Malaysian Trumpet Snails

[lmw80]

Good or bad? I have been disposing of the hitchiking snails that come with my plants, howebver, last time I bought plants in a lfs, I spotted a MTS and asked for him. Now, I have 5! I have a 10 gallon tank....I heard they are good for pushing around the substrate. I am considering changing to sand instead of gravel for them, and maybe getting a few cherry or glass shrimp who also enjoy the sand. What do you guys think? Also, I know they will keep reproducing like crazy....when is too much, and how do I dispose of them as apposed to other snails? I hate to get rid of them, they are great and fun to watch burrow.

 

[Sati]

I think I got two MTS yesterday. The guy at the lfs picked 5 little snails out of their tanks. He put a variety in. I'm going to use them to feed to my puffers. You could let some of them grow to a decent size and then get a loach to eat the remaining babies... or get puffers!

 

[lmw80]

I have heard about puffers and even clown loaches eating the snails. Unfortunately, puffers and community tanks don't go together, lol, and my tank is too small for a clown loach.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

MTS are great additions to tanks. One of the other nice things about them (in addition to their many great points) is the fact that they won't overrun your aquarium- UNLESS you're overfeeding. They're one of the few invertebrates who's population can be regulated by the amount of food available to them.

 

[lmw80]

oh how neat! What a great fact to know! Ok, so by the fact that I have 5 from 1, I should cut down the amount of food I feed to my fish?

 

[Scottw68TN]

Ive got them and they don't seem to be overrunning my tanks. My loaches get the small ones and leave the bigger ones alone which serve to breed more small ones!
MTS are a little hard for puffers from what I have heard and could chip their beaks. Loaches suck them out so the hard spiral shell isn't much protection.

 

[TankGirl]

Dwarf FW puffers can't eat MTS, in general, as their shells are too hard. My puffers, however, have no trouble sucking the meat out of the shell. I think they are great, and mine do not seem to reproduce like crazy. They lasted the longest in my puffer tank because they come out at night, after the puffers have "gone to bed."

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

IMW-

I wouldn't worry about your tank being overrun by MTS- yet. They are prolific breeders and their numbers will grow- but not like common pond snails. If tank conditions are perfect- they can heavily reproduce even when you aren't overfeeding. If you start to see "too many" snails, try cutting back the feeding or feed smaller portions more often during the day- so the fish are getting the food- not the snails.

They are nocturnal, so you won't see much of them during the day. After the lights have been out for a few hours, check the tank out with a flashlight- they'll be everywhere!

 

[Kerrinne]

Can I ask what MTS do? Are they algae eaters? or do they have to have planted tanks? Do they get along with community fish? They sound pretty neat.

 

[lmw80]

As far as I know, with the research I have been doing is that they do not eat plants unless they are desperate; they eat leftovers on the bottom of the tank. They are burrowing snails, so they move the substrate around, which is always a plus.

I will try and have a picture up by this weekend. Hopefully I can catch one....

Anyone else have additional information about them? I'd love to hear anything about 'em!

 

[TankGirl]

I like them for my sand tanks, which keeps it aerated, as this can be a problem if the sand is undisturbed for a while.

 

[lmw80]

Ok, here are a couple pictures. The second is of the front part of the snail. The first is the snail almost upright looking for a place to burrow in the substrate.