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Malaysian Trumpet Snails

37K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Blaxicanlatino 
#1 ·
Can someone sort out conflicting information for me?
I've been told a few things about MTS.

#1: They are excellent sand sifters and will multiply like crazy and eventually your tank will be overrun. However, loaches will keep them under control so as to prevent a population explosion.

#2: MTS have an operculum so loaches are unable to get to the snails to eat them.

#3: They are nocturnal and stay buried under the substrate and only come out at night looking for food.

I think I can safely say #3 is not correct. I was in my LFS this weekend and the 200 gal display tank was overrun with these snails and the snails were happily moving about in broad daylight. The keeper of this tank said I'd be crazy to let these snails loose in my tank. He said once you have them in a tank you NEVER get rid of them unless you break down the tank. He also told me he's never seen loaches eat MTS due to the presence of the operculum, but that they scarf down pond snails.

I have sand substrate and was considering using the snails as my sand stirrers. My loaches are still very small. The clowns are 1" and the yoyos are 2 to 3".

I do not want a tank overrun with these snails.

So, my question is: Do I keep the snails or ditch the idea completely??
The snails are in an aerated tub until I decide what do to....
 
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#2 ·
As long as you are willing to sift the sand then you really don't need the snails. I have them in all of my tanks not just the one 29 gal with sand. They help clean the bottom. I too have heard that some fish that eat snails have trouble with them but i don't have any fish that eat them so can't say for sure. I DO know that trumpet snails will clean algae from plants but do not appear to damage them or eat the leaves . POND snails will eat plants.
 
#3 ·
I think the loaches will have more trouble eating them than pond snails. MTS are fairly nocturnal for me. I have them in both of my 29g tanks with sandy bottoms, and I almost never see any during the day. The sand is crawling with them at night, though. With all those loaches in the tank, I think they'd definitely keep the population in check enough that they wouldn't "overrun" the tank. Also, a tank can only support so large a population of them. I don't have any fish that eat them in my tanks. The Jack Dempsey tank is fairly new, but I've had the other tank set up since May and the tank certainly isn't overrun. I've also never seen them touch my plants so no worries there.
 
#4 ·
i need a new batch,
if left alone yeah they breed,however i find that the loaches that
i have had always kept them in check. :)
good for moving around in the sand,and i often saw mine
around during the day,especially if i droped in some
crab pellets,there would be a mound of snails in no time.
and anyway if you end up with loads you can send them to me. :)
jokes aside,there are people who really do need extra snails
especially if they keep puffer fish,you could always advertise them,
i'm sure you would always get responses.
 
#5 ·
Alrighty then. I think I'll take my chances and introduce them into the tank. While I don't mind stirring the sand I like the idea that they will keep my plants *clean*.

Willow: where are you located? I'd be happy to send you some!
 
#7 ·
aww thanks for thinking of me. :)
i think there is still one or two in the puffer tank hiding lol
once the big tank is back up.(hopefully this weekend)
i'll hide some in the sand and let them do thier snailie thing. :)
 
#8 ·
Hey! As far as keeping the MTS in check, I just read a 10 page post in another forum about assassin snails!

If you get overrun or just want to get rid of them, you can get a batch of assassin snails. From what the storekeepers who were going back and forth on this forum said, they will quickly get the MTS population in check and, in time, kill them off completely. But heres the best part, out of 100 separate tanks (between both store owners) only ONE tank had conditions that allowed them to breed. So getting assasian snails will kill off other snails then diminish themselves.

The assasians eat all the less formitable snails such as pond ect but leave bigger ones alone (no direct references but I think that means apple snails shouldn't be killed).

In conclusion, they kill off the pests and then, die off themselves. Win-win restock with what you WANT and start over.
 
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