MTS: Please sound off

[RightTurnClyde]

I have a 29 Gallon with a pool filter sand substrate. Lightly/Moderately planted. Would MTS be helpful for keeping the sand clean and turning it over once in a while? I hate trying to stir up the sand and with every water change. I've heard some people love them and some people see no benefit.

 

[Brookster123]

They are good for a sand substrate.. They move around beneath the surface which will aid in turnover, they will also eat leftover food which is a good thing.. Only negative would be a population explosion from over feeding but that can be avoided.. I like them in my sandy planted tanks..
Ps. I see what you did there :trumpet:

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Haha... Believe or not, that was not intentional.

Do they eat fish poop on the substrate too? Or just leftover food?

 

[Brookster123]

I don't think they eat poo no

 

[ScotJudd]

My tank wouldn't be complete without MTS. They are live bearers so you don't get the usual losses of egg layers and boy do they breed. The good thing is that don't seem to eat live plants but do eat dead leaves.

 

[Autumnsky]

I like mine and they are interesting, and clean in the tank, very recommended, I haven't had to turn my sand at all, lol.

 

[Fdsh5]

I wouldn't do a pool filter sand tank without them. They do an awesome job of stirring up the sand. I have a bunch if assassin snails in there to keep them in check. I tend to over feed a bit so my sterbai and melini cories are nice and fat. Lol

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Well... I just received some today and put 4 into my tank. So I guess I'm stuck with them now. Now that the lights are out, they're already going to work. Interesting to watch. I'll think of them as my after hours janitorial crew. I'm curious if I'll see them at all during the day once they get back on a day/night cycle.

 

[ScotJudd]

My MTS are rarely seen until 6pm when I feed the fish and also drop in cat fish pellets. Then out they all come. They then travel all over, but in the morning they're gone again, deep into the blank substrate. Fascinating.

 

[t4runnr]

My mts are no where to be seen when the lights are on.

But check the tank out a little while after lights out or anytime before the lights come on and you will see at least a hundred of them.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

A couple were still out and about early this morning. One looked to have spent all night on the glass way up at the water line. Looking forward to going home this evening to see what they're up to.

 

[Fresh2o]

Lights on, lights off, they don't seem to change their behavior. On the DW, glass, throughout the substrate (Ecocomplete)...all over the place.
I have been adding some Microbe-Lift Calcium Montmorillonite Clay with each water change to help boost the Ca. The tips of the adult MTS shells are white and appear to have some decay. I am suspecting any mineral deficiencies are due to the high plant population. I recently reduced the number of plants in that tank.
Interestingly, there are a few MTS in the low light shrimp tank and one adult is huge and the shell is very colorful with no signs of decay.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Lights on, lights off, they don't seem to change their behavior. On the DW, glass, throughout the substrate (Ecocomplete)...all over the place.
I have been adding some Microbe-Lift Calcium Montmorillonite Clay with each water change to help boost the Ca. The tips of the adult MTS shells are white and appear to have some decay. I am suspecting any mineral deficiencies are due to the high plant population. I recently reduced the number of plants in that tank.
Interestingly, there are a few MTS in the low light shrimp tank and one adult is huge and the shell is very colorful with no signs of decay.

Interesting you should mention that. I noticed that the bigger ones of mine have white tips on their shells that don't look so great. I have hard water, so hopefully that will help them.

 

[Fresh2o]

Interesting you should mention that. I noticed that the bigger ones of mine have white tips on their shells that don't look so great. I have hard water, so hopefully that will help them.

Correction: I just checked out the large MTS in the shrimp tank and the shell tip is a tad white. Not decaying. Oh well.

 

[pittbully13]

I bought 8 for a dollar from my lfs and now I can't count how many I have. The baby ones tend to ride upside down hanging from the tension of the water surface. After introducing them my dwarf sag has taking off

 

[VanWinK1LL]

I just started seeing some MTS babies in my tank a few days ago. Super exciting!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[trennamw]

On the poo question ... I've been looking into this a lot and it seems that most creatures credited at times with eating fish poop, and other times not, it's that they sift through detritus for undigested food. They eat that and toss the pop, by then broken into smaller particles which is good for everyone.

 

[Fresh2o]

On the poo question ... I've been looking into this a lot and it seems that most creatures credited at times with eating fish poop, and other times not, it's that they sift through detritus for undigested food. They eat that and toss the pop, by then broken into smaller particles which is good for everyone.

I think of them as earthworms for the aquarium substrate with their tunneling and sifting habits.

 

[greylady]

I've had the in my tanks for years and love them.