of golf balls but apple snails get to be as large as apples and they will eat any plants that you have in your tank,. Mystery snails are plant friendly so they are OK in a planted tank. Another type of snail that you might have is the trumpet snails that digs under the gravel and is also a live bearing snail. The trumpet snails are like earthworms in that they dig through the gravel and help to aireate the gravel so that anarobic bacteria will to form. If you can put a picture up we can ID it better.

LOL, wow I'll bet that was a surprise! To be honest, I have no idea, as I've never had snails in my fish tanks. That being said, I have woken to find a dozen or so baby fish when I wasn't expecting it. LOL I would call the pet stores in your area and ask. Don't bother with Petco or Petsmart, as they are corporations, and do not deal with individuals, but locally owned pet shops or aquarium stores, they might be wanting to buy your surplus of baby snails!