My snails keep trying to break out!

[jack25]

I had 3 mystery snails and I am down to two. My tank has no lid and I fill the water up to maybe an inch and a half to two to the top edge of the tank.
Initially, I didn't know what happened to the first one. One day he was there, the next day he was gone. I couldn't find the corpse anywhere outside of the tank. Well, two nights ago, i almost lost the 2nd one. Again, I couldn't find the 2nd snail so I started really looking around the tank and lo and behold the snail was wedged behind the stand and the wall. I was able to get him and put him back into the the tank. Suprising the little fella didn't die.
So my question is do you guys have an issue with this? Is getting a lid my only recourse?

[Fdsh5]

Mystery snails will go above the water to lay the egg clutch. That's my guess. Or something is really out of whack with your water parameters.

[Ulupica]

Yes, they do lay their eggs above the waterline, and they do easily escape if there is no lid. They are known, due to their air-breathing ability, to survive for several days out of the water.

[Kyrol]

I had a hard time as well keeping them in the tank. I have ramshorn and regular pond snails and still find them scattered on the floor. Unfortunately they still spawn fast enough for it to be a non issue till you step on a shell.

[jack25]

Originally Posted by Fdsh5

Mystery snails will go above the water to lay the egg clutch. That's my guess. Or something is really out of whack with your water parameters.

I will measure the water parameters but the last I checked ammonia was 0. The only think high was nitrate but it's a planted tank so that's good for the plants.

Maybe water temperature was a tad high and the snails wanted to find some cooler climes. Or perhaps the CO2 injection was choking the life out of him and he wanted some fresh air. I have 4 endlers in there with a algae eater and they seem ok.

[garfieldnfish]

You need to stop calling your snails "he". They are most likely females looking for a place to lay their eggs and they will continue to do this. You need to get a cover for your tank. See if you can find your first missing snail unless it's been over 1 week since you noticed it missing. They can live for 7 days outside of water, after that they will dry out.
A screen will do or some craft canvas from Walmart taped over the tank. The craft canvas cost I believe less than a dollar a sheet.

[ThatGuyWithTheFish]

Snails tend to try to get out of the water when water quality is bad. Check that first.

[garfieldnfish]

Not mystery snails. They can breathe under and above water and only leave the water if they want to lay eggs or the water is that bad they could not live in it and then all of his 3 would have left. Like if the water would have been too hot etc or the toxins too high. But I would think anything else in his tank at that stage would also have suffered if it got that bad that a mystery snail would leave due to water quality. His fish should have been in serious trouble at that point.

[jack25]

I always thought snails are hemaphrodites?