Dangers of wild-caught MTS

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Linwood

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jun 25, 2014
Messages
537
Location
Cape Coral, Florida
Long story but was trying to catch some Ghost Shrimp today, got none, but on one dip I pulled up about a bunch of MTS.

On a whim I stuck them in a bucket and brought them home. Now I'm sitting there staring at them trying to decide what to do.

I am doing a new, large tank that is sand substrate and planted. I have no MTS now at all. I have been debating whether adding MTS would collectively be a good, or bad thing in the new tank. Yes, I've read the rather numerous postings for and against. But let's presume for the moment I decide I want some...

What are the odds that wild-caught MTS will harbor something bad, that I wouldn't want in a community, planted tank?

And if I put them in a QT, how exactly would I know when it is safe -- if they live 2 weeks with no overt signs of problem? 3 weeks? 2 years?

I've seen a lot of "don't risk it" but without ever really suggesting what the risk is, or whether there is a good mitigation for it.

Three of them that I caught are huge, colorful ones. Much bigger than I normally see in aquaria around here. So it's tempting. But I don't want to create a problem either.

Other than "don't risk anything wild caught" generally -- is there any guidance on when/how/if to harvest snails wild?
 
I would just qt them for 4-5wks

But with a snail what does one look for -- just dead or alive?

With fish there are all sorts of behavioral and appearance indications of illness.

Are prophylactic treatments appropriate (are there even any de-parasiting treatments available for snails)?

Maybe what I am asking might better be phrased this way -- there are probably some snails still coming to the aquarium trade that are wild caught. What precautions are used in the trade?

Or am I wrong, and all are farm raised now?
 
I'm no expert, but you could try giving the snails a 30 minute bath in a Methylene Blue solution. This should kill any bacteria or fungus they might be carrying as well as severely weaken any parasites. This worked well for me as a prophylactic treatment for the last batch of fish I added. It is supposed to be safe for inverts as well, as long as you stay within the proper dosage.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
I'm no expert, but you could try giving the snails a 30 minute bath in a Methylene Blue solution. This should kill any bacteria or fungus they might be carrying as well as severely weaken any parasites. This worked well for me as a prophylactic treatment for the last batch of fish I added. It is supposed to be safe for inverts as well, as long as you stay within the proper dosage.

Thank you. I may try again. of the three I saved, one climbed to the top and stayed just above the water line, one either died or enter a coma, and I decided to just get rid of all three.

But that's a good thought for the future, as I'd like to try again. I'm not sure any of the LFS' in the area sell MTS, so I may need to catch them if I want some.
 
Check out the classifieds here. There are always people offering up plants and MTS. In fact, I'm about to be overrun with them myself. I have a ton of MTS babies in my sand.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
If your collecting in Florida it's very unlikely that they are MTS and depending on where you are collecting the shrimp they could be a salt/brackish species of snail which would be why they were leaving the unfavorable water conditions.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
If your collecting in Florida it's very unlikely that they are MTS and depending on where you are collecting the shrimp they could be a salt/brackish species of snail which would be why they were leaving the unfavorable water conditions.

Perhaps, though this was definitely a fresh water lake (it was a constructed pond at a university). Next time I'll get photos.
 
Back
Top Bottom