how to control MTS population?

[swanandmokashi]

I am thinking of putting a few MTS in the tank I amsetting up as it has sand as substrate. My concern is the population multiplication of MTS. How do you control the population of MTS? I have read that their shells are hard that they escape the snail eaters as well.

Also I have not found any small snail eater

 

[Toirtis]

Mechanical removal works well....they do not reproduce as much as the 'pest' snails (pons snails, small ramshorns, etc), so they are not too bad anyways.

 

[Guest]

You really don't see them... Mine stay in the gravel and i NEVER see them.. i think my clown loaches may eat some of the babies, but when i gravel vac i usually turn a lot of them up. But like Toirtis said, with the pond snails and ramshorns that you see all over the glasss... you don't ever see the MTS. I can go look at my gravel and see a few here and there sticking out of the top, and i can lok at the sides and see some in the gravel.. when i feed sometimes they come out and early in the morning i can see a few stuck on the glass.. RARELY.

Really the best way to control any snail poplulation is to avoid overfeeding.

 

[Tiffi]

If you have too many, send them to me !

 

[Guest]

Ditto to Tiffy, if you don't want some package them up and send them my way ^^

 

[swanandmokashi]

well -- i need to go and find a few of them myself

 

[Lance M.]

I agree with Ashley- it doesn't really matter how many there are, you'll never see 95% of them unless something happens like the O2 in ur tank is low, or you move all ur fish to a new tank after having them in the old tank for 2 years and all the MTS come out of the gravel looking for food in the old tank since no fish in there anymore (what I have now).

I've heard and been told that raphael catfish eat MTS, however I've never seen my spotted or striped do it- but I don't doubt it (my spotted raphael's stomach is the size of my fist and all the fish are still there ).

I got the MTS just off of plants I bought at my lfs.

 

[Blucat]

you can suck them up with the siphon t ube every water change, i do that to pond snails

 

[cinciboy]

My clown loach takes care of them (babies and eggs)... some times my angels are curious .. but they usually pick on them..

 

[krap101]

i usually find around 20-30 babies on the walls of my tank at night, so you could pick those off. but its pretty hard getting the ones under the sand and srtuff

 

[frenchpea2002]

My clown loach takes care of them (babies and eggs)... some times my angels are curious .. but they usually pick on them..

I thought MTS didn't lay eggs, aren't they live-barers?

 

[gheitman]

MTS are livebearers unlike most other snails. They also have extremely hard shells that loaches may actually hurt themselves trying to break. I've read that the best way to control MTS population is through abstinence...just kidding ... I think that controlling the amount of food and removing excess snails as necessary are probably the easiest.

I have them in four or five of my tanks right now. I started out with just a couple in a single tank many months ago. I deliberately added them to some of my other tanks because I wanted the substrate "stirred up".