[Boredomb]

What's the difference in mud and dirt?? I guess I should say how do they prepare the "mud" different then dirt??
Oh sorry Blackwaterguy we have kinda highjacked your thread talking about dirt.

Rosette swords were what I moved the most. I can't remember what else I moved now but there were more.

 

[Chesh]

I started a thread. . .Dirt, mud, and caps. . .

 

[BWG]

lol Now I don't know where to reply!

Mud and dirt...same thing to me. I know plenty of people just take dirt from their backyard or a forest or wherever. Once it's in the tank it'll be mud anyway. Dirt is probably easier to transfer plus judge how deep it is.

I've seen pictures of soil tanks that were so filled with muddy water you couldn't even see the fish or plants. That was with a sand cap too! Can't imagine anyone who loves watching their fish as much as you do Jes enjoying that!

I uprooted some stargrass before to move it and the roots were crazy long. That's a stem plant. I couldn't even imagine the trouble and time you went through to move swords!

 

[Boredomb]

The root systems on the rosette swords at the time weren't huge. They were still big but not to bad. Now when I went to put them back in the tank I would always cut the roots down so I didn't have to mash them back into the soil as bad.

When I broke down the tank I had an Amazon sword in there that had a HUGE root system like 3/4 of the. tank. When I pulled it out it took half the dirt around out with it.
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[BWG]

Not completely about the new tank and not about the substrate..but I have a Malaysian trumpet snail! I had thought all of them had died since I've only seen empty shells. I can't keep them alive in one of my other tanks, never tried the second, and thought they were goners in here. After water change though there was one crawling along the surface! It's the little things that make me happy.

 

[Boredomb]

Haha I think its nearly impossible to kill these guys. Though I do find that they are more incline to come out when there is no threat. They are all over my my tank now but when they Apple snails were in the tank I never saw them. Though don't know fish you are keeping in that tank but am guessing nothing big enough to be threating to MTS.
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[Chesh]

HUZZA for MTS!!! I have these in all of my tanks, if you want a few more, I'd be happy to send some over. I'm actively shutting down tanks right now, so have some to share, bonus that I put a bunch in a plant-only tank around a month ago to QT them for someone else. But there are more in that tank that were already in there, so lemme know if you'd like me to send some your way! Willing to bet you have more than you think, though, lol!

I'm kind of with John, they ARE indestructible! What do you have in your tanks that would be 'doing in' the MTS? Your water is softer than mine, do you try to feed them with calcium-rich foods to help them keep their shells strong? That may be an issue. . . otherwise - LOACHES!!!

I don't know if it's the loaches or the rams, but in Becoming, and ONLY in Becoming, I actually DO lose MTS. It's almost always the littler ones, guessing their shells aren't as strong, or that they're too foolish to hide when a fish comes cruising by, but I actually have to grow them out in other tanks before putting them into the 55, or they WILL be picked on. . .

Thanks for your thoughts on the difference between soil and dirt. After doing some more reading, and getting a lot of replies on my other thread, I think you're right about that. Once you actually go through the mineralization process and sift out all of the chunks in the topsoil, you end up with . . . normal dirt! Lol, it sounds so duh, but. . .what do I know about stuff!!!?

 

[thekoimaiden]

Congrats on the MTS!! I always thought those things were indestructible until you! Most of us always have some extras, so if you need more just ask!

PS. I've been watching this thread for a while now but since I'm not "dirty" (hehe I'm funny) I didn't post. ;-)

 

[BWG]

I scoff at the term indestructible when it comes to me and snails. Apparently the way to rid yourself of infestations is to let me take care of your tanks. My 29 gallon has zero snails. Zero and I added pond snails and MTS both more than once! I can understand the nerites dying in there I guess, but pond snails and MTS?! The couple ramshorns in my 10 gallon also died.

I have seen one of my loaches gator rolling an MTS when they were in there. I don't know that it was successful though, as they aren't known as snail eaters. If they were probably even with a snail bias would want them.

I didn't feed the MTS anything. Honestly I didn't think they lived long enough to even eat. The last time I added them to my 29 gallon they were all dead the next day, didn't even seem as if they moved. I felt bad enough for killing snails (yeah I'm a softy) that I vowed not to put any in that tank again.

I wonder if it's the ferts? I had thought about that before and think I asked both you thekoimaiden and boredomb about it. I know all three of you guess use Comprehensive instead of my dry ferts. Maybe if I get more trumpet snails I should buy some Comprehensive instead. I've seen other people that dose like me and have snails though so I have no clue. Just happy I at least have the one.

 

[Chesh]

Yeah... it IS really weird, I agree with you there. Even the dry ferts doesn't make sense. Maybe it has to do with how you're raising your Gh? But people do THAT and have snails, too *scratches head* Did you ever do a test on the metals in your water? Could be that?

I'll send you some MTS if you want 'em, tho - no issues there I'm a softie, too - but sheesh! These snails will live in a JAR. I don't get it!

For the record, neither the wormy loaches nor the rams are known for being snail eaters, lol. I'm sure something's going on in that tank, though - and I will continue to blame them!

 

[BWG]

I never had my water tested for metals. It is possible that's an issue for the MTS, but if it was it doesn't bother the pond snails. My grandma is on the same water as me and her tank without fish is filled with so many baby snails. None of my tanks have them to that degree. Anywhere near that. It makes me wonder if fish are part of that. Are freshly hatched pond snails soft enough that a fish could eat them with no problem? I could see my loaches doing that I suppose. I could definitely see the Dario doing it since boredomb had the same shrinking snail population once he got them.

That all might help explain the pond snails, but not the insta-MTS deaths. I'm just a snail killer. After the lights go out tonight maybe I'll shine a flashlight in the tank. I stopped doing that because I thought all the MTS were gone in the 10. If there's one though there could be more. I added them a couple months ago when I added the fish. Each time I added MTS to the 29 they were in their shells when I got them. When i got the ones for the 10 gallon though they were crawling around in the bag and actually active. I had higher hopes because of that.

Boredomb-Sorry forgot to add this before. It's just the Boraras in there which I don't think could scare anything. An adult MTS is actually bigger than they are.

 

[Boredomb]

Blackwater is this the tank you dose KNO3, K2SO4, Plantex + B? I don't see that killing snails. You add anything else ooh the GH booster. Barrs?? That doesn't look like anything that would kill snails either.
Truth be known I don't feed my snails either. There is usually always food in the tank for them. You use anything else in this tank? There's gotta be something going on there. If I can keep these things alive surely anyone can.
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[BWG]

The high tech tank where they all died out from is where I dose all of that. The 10 gallon only gets the GH booster and water conditioner. I had been adding Plantex+B as well, but haven't done that in some time. I can't get it as precise as I would like in there. I actually haven't added it maybe a couple weeks, since right after the crypt melting. Of course I was adding it when I put the snails in.

 

[Chesh]

You might just find that you have more than you think! DKRST was nice enough to send me a bunch of his 'granddaddy' snails - the big boys, and since I've had that full-grown population in my 55, I've had no problems keeping the littler ones around. . . *shrugs*

I don't believe you could keep all of those lil' bitty sensitive fish if you were adding something, or had something in the water, that would kill snails. . . I know it's apples to oranges, but still! Maybe you just got bad stock - snaily parasites or something. . .

 

[BWG]

I didn't get a chance to look for more MTS last night. Well I might have had a chance, but I was exhausted and needed up at 4:30, so didn't really bother. Hopefully I can check tonight.

Thinking back I've got MTS four different times from three different people. The last two times I got some free for the asking from the lady I buy fish from. I don't care what I have to do I will join everyone else in having an overabundance of these guys! It is very true that the fish aren't giving me the slightest bit of problems. Either I have more skill than I think as a fishkeeper or they aren't that hard to care for.

In other news...well there is no other news. The other sand I paid for 9 days ago still has not been shipped. That's what I get for buying it from the other option that actually combined the shipping. The weather has been really nice this week and it would have been perfect for getting plants shipped to me.

 

[Chesh]

WHAAAAAT!!! It's been a ridiculous amount of time for them to not have even been shipped yet! I can't help but think something has gone wrong somewhere! Have you contacted them? Maybe they'll give you a discount for being so patient!

I'm SURE you're a good fishkeeper. . .we just gotta work on your snail-keeping skills, lol! Still can't imagine what could possibly be going wrong for MTS to die so easily, but I'm hoping you find some after lights-out whenever you get a chance to look! Maybe drop an algae wafer or some veggies in to lure them out when you put out the lights. . . I hope you find a happy colony that you never knew existed!

 

[BWG]

I haven't bothered to contact them. I had bought it through Amazon and it's being sold by a different company. Different than I bought the first five pounds from. It said processing takes an additional 2-3 days. No biggie right? That's what the other bag of sand and the light said. After ordering it said that it would ship anywhere from 2-26 to 3-4. I figured that was a typo since that meant the earliest it would ship was 10 days after I bought it. lol Nope.

An algae wafer is a good idea. I hadn't thought of trying it. I have a kind that doesn't break down in water until a few days so i won't have to worry about it fouling anything. The pond snails are busy eating a melting bronze crypt leaf. Nothing else is melting yet. Fingers crossed it stays that way. Maybe I should do small water changes. i wonder if that might be a problem.

 

[thekoimaiden]

I'm still baffled about your MTS thing. I've had these guys survive DAYS out of water. When I was removing gravel I missed a couple of snails and found them a few days later. Plopped them in a tank and off they went!

I honestly don't think it's anything in the water if you're keeping wild-caught microfish (which you do wonderfully). I don't feed any snails in my tanks, but I know the MTS clean up the algae wafers and shrimp pellets I throw down for the loaches and farlowella. Since they've been getting more food I do notice that their shells look better. I would say it might have something to do with them not getting enough food, but you say they die right when you add them.

I'm curious to see what happens when you add an algae wafer and check back later at night. Maybe it is just your high light that scares them into the substrate during the day.

I'm actually having a similar problem with a bag of substrate from Amazon. I bought it OVER a week ago and just got shipping info on Saturday. Maybe Amazon is having some trouble...

 

[BWG]

There was one time when I got MTS that I floated the bag, made absolutely sure the shells were facing down and nothing. I mean literally nothing. They never moved at all until I realized they were dead. I had thought it was a case of them being dead when I got them, as they weren't moving in the bag (they were wrapped inside it in paper towels so they really couldn't). The definitely alive nerites I tried adding though had the same thing occur.

Flourish Comprehensive has 0.0001% copper, while Plantex+B has 0.1%. Mangenese, zinc, and iron are also higher. Not sure if the large difference is comparing a dry fertilizer to an already mixed one. Dosing all of that 3 times a week according to EI, though could be enough to do the snails in for my high tech tank. I only added it once a week in the 10 gallon though. Of course the couple ramshorn that were in there died soon after. So maybe it really is the ferts. I've looked if anyone has ever had the same issues, but never found anything.

lol I don't need the sand right this minute. I just walk past that empty tank several times a day so it's hard to kill the excitement.

 

[Chesh]

You do. You NEED the sand. YESTERDAY, at the latest! LOL! *I* am having a hard time killing the excitement, and it isn't my tank!

Hmmm, I guess you could do a 'control' test on the next batch of snails, some you can put in a tank where you use the ferts, and the other in a tank where you don't. . . do you put ferts in your grandmother's tank? You said she has snails, right?