TIFU by forgetting there was a snail in there

Submitted by AdamicAtom t3_11aiyu9 in tifu

I've had a Betta and a Nerite snail in a 1 gallon acrylic tank for a while and I decided it was time to expand to a 10 gallon tank. I was excited. I bought cool looking substrate, it matched what I had mostly. I got new decor. I set up the tank. I added conditioner to the water. Left the tank to acclimate. Finally it was time...

I moved my fish from my old tank to the new one. I was excited to watch him swim around his new enormous enclosure. How exciting! Having made the transfer, I removed the old tank and dumped the water. The remaining substrate in the old tank I strained, then rinsed and placed out to dry. I did this because (completely without evidence to support this by the way) if I leave it out to dry out all the bad water-dependent bacteria on it should then die, right? Obviously.

That was yesterday. Tonight, I'm relaxing after work and I suddenly remember... there was a snail in the old tank. I've condemned it to death. I am evil, and deserve the worst.

I shamefully walk over to the gravel I'd laid out, expecting to find a snail shell and a dead snail among it, camouflaged, and forgotten. That is not what happened.

I realize that no mater how much I sift through the substrate, there's no snail shell... no carcass. There's no body. The snail...isn't there. Where is it? Perhaps within the one piece of decor I took from the old tank to the new one, a tree stump thing that the fish can hide in. No... not there. It's not in the new tank. It's not in the old substrate which was all caught in a strainer when emptied.

Guys where did my snail go? I see no "snail trail" leading away from the rocks...I see no evidence of it anywhere. It's GONE.

I'm certain my cats will find it... eventually.

TL:DR I swapped my old fish tank out for a bigger one and forgot about a snail, only to find it was not with the old tanks rocks when I checked a day later, OR the new tank and now I have no snail at all.

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VukKiller t1_j9t8juq wrote

He's on his way to touch a random stranger.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!?

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AtLaw t1_j9sj81k wrote

I can’t imagine he’s gotten very far.

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Project-SBC t1_j9tuv5l wrote

I didn’t think a crayfish could go far either but I was wrong.

I had one of those electric blue crayfish. I had fish before but compared to a crayfish they are way more interesting.

Anywho, had the crayfish for awhile. It was stationed in our dining room area. We had an apartment so the dining area was like right where we walked in. The crayfish was a lovely chap (until we found he was actually a girl, but that’s another story). It would eat pellet food, ate the goldfish we stuck in there, it was all good.

One day my wife was changing the water and after it was all done she left the fish net resting on top of the tank. We went out to do some shopping.

Couple hours later and we come home. I think it was winter time because we went to settle down on the couch with a blanket. I picked up the blanket off the couch and out drops our little blue girl. Scared the crap out of me because I was NOT expecting that. She was all dried and shriveled up. Turns out that net was close enough to the water that the crayfish decided to use it to climb out. That’s the only explanation we could come up with.

We drop her in the tank and she was floating. We kind of thought the worst and she would die but after an hour she sunk to the bottom. She ended up living a long life after that. Even had baby crayfish after we added a white one in there.

Anyway, long story short this little crayfish traveled a solid 20 feet, climbed our couch, and got into the blanket.

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Parthenogenetic t1_j9va9tl wrote

Crayfish can travel quite a long ways out of water. We caught some in a river near our house, brought them home, and put them in a tank. About half of them escaped overnight. My mom found the one while she was getting ready for work the next morning when it crawled out from under her dresser--apparently mobile dust bunnies with claws are quite terrifying.

We found most of the rest of them, but one of them just disappeared. We think maybe our dog ate it?

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Project-SBC t1_j9vbl16 wrote

I could imagine a dust covered crayfish would be something to see lol

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Parthenogenetic t1_j9ve7p9 wrote

My mom REALLY doesn't like creepy-crawlies of any description, so it was extra traumatizing.

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BloodSpades t1_j9watjc wrote

Family member had a hermit crab as a kid… It got out of its tank somehow and almost cleared the room, until they walked in to get something. Like two steps in, and before they could turn on the light (hanging switch in the center), their bare foot made contact with something cold, wet, soggy and hard as the poor crab was yeeted across the dark room, under a dresser. They SCREAMED bloody, freakin MURDER!!!

After the light was turned on and a brave soul with a broom stick managed to fling the poor thing out, they realized it was the crab, tangled in a mess of dirt, hair and lint. After a good rinse, the no longer abysmal dust bunny was returned to their tank and lived out the rest of its life with no problems. Still escaped a few more times though…

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Equivalent-Sink4612 t1_j9v10k5 wrote

Love your story, glad she survived her escapade:)

Just curious, what did you name her? My friend had a gorgeous bright blue betta, couldn't think of a name. I suggested Neptune, and she went with it, lol.

My first betta I named Caleb, just cause I liked the name, liked the history of it, figured I didn't have a good chance of naming a kid that some day if I had one. Then my sister had a baby boy...named him Caleb:) People teased her, "Oh did you name him after your sister's fish??" Lol...

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Project-SBC t1_j9v90jt wrote

I feel so bad after you told me these naming stories… her name had no significance. And I didn’t change it after she had babies.

RIP Johnny.

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Equivalent-Sink4612 t1_j9w59ry wrote

Awww RIP Johnny girl:(

Well...her life had some significance...cause it gave you a story, that made me chuckle lol:)...just teasin'

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AdamicAtom OP t1_j9sl2hc wrote

I wouldn't think so. I looked all over. No snails in sight.

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Lint_Gremlin t1_j9spmkr wrote

This exact same thing happened with the last shrimp I had. Rip Mr Shrimp Co.

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AdamicAtom OP t1_j9srz94 wrote

Did you find your shrimp eventually?

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Lint_Gremlin t1_j9tfvik wrote

Unfortunately not, in retracing my steps my best bet is that he was clinging to the filter which I took out first. But best of luck to you 🙏

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aputsaja t1_j9sd3sy wrote

Before reading I was quite sure the story was about a millionare

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littaltree t1_j9ufm7s wrote

There is a possibility that I sucked up my blue shrimp and squirted him down the drain...

My little bio active tank has some alge. I let it build up too much and I couldn't see much. I thought both of my shrimp were dead... I start turkey bastering water and alge chunks out, and scraping the alge from the glass then I am startled by a shrimp ZOOMING by!!! .... there were 2 shrimp but now I only have 1. I don't know if he died in the tank or if I blindly sucked him out with a turkey baster and shot him down the drain. Either way...RIP Joaquin!

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Equivalent-Sink4612 t1_j9vjy7d wrote

Sorry about your snail:(

When I was little, maybe 7 or 8, my mom's bf had a tank with an Oscar fish and an algae eater fish.

Well, one day they decided to get one of those little aquatic frogs for the tank. My sister and I were soooo excited, just instantly in love, he was so incredibly adorable!

A day or two later, Freddy goes missing. Mom and bf say, "Oh well, guess he got eaten." Sis and I are heartbroken.

Day or two after that, there goes Oscar swimming around with two teeny webbed feet hanging out of his mouth. Sis and I are horrified.

They figured he was hanging out in the top of the tank, scared for his life (justifiably so, as it turned out!), but he couldn't stay there forever, poor thing:(

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AdamicAtom OP t1_j9vlkf3 wrote

Oh my God. That's horrifying. I feel closer to you through shared trauma my friend.

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Equivalent-Sink4612 t1_j9w7613 wrote

Awww thanks friend...yeah we loved that little froggie so much, even though we only had him a day or two...

To go with the theme of this thread:

RIP Freddie, and the OP's poor little snail:,(

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Kaliratri t1_j9vybqk wrote

Heh. Had oscars before myself. They honestly look at the world as "Can I eat it, or will it eat me?" If they can get part of it in their mouth they will do their damnedest to swallow the thing.

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Equivalent-Sink4612 t1_j9w8xqp wrote

Yup...and I'm pretty sure that AH knew that, or he should've at any rate! I don't know if his drunk ass was thinking, "Let's just see what happens, ha ha!" or if he really was that ignorant and irresponsible, maybe thinking because it was a frog and not a fish that he'd be okay...

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SwarleySwarlos t1_j9tbxjw wrote

He obviously went on his way and is now living his best life in a nearby pond.

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AdamicAtom OP t1_j9veivm wrote

If he did he escape via my sump pump into a historic blizzard haha

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mickdeb t1_j9tlewa wrote

I mean, our fished loves to eat the snails..

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DilemmaPenguin t1_j9uqjw6 wrote

I'm sorry to tell you but Bettas will eat snails. I think your snail may be gone 😔

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AdamicAtom OP t1_j9vlnyd wrote

This snails body without its shell was larger than the head of the betta

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DilemmaPenguin t1_j9vtlff wrote

Yeah they can still eat them in pieces

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AdamicAtom OP t1_j9vvqn7 wrote

Bummer. I'm certain it was not eaten by that means my research was bad that it would be a good tank mate.

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DilemmaPenguin t1_j9vzouc wrote

It happens. Had so many fish eaten over the years while learning. Don't feel too bad. Could also just have died

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ckeene08 t1_j9uffgx wrote

I once had an aquatic frog that escaped its tank. I looked for weeks and never found it, then one day I spotted a crispy little corpse in a floor vent down a carpeted hallway about 20ft from where the tank was. No idea how it got there or how long it survived out of the tank!

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HeisenbergNow t1_j9vdrbe wrote

Glitch in the Matrix. It happens.

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MommaSunshine212 t1_j9w6c6c wrote

Depending on the size of the snail, I’ve heard of bettas eating them.

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Sneakiest_Of_Sneaks t1_j9w9f69 wrote

You're a good person, looking for that snail to save it. I applaud you, internet stranger

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